TubaDad's on a biz trip, the girls are napping, and I'm supposed to be packing

So of course I'm on the computer instead... These funny, beautiful girls are just so fun to be around lately. Ro and Ree have such strong, quirky personalities and are learning new things every day (most of which are a surprise to me—I'm constantly scrambling to recover saying "Wait! Where did you learn that?!") A few memorable moments that I don't want to forget, interspersed with some pics from this morn (they chose the outfits): 1. This week, after I parked the car in the garage and yanked out the keys, they both popped their carseats open and jumped out of the car. Yipes. 2. At Gilroy Gardens, Ree was furiously pumping the steering wheel of the miniature car back and forth when she grinned, cockily looked back at us over her shoulder, and tossed out: "I guess I'm ready to drive a real car now!" 3. Today at the mall the three of us were grabbing a quick bite. In between chomps, the girls looked around and Ree said "When will we be old enough to come to the mall by ourselves?" I nearly spit out my diet coke. I think I sputtered something incoherent about not for a loooooooooong time, and needing to be able to drive first, and gee, uhhhhhhh. Meanwhile Ro calmly took another bite and told me she had it all figured out already: "Dat alright mama, you can drop us off and drive home and den daddy can pick us up." When I called my mom to report this latest conversation, the only thing she could say was "Oh Lord." 4. Last night while I was reading them bedtime stories, they both (at separate times and for different reasons) said "Mama, will you pause the book for one mitten?" (one minute) Heh. Guess they've gotten a smidge used to using remotes. 5. They both love to help out. And the more important the perceived job, the better. Unfortunately, this lately translates to wanting to "make breakfast" for TubaDad and me. Which means they get out some bowls, pour cereal, pour the milk, and in the process dump a massive quantity of something on the floor. Seriously. Every single time. I don't even know how many boxes of Special K we've gone through this month—maybe 10?—but I'm betting that we've only consumed about one box. 6. They've learned the whole chorus to the Doobie Brothers "Give Me the Beat Boys" and dance around while belting it out (that's what they're doing in the last three pics). Sweet girls. Dang they've changed a lot this year... Alrighty, off to tackle those suitcases.