Important Information for Dog Owners.

A couple weekends back, we took the kids and met my family at the amusement park Knoebels.  It had been about 10 years since I'd been to an amusement park; I was kidless last time we went, so this was a new experience for me, to see the excitement and thrill in my kids' eyes.

 They got to spend time with their cousins that live a few hours from us, who are the same age, so it was especially fun for them.  Levi adores his cousin Titus who is only 3 months older than him.  He calls him,

"my Titus."

 

 I even braved a ride or two.

Yes, brave, indeed.

Well, I must boast that I did go on one the ferris wheel, forgetting that I hate heights until I was 5,000 feet up in the air, 

with the wind blowing.

(I left dents where I was holding onto the metal bar

and had to wipe the tears away before my kids could see them

 when I opened my eyes when we finally stopped at the bottom after they'd spun us 200 times.)

  Even with all this excitement, I think one of my favorite things to do now that I'm old not as young

is to watch people.

Okay, I just lied.  I've always had a problem with being nosey.  I can just get away with it more easily now.  

For example, while waiting for Shawn and Violet to get the "ride-all-the-rides" bracelet, I took Levi over to the bridge to watch the swans.  He loved it.  

I did too, only I was enjoying watching Levi,

and all the people around me.

You see, the great thing about Knoebels is that they have a campground attached to the park, so people camp there and bring their dogs.  Dogs are actually allowed in the amusement park, so many people come to walk around with their dogs.

I like dogs

A LOT; 

and there were A LOT of dogs there, probably one out of every 20 people had a dog.

Oh, the breeds that were there!

It was like being at the Westminster dog show,

only there was entertainment for the kids while you watch the dogs.

Okay, so I'm a little weird.

As I watched these dogs, though, I began to notice something.

It started with the two white-haired little ladies who seemed to both be talking to each other at the same time.

  They must have been sisters. 

At the end of their pretty colored leashes each had a tiny little poodle, meandering around, wrapping themselves around their owners legs and occasionally yipping at each other.

They looked like their owners.

Maybe it was partly that they kind of acted like them too.

Then I spotted a rugged wiry man, about in his 40's; looked like he'd come from a mountain somewhere, and I cringed when he spit some black substance.  At his feet stood a hound dog, followed up by his 10 year old son with a beagle.

I'd heard that people looked like their dogs, 

of maybe I saw it on 101 Dalmations, 

but I'd never had this many people around with dogs to notice.

 Let me inform you at this point, that you are seeing a grand form of acting here.  It is hard to take pictures of people without obviously taking pictures of people.  I suddenly grew 10 more kids and had to pretend that I was taking pictures of my kids in the distance behind all these people. 

I just thought I should tell you this so you could appreciate this more.

My mom asked why I wasn't just asking the people to take their pictures, 

but I didn't think I'd get the real essence of the dog/master thing if they posed.

Well, that and I was too embarrassed.
"Hi, I'm taking pictures of dogs who share commonalities with their owners."

 See, Levi's in this one, but actually my mom got this one for me because I was getting whip-lash on the roller-coaster and she didn't want me to miss this one. 

Such a considerate mom I have.

 And so then I wondered on the way home,

"Do we look like Fido?"

So now tell me Fido,

Which one of us looks like you?