Last night after dinner, we ignored the dishes and headed down to the stream. I've been itching to take Ruby down there for quite awhile, because I had the feeling she was ready to really enjoy the water. To really swim. The last time I'd been down there with her, she was still pretty shy, only exploring the shallows, not ready to swim in the depths.

Last night, was a different story. Before we even made it to the stream crossing, she was already in and completely wet.

Then Dan started throwing her a stick, just barely into the deep water. She went bounding after it not even phased when her feet stopped touching the rocky bottom and she started to swim.

She'd bring the stick back to shore, stand as close as she could to the nearest human and shake.

Then she'd sit there whining. She'd look at Dan. Look at the stick. Look upstream where she wanted him to throw it. The communication was uncanny. Over and over and over again he played with her. Deeper. Farther. Bigger sticks.

She never tired.