Dumb Dog

This is my sister's dog, Bailey.

One year ago, my dear family embarked on the roadtrip of a lifetime - Atlanta to Springfield, IL to Des Moines, IA to Minneapolis, MN to Mora, MN to Rochester, MN to Atlanta, GA over the course of 10 days. Did I mention this was in December? Like, the winter? In the midwest? DRIVING through the midwest?

Did I also mention that on top of 4 people, we also brought along 2 dogs? We did.

That picture was taken outside my aunt & uncle's house where we stayed on our last leg of our journey. Originally we were only going to stay from 7pm-7am, but we got up the next morning and our family thought we were staying the whole day. So we did. C'est la vie. We played in the snow and sledded and built snowmen and snow angels and fires and s'mores and did every stereotypical winter snowday thing you are supposed to do that is totally lame when you actually get snow every day for 3 months straight. But we did it all, and I'm 100% positive we all had a BLAST. Plus, my aunt & uncle & cousins are major dog people, so our dogs were right at home. Literally.

 

Their dog had a toy that they affectionately referred to as "Ellie." It was a stuffed elephant that I think used to belong to one of my cousins. As we all must learn at some point, dogs > kids, so Maggie got to keep the elephant. Sucks. The dog toted that elephant EVERYWHERE with her. "Maggie! Go get ellie!" "Maggie, come inside and play with ellie!" "Maggie, where's your ellie?"

Then Bailey showed up. And straight up STOLE ELLIE right from under Maggie's little nose. My mom made Bailey give ellie back, but as soon as they got back to Florida, my mom instantly started scouring the $1 bins for replacement ellies. And now, Bailey carries ellie with him wherever he goes.

When you come home, not only does Bailey greet you at the door, but ellie does too. And when you go to the grocery store, not only do the two dogs come along, but ellie too. And when you snuggle up on the couch with wine and a pup, you also get to snuggle up with a wet, chewed, ripped up elephant.

Maybe they're good luck? For the sake of all kids out there with toys being stolen by pets, I hope so.