Some days before…
After being convinced by Chilli to spend the weekend with his father, he decided to do much more than that. Better than having one son going on the trip, it would be much better having all the three going. So, after insisting a lot, he managed to get both Stripe and Rad come over to discuss what do.
"I don't know, Bandit…" Stripe said. "It's a little bit at last minute. I have work and I can't just let Trixie with Muffin and Sock just like that."
"Come on, Chilli can give her a hand" Bandit said. "Don't forget that Bluey and Bingo are going with dad and she'll be here. Come on, it's for dad. We owe him a lot. If Chilli managed to convince me, how hard can it be to convince you?"
"You make it look like I'm easier to convince than you" Stripe replied to Bandit.
But after receiving a look from his older brother, Stripe sighed and said:
"Fine… I guess could push over some of my work. For dad… What a heck! Why not? We always had fun on those trips."
Then they both looked at Rad.
"What?" he asked.
"Come on, bro, don't knock us back here" Bandit said.
"Yeah, if we manage to go, then you can do it too" Stripe replied.
"I don't know if you've noticed, but my job is not like yours" Rad told.
"Please, you really want us to believe you can't possibly extend your vacations just to have one little weekend with us, my kids and dad?" Bandit asked.
"Maybe he's just a little afraid of meeting again with his old feathered friend" Stripe commented, causing Bandit to chuckle.
"Hey, you wouldn't make fun if a stupid bird tried to turn your head into a nest" Rad said coldly to Stripe. "But I guess it's better than being covered in puke."
That really let Stripe upset, with him replying:
"You really had to bring that up, haven't you?"
The two of them started to argue, causing Bandit to say:
"Come on, guys, let's calm down. It's really hard to be the mature one…"
But Rad and Stripe, having heard him say that, just turned to him and the former said:
"Oh, you really think that, don't you… bucket bottom?"
"Or should we call you fishface?" Stripe asked.
"Yeah, I was asking for that…" Bandit said. "But my fish still holds the record of being the biggest between the first catches."
"Uh, you never stop mentioning that, do you?" Stripe asked, annoyed.
"Yeah, it's getting as old as bucket you fell into" Rad said.
"What?!" Bandid asked. "Oh, that was low!"
It didn't take long for both the three brothers to start arguing between each other. Chilli, Trixie and Frisky were watching that at the top of the stairs and, while the former two were enjoying watching them arguing, Frisky just asked, a little worried:
"Shouldn't we do something? That looks like it can end badly."
"No worries, Frisky" Chilli said. "They do that all the time."
"Actually, it's quite entertaining" Trixie said. "Chilli, do you think we have time to get some chips to the kitchen before they make up?"
"I thought you're trying to eat healthy" Chilli said, with a smile and a raised eyebrow.
"I think the situation is worth the chip" Trixie replied.
Despite Chilli and Trixie's tranquility, Frisky couldn't help but remain a little worried. But she soon discovered there were no reasons for that as, in a matter of moments, the three brothers were now laughing together.
"They're laughing… just when they were fighting?" Frisky asked.
"Like I told you, they do that all the time" Chilli told her. "Despite their differences, they can never stay mad at each other for too long."
"Those guys have a real close bond" Trixie said. "And I think, in part, we have Bob to thank for that."
As the Heeler brothers continue to laugh, Rad said:
"I can't believe we're at it again."
"I know, it made me feel like we were kids again" Stripe said.
"Do you guys remember what dad would do when we started to argue with each other?" Bandit asked.
"Yeah, he would always distract us from our little quarrels by making up some game that would put us to play with each other…" Rad remembered. "Or else, he would turn our attention to something else. And he did it so naturally it was unnerving".
"Not only that…" Stripe said. "For each embarrassing memory we got on those lake trips, we have a much happier one following it… and all thanks to him."
"Yeah…" Bandit and Rad agreed, as the three brothers started reminiscing those moments.
During Stripe's first trip…
After taking the photo of the young Stripe covered in puke, he put down the camera and then went to take the bucket out of Stripe's head and then said:
"Hey, Stripy, you know what? We're stopped in a shallow zone… And you know what that means, right?"
"What?" the young Stripe asked, still embarrassed for what just happened.
"Swimming time!" Bob exclaimed, getting up.
He took out the life-jacket and then dived into the water. Bandit and Rad traded a look and a smile and they too took out their life-jackets and went to join their father in the water, engaging in a water fight against each other.
"Come on, Stripy!" Bob called. "The water is great!"
Hearing his father calling for him to join the fun, Stripe couldn't help but smile and then take out his life-jacket and jump to the water as well to join the fun. Now a little better from her sickness, Chris, seeing all her boys having so much fun together, went to get the camera and take a picture of them.
During Bandit's first trip…
Bandit was still trying to get out of the bucket, but then he saw his father take a bigger bucket, put it down and then he sat on it, getting stuck on it as well. After that, he placed himself on fours and said:
"Look, Bandy, I'm a hermit crab."
And he started to walk around like a hermit crab, even making the sounds of one. That caused Bandit to laugh and then he proceeded to the same thing as his dad. The two together acted like hermit crabs, with Rad then taking a picture of them like that.
During Rad's first trip…
To help his son get rid of the ibis, Bob took the earthworm box and put some of them on his head. This caused the ibis to fly from Rad's head to his, starting to feed from the worms there, despite he was also feeling its pecks in the process.
"So, what do you think, Raddy?" Bob asked. "Do I look nice?"
That caused Rad to drop a laugh and then say:
"Dad… you're so silly!"
"And handsome, if I do say so myself" Bob said. "What if we took a picture?"
And so they took a picture together.
Some days ago…
The Heeler brothers sighed as they remembered all the joy they had felt on those memories. It was then that Rad said:
"You know what? You're right. Dad does deserve the effort. You can count on me to."
"Yeah, that's what we wanted to hear!" Bandit said. "Okay, now that we're all on board, let's plan this thing. So, here's what I was thinking in doing…"