*Joey's 'Pal'

It was really nice to visit Ron, Tia and the boys...we had them all to ourselves and were able to do a lot of catching up. Joey is full of energy and exuberance! He is the cutest little guy and reminds me of Ron when he was that age.
Joey has an 'interesting' relationship with a chihuahua that lives down the street. Let me explain.....Joey had been walking around the neighborhood; doing what I am not sure. He hadn't been gone very long when he came running back into Ron & Tia's backyard. He grabbed his bike helmet, put it on and then armed himself with his squirt gun. I heard him say something about a dog but I didn't catch all of it so I asked him what he said. His reply "I'm going to kill someones dog". I guess the dog had run towards him barking. I can't remember if I told Ron or if he heard it but he dutifully followed Joey down the street. They went down there but the dog apparently didn't react at that time or it didn't see them. I walked out to the street to see them both coming back. Ron stopped to talk to me and Joey rode a few feet further, turned around and headed right back to..yep, you guessed it...the dogs house. OK...so now you can pretty well figure out what happened next. The dog saw Joey and ran after him but this time it did not stop....it chased him down the street, past Ron's house to the other end of the block. Thank goodness they live in a cul-de-sac!!! Unfortunately by this time I had left the scene but I heard the commotion coming from the street. I could hear Joey yelling and a dog yapping...you know how those little dogs sound. Ron informed us that Joey came speeding down the street with the dog in hot pursuit. He was screaming "Dad, help me!" Ron said Joey's legs were just a pumpin' those pedals and with the momentum the bike was moving back and forth sideways...(know what I mean by that?) Ron couldn't understand why his dog didn't come to the rescue but Tia had told her to "stay" for fear that their dog would make a snack out of that chihuahua. Later on Joey told Ron "You're my dad...why didn't you help me?" or was it "...You're supposed to help me". maybe it was "....Why were you laughing at me".
Ron will have to correct any misinformation here or add something I may have missed. Joey makes me think of Dennis the Menace. No, Joey is not a menace but Dennis always seemed to get into little incidents and could never stop moving.
Luke is getting big and he is adorable. He didn't seem to mind the two strangers that came to see him.
The visit was great and I would never have been able to go if it weren't for Mom & Don. I had just started summer vacation and Mom didn't want to fly alone so she took me with her. Don had to stay home for work. It was wonderful to smell the cedar trees and see the mountains. If I had driven out there I would have come home with a trunk load of Mother Nature's cast-offs.
Deb