Road Trip!

By Shae

Teddy and I took a road trip together to Nashville over the weekend of April 29 - May 1. It was supposed to be a family trip that included me running the Nashville half-marathon with my sisters Shelley and Samantha. But alas, it wasn't to be because unfortunately our niece Maggie an emergency appendectomy on Wednesday April 26 (after multiple mis-diagnoses and the doctors abandoning their protocol of choice to do the surgery at a later time). Lisette stayed in Atlanta to help her sister with Maggie's post-surgery recovery and I took Teddy with me to Nashville. Maggie update: She is recovering now and doing well.

So Teddy and I hit the road on Friday afternoon. We got out of Atlanta fine but hit some traffic near Ringold, Georgia because people were slowing down to look at tornado damage at one of the exits. We stopped at a park next to Nickajack Lake in Tennessee and ate some grapes and crackers. Teddy was awesome in the car both ways and was very patient as we had to wait 35 minutes to get my race registration packet once we got to Nashville. But we finally made it to Aunt Sammie's apartment where Teddy got a little scared at first by Sammie's dog Oliver (although being tired probably contributed to his crying) but at last he was happy when he got some food and attention from Grandpa Steve, Aunt Sammie, Aunt Shelley, and Shelley's friend Nina:

After going to bed way past Teddy's bedtime, I got up the next morning and left Teddy for Grandpa Steve to baby sit. We have no pictures of Teddy and Grandpa Steve's time together but Teddy was a happy baby when I came back 7 hours later and Grandpa Steve was more than happy to give Teddy back to me. It should also be noted that Grandpa Steve was also dogsitting Oliver, too. Thanks Grandpa Steve!


Well, to the race! We all finished. A big congratulations to Sammie for completing her first half-marathon (13.1 miles) and to Shelley for running a personal record (PR) and beating her previous PR by 6 minutes. Great job girls!



Nina and myself at the finish line. Nina spotted me at around mile 12.

The famous Slovakian Hoschek Runners!

After the race I headed back to Sammie's apartment where Teddy had taking a liking to a toy monkey that Shelley brought for Oliver. Who says dog toys are just for dogs?



Lisette made an awesome sign that Teddy was going to hold up during the race but that could also be used after the race. Below are some pictures with Teddy and the sign.

The road tripping partners:

Then it was off to the fancy Loews Vanderbilt hotel where Teddy had more fun with the ladies including steamroller with Aunt Shelley!

After everybody else went out honkytonking in Nashville, Teddy, Oliver, and I stayed back at the hotel. Oliver was my assistant babysitter:

It was a fancy hotel with "room service" and "breakfast in bed."

Aunt Sammie reading to Teddy and also cuddling.

Teddy enjoying another dog toy.

Well the weekend had tocome to an end and we headed back to Atlanta after a lunch at Pei Wei. Teddy was awesome again on the drive back home and our first stop was at the Children's Healthcare of Atlanta Hospital to see Maggie. Below is a picture in the parking lot. What you cannot see in the picture is about two gallons of spilled Cherios cereal and Goldfish crackers that Teddy kept spilling out during the trip.

Last and most important, Teddy reunited with Mommy!

Thanks for a great trip Teddy!