Former First Lady Barbara Bush Released From Hospital

APFormer first lady Barbara Bush listens to a patient's question during a visit to the Barbara Bush Children's Hospital at Maine Medical Center in Portland, Maine, Thursday, Aug. 22, 2013. Bush read a children's book and introduced the patients to her dog during the visit. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)Former first lady Barbara Bush was discharged from the Houston Methodist Hospital on Saturday morning following six days of treatment for pneumonia.

"I cannot thank the doctors and nurses at Houston Methodist enough for making sure I got the best treatment and got back to George and our dogs as quickly as possible," Mrs. Bush said in a statement.

The 88-year-old wife of former President George H.W. Bush, was admitted to the hospital on Monday, after returning home from a family vacation in Florida, where she had felt "under the weather," said family spokesmanJim McGrath. Her pneumonia never progressed beyond the early stages, he said.

Barbara and George Bush spend most of the year in Houston, but in the summer months they live at their oceanside house in Kennebunkport, Maine, McGrath said.

Barbara Bush, who is known to the American public for her no-nonsense attitude, left the White House in January 1993 at the end of her husband's term and went on to write "Barbara Bush: A Memoir" and pursue her interest in promoting literacy.

The former first lady is also the mother of George W. Bush, the 43rd U.S. president.