The Parrillo Family

We had a great party the weekend before Christmas to celebrate Ellie's 4th Birthday party.  Here's the video of the day. If you are reading this in your email and can NOT see this video below, click here to watch the video on the site .

Can you believe it?  Eloise turned four this past month.  To celebrate, we did some of our family traditions and some new activities.  It wouldn't be a family birthday without a cupcake breakfast. After that, Nat hosted a "tea party" at our house for some of Ellie's friends.  If you've been around Ellie when there is party planning going on, you know she ADORES being a hostess.  So, this was right in her wheelhouse. Later in the afternoon, we went out for real "tea" with a party at American Girl with her cousin and sister Sadie.  They even brought their dolls! We ended the night with pizza and cake at Uno's downtown with Noonie and Grammy and Granddad joining us. The party didn't stop on her actual birthday.  We hosted some family for a party a few days later. Eloise is such a lucky girl to have her family join her for these celebrations.  With her birthday falling so close to Christmas, we know we're the lucky ones to h...

We've come a LONG way since that very first Christmas with our one-week-old Eloise .  After a great night at Noonie and Papa's on Christmas Eve, we woke up early as Eloise came into our room to tell us that Santa had visited.  After opening all our presents (well...to be honest, Sadie wasn't all that interested in opening stuff, so some of her presents just stayed wrapped under the tree!) and eating our traditional breakfast of Kirschbaum's coffee cake, we packed up the family truckster and headed out to Naperville for Christmas morning round two at the Moran's. The girls couldn't have had more fun opening presents with their aunts/uncles and Grammy and Granddad.  We all even had matching shirts thanks to Grammy! As both Ellie and Sadie get older, each Christmas season gets better and better.  While I'm pretty sad to say goodbye to Christmas for a while, I can't wait until next year to see Ellie and Sadie's eye's light up when the season s...

Here's a video of our visit to Noonie and Papa's house for Christmas Eve 2013.  If you are reading this in your email and can NOT see the video above, click here to watch the video on our site .

Christmas Eve at Noonie and Papa's house is epic.  At least, that's how I always remember it.  And...that's how I'm hoping my two girls will remember it, too! We packed up the girls and headed down to Frankfort for the full day of festivities.  We played games, eat lots of snacks, went to church and sat in the way, way, back and even had a visit from Santa.  It was a perfect day and one I hope the girls will remember! There's a ton of photos, so if you are reading this in your email and can NOT see the slideshow below, click here to see all of the photos .

Just like last year , we're wrapping up all the Parrillo Family activities in one post because we include this web address in our Christmas Card.  (Hi to those of you visiting after getting the card?!?!) We've had a great year and our family experience so much together.  We're blessed and fortunate to have been able to share these memories and experiences with so many of you.    Here's to an even better 2014. Milestones Eloise's 3rd Birthday (yes...her *actual* birthday was in 2012.  But...the post was put up in 2013!) Sadie at 8 months Eloise's 1st Daddy/Daughter Dance Eloise riding her bike BY HERSELF! Sadie at 10 months Sadie's 1st Joke Ellie's 1st Rainbow Cone 1st Major League Baseball game for both girls Eloise's First Day of School - 2013 Sadie's 1st Steps Eloise Performs "Baby Beluga" on Stage Holidays Easter 2013 Father's Day 2013 4th of July in Michigan Halloween - 2013 Travel We took a tri...

This weekend, we took the girls to see the Big Guy and as you can see above, it was a surprisingly mixed experience.  We first tried to go see Santa at Macy's on State Street after a trip to the Walnut Room with Noonie and all the girl's cousins, but that line was waaaaay too long.  So, we called an audible and tried the line at the Christkindle Market at Daley Plaza in the Loop .  Nat braved the cold, while I took the girls in the Pedway to wait out the line.  We arrived just in time. And...Natalie had a plan.  She talked to Eloise about 'being brave' and take a look?!?  It worked!  Eloise even responded to one of Santa's questions and even gave him a shy 'high five'.    Don't believe me?  Check out this video.  ( If you are reading this in your email and can NOT see the video, click here to watch the video .) Sadie, however, made us proud with her "Stranger Danger" reaction.  Pretty perfect photo. Here's a look at ...

One year later and she's gotten bigger and even more interested in her Christmas Train.   Here's last year's post with the photo with Ellie and her Christmas Train from Papa.  We moved the layout and expanded it a bit, too! Sadie has been down there a few times and gets mesmerized by the train going around the oval!

As is tradition, the day after Thanksgiving, we pack up the Family Truckster and head down to Braidwood with the Moran Clan to cut down a few Christmas Trees.  The Morans take two and we get our (slightly) smaller Fraser Fir for our living room. Here's the post and photos from our trip to the Farm in 2012 . Here's the post and photos from our trip to the Farm in 2011 . Here's the post and photos from our trip to the Farm in 2010 . This was Sadie's second trip to the tree farm and she was *much* more into the whole process.  She had some time to bond with her Godfather Charlie, too! As Eloise gets older, it is fun to watch her through the prism of these traditions.  She started attending in our hiking backpack back in 2010 .  This year?  She was in on the action of sawing and dragging the trees to the truck! If you are reading this in your email and can NOT see the slideshow below, click here to view all the photos .  

