The Director of Logan's clinic called Amanda and said he'd had the best week in the entire year he's been enrolled there. He is not only using ~50 words a day there, he is signing for things. Today at the playground, Logan signed that he wanted a drink several times to me. He also stayed dry for over 1.5 hours while we were out! At Mama Jean's he replied when Amanda asked what he wanted to do by making the sign for swinging, so they went straight out to the hammock. Afterward, she served him Butter Pecan from Braums and he said, "Ice...CREAM!" and pointed to each spoonful for another bite. On the walk home, we spotted baby calves in a field right next to us who huddled close to each other. Audrey asked, "Why are they hugging?" Logan repeated, "Hug!"

Mandy & I took Logan and Audrey on some adventures this Labor Day. First we dropped Elinor off with Mama Jean, and then we headed out to Natural Falls (film site of Where the Red Fern Grows), just 10 minutes from our house. 

We played on the playground, then set off on our hike on the trail that now crosses the creek and circles the small "mountain" beyond the dam. Logan fussed hard at the heat and not having stones to throw (this creek was strangely devoid of rocks) but eventually he accepted this hike for what it was and proved again that he's a natural hiker and climber. One part goes nearly vertical from the base of another creek crossing, and Logan found handholds on tree roots and rock outcroppings like they were simply a ladder going up. We enjoyed snow cones after we got back to the parking lot. 

After nap time (during which Daddy trimmed the hedges and tried cleaning the gutters), we then drove out to Flint Creek, where Logan found thousands of rocks to hurl down for that pleasing "ka-thunk" sound. We also used the inner tube to float by the falls and splash around, and all of us enjoyed twist cones before heading to Mama Jean's for baths and a tortilla soup supper. Thank God for a day of rest!