The Parrillo Family

There isn't many things that are more "All-American" than a little girl, her bestie, their wagon taking in a glorious Memorial Day Parade.  That's exactly what we did yesterday!  Ellie was joined in her Radio-Flyer with her cousin Julianna.

This is more than two months late, but we have had at least one *other* thing going on our lives so I missed posting about it.  But, this was too important in both Ellie - and my - life to skip over. In early March, we went down to Orlando with the entire Parrillo clan (along with the Marini family) to spend a few days with Mickey Mouse and friends.  There were 18 of us.  Yes...18.  And it was a blast. We stayed at the Polynesian and rode the monrail everywhere we went.  Thanks to the planning of Dorothy, Vic, and Mary Jane, we had almost perfect logistics. And...as for the actual parks?  Eloise couldn't have had more fun.  She met some of her favorites and didn't want to leave.  Will we go back?  I sure hope so. Here's a full slide-show of most of the memories of our trip.  If you are reading this in your inbox and can't see the slideshow below, click here to read it back on IamEloise.com .

Today was a big day for Eloise.  She met her "Uncle" Jackson for the first time today at Grammy and Grandad's house.   I know that I think Ellie is the cutest kid in every room she enters, but with Jackson's arrival into the Moran family, I think she has a little bit of competition in the cute-department.

As my little daring grows, she's starting to get not only a lot smarter, but she's also starting to fill out some of the things we've been using for the past year or so.  In this case, that means both her bike helmet and trailer.  What was - just last year - barely able to sit on top of her head with the straps as tight as they can go now fits properly.   So happy to see her develop, but this is just one more reminder to her dear-ole-Dad that my little baby is growing up.  And fast. I love taking her out on the bike and hearing her cheer us on from behind in the trailer.  With her being 2 and a 1/2 now, the possibilities for bike trips around town (and beyond) are endless.  Can't wait to take her out again all summer long.

Happy Mother's Day, Momma! Here's a full slideshow of all the activities from Mother's Day this year.  If you are reading this in your inbox and can't see the photos below, click here to read them back on her site . This Ellie's 3rd Mother's Day.  Check out the post and photos from 2011 here .  I can't find a post from her first year in 2010.

Good thing there weren't any paparattzi at the Naperville Dairy Queen over the weekend.  They might have been confused by this Elton John look-a-like.