So you can imagine how excited Cole was to see Rex and Maddox... for three, whole days during the Peacock Family Reunion. The moment he saw my parents pull up to the ranch, he started pointing and yelling "DA!" (code for dog). He just knew Rex and Maddox had to be somewhere in the truck. But it wasn't just Cole who was excited. The puppies were thrilled to see Cole! Once we got them calmed down a bit and reminded them with a few stern "NO's!" that Cole wasn't a giant chew toy to jump on, all three were happy as could be.
Cole spent the entire weekend following the puppies around.
He played in their play pen.
Shared his dinner with them. Sunday night, just moments before we left for home, Cole decided the puppies needed to taste his corn-on-the-cob, which he had been sucking every last kernel off. That kid could eat corn for all three meals a day! I don't know how much the puppies enjoyed the corn, but rather they loved the attention from Cole. And according to my family, they swear Cole walked right over to Rex and Maddox, stretched out his hand with his corn-on-the-cob, and said, "Here." I didn't hear it. That kid doesn't say any words so I'm not sure I believe it was an actual "here" vs. some babbled sound. 
And snuck them ice cubes from the coolers.
But the puppy love is mutual. Rex and Maddox know Cole will eventually spill table scrapes or in most cases, willingly share whatever treats he is eating. In this case, a Tootsie-pop sucker. Things started out quite innocently. Cole was a sticky mess, licking that sucker despite a few falls in the dirt and intentional dunks in the dog's water bowls. Gross. I know, I should have stopped it after the 10 second rule was blown out of the water, but it was just too funny! 
Then the puppies got involved.Cole swirled his sucker in the water bowls, which the puppies were trying to drink out of. He'd take a lick, then give Rex a lick. Then a shared lick, followed by another swirl in the water. Even more repulsive for all you germ-o-phobes out there.
At this point the sucker sharing was starting to gross even me out. So I moved Cole away from the water bowl. Mere seconds later, Cole sat himself down right in the middle of the tent my brother was trying to set up before it got dark. Then Rex and Maddox joined him. Sharing a sucker while sitting on the tent and being told "get off the tent" was much more fun than playing in the water bowl. Those three refused to get off. Jesse was a good sport, with everyone now laughing and being of no help. Had it been Jeff trying to set up the tent, I guarantee the outcome would have been very different. 
All three were sticky messes, with remnants of Tootsie-pop in their hair, fur, fingers, toes, and clothes.Cole really, really, really needs a dog.
