Big girls - huge!

We've been saying since we got here that we think the girls are growing before our eyes - we're pretty confident that Elena has grown at least an inch and several pounds in the last month, and even Clara isn't as itsy-bitsy as she was just this fall. It's amazing. So here are pictures of the girls doing things we wouldn't have fathomed even six months ago.

Climbing trees! Okay, they didn't actually climb up themselves, but they asked to go up the trees, were able to with some assistance, and sat on their own.

And they've started ASKING for haircuts! We know lots of kids who are afraid of them, but this was their pick of something fun to do, and they had a blast.

It doesn't hurt that haircuts usually end with lollipops!

And today we were able to take the girls to their first amusement park! Nana Rose had the idea to take the girls to Encanto park, which is a park in the middle of Phoenix that has a small (little-kid-oriented) amusement park that Nana Rose, G-Daddy, and Steve all went to when they were young. This carousel has been on the property since 1948 - and the girls were happy to join the generations of people who have enjoyed these "neighs!"

So, okay, they've been on carousels before. But on this trip they have taken a liking to boats. They want to ride G-Daddy's boat that sits on its trailer out in the garage, and were taken on a ride around the lake to look at Christmas lights. Christina wasn't sure they were ready for something like this on their own, but look how they took to driving their OWN boats!

They were thrilled. Special thanks to Glenn, the attendant who pretended not to notice Christina's crazy overbearingness (yes, that's her down below standing INSIDE the ride the whole time the girls were there!) and who walks through pushing the boats around so the kids don't get stuck (didn't you always hate being the one in the corner in bumper cars?).

And if you can ride a horse and drive a boat, you can pilot a helicopter, right? Of course right!

Finally, big girls need a big girl car - check out this hotrod the girls picked on their own to drive.

All told, the girls each rode three horses, drove a car, piloted a helicopter, and steered a boat. And then, they got their faces painted with the picture of their choice.

We were so, so happy!

It was a wonderful day! And even though you can see from the chart below that the girls might still be wee in the general measurements of the world, they are getting so so big in our eyes! Thanks G-Daddy and Nana, for so many fun new experiences.