Earlier this month, our little Eloise took to the 'stage' for a performance of "Baby Beluga" with 12 other 3 and 4 year olds at the Elmhurst Park District. This is the 2nd performance for her.   You can see the 1st one from back here in May where she did some ballet . Baby Beluga was a singing and dancing performance, but Eloise also had ONE line!  She had been practicing it for the past month and (at times!) she was confident and ready. When the big day came, her line was up first and there were some performers who didn't fare too well and went off wailing right when she was supposed to deliver.  She was already shy, but that seemed to make it worse.  She fought through and made all of us proud.  She (very quietly!) delivered her line:  "I'm so very tired, I can't seem to wake.  My head is all fuzzy and my bones still ache." She was lucky to have both Grammie and Noonie in the audience along with Nat, Sadie and myself. Although she w...

This fall, all of Noonie and Papa's Grandkids (there's nine of them now!) get together for a family photo.  If you are on my parent's Christmas Card List, you've likely seen the past years editions. This year, we were able to take a few extra photos of the girls.  Here's Ellie with her bestie cousin.  And below is Sadie with her favorite caretaker cousin!

Or...as she calls it, a "Coook-ah".  Compare this with Eloise telling us that she wants to go to Home Depot ( see the video here ). SD is a little bit older than 16 months in this video.  Ellie was 22 months, so she's a bit further along. If you are reading this in your email and CAN NOT see the video above, click here to see Sadie asking for her cooking back on the site .

This year, we crammed a lot of Halloween into a short period of time.  Due to our travels, we had just the week before Halloween to get everything Halloween-related into the schedule.  That included a visit to Sonny Acres for pumpkins, carving said pumpkins, and Halloween day/night festivities. Last year, Ellie went as her namesake: Eloise.  Sadie was an owl .  This year, Nat really did it up and Ellie was one of her favorites:  Twighlight Sparkle, a My Little Pony.  And Sadie was Glinda the Good Witch from Wizard of Oz. Despite the rain, the girls made it out in the neighborhood.  Eloise even had to come home once to unload the candy because her bag was getting too heavy. Ellie even went to school with her bestie - her cousin - and they both wore their costumes.  Ellie as Twilight Sparkle and her cousin as Pippi Longstocking. To see how much the girls have grown, check out these posts: Halloween in 2012 Halloween in 2011 Hallow...

See that expression on Ellie's face?  That's the look of finally figuring out that she was going to Disneyland as she pulls up to the gates on the People Mover.  We told Ellie that we were going to California to visit her Uncle Charlie , but we didn't tell her that we were going to see Mickey as part of the trip. After arriving, we spent all day at the parks and made it all the way to the end of the night where both girls fell asleep in their stroller. Both Sadie and Ellie had a great time.  Ellie got a REAL treat when one of her favorite princesses - Merida - tried extra hard to get Ellie out of her bashful shell.  She came out of her character corral, spent some time trying to convince Ellie to smile and even sat next to her in the stroller.  Check out the photo below. For her part, Sadie fell in love with Sully from Monsters Inc. After Disney, we spent the rest of the weekend with the Morans that included a stop in Venice to see the body builders an...

Some of you may recall Ellie's first attempt at organized sports.   Here's the post from her playing 'Biddy Sports' from back in March of this year .  This fall, we gave it another go by playing "Biddy Soccer" with Coach Ed. After a little bit of warming up to the whole experience, Ellie really started to dig in and participate.  In fact...during one of their little "games", she even scored a goal! Every Saturday morning this fall, we spent an hour out on the soccer field and (as of now!), Ellie said she even wants to do more.  So we're going to sign up for more this winter.  Who knows...maybe she'll end up being a little bit of an athlete.  Maybe not.

Every fall, we make a trip down to Champaign to see the Fighting Illini football team, walk around campus, and relive the glory days.  This year, we were joined by the girls Cousins and their Noonie and Papa.  The game itself was great.  The Illini pounded Miami of Ohio so we were able to leave the game a bit early and head to the best pizza place in all of Champaign-Urbana:  Papa Dels. Ellie has been to Memorial Stadium a few other times.   Here she is in 2011 .   And in 2010 .   And even a Spring game in 2012 .  We went last fall with SD, but I can't seem to find the photos of that visit. This year, my dad and I were part of the Legacy Tunnel on the field, but Nat, my mom and the two girls were even able to get down on the field to be with the cheerleaders. Check out the last photo of this post.  That's Eloise 'headin' for the hills' because she was too bashful to participate with the cheerleaders. A trip is always enjoyable, but...

Back in September, we took the girls up to Michigan for a day with their Noonie and Papa and ALL of their cousins.  We had great weather and while the selection at Jollay Orchards weren't great (they did, however have Honeycrisp!), we had a great time. If you are reading this in your email and can NOT see the slideshow below, click here to see all the photos .

Last weekend, we went out to a program that the Elmhurst Park District calls "Touch-A-Truck".  We've gone in years past, but we had a lot of fun this year because Ellie really loved climbing on (and in) all the trucks, vehicles and (gasp!) even a helicopter!  (That's it above). Sadie didn't get in on the action too much - being stuck in the stroller most of the time, but we did sneak her into a few photos. The difference in confidence level in Eloise from one year to the next is remarkable.  Last year, she was too bashful to even take a sticker from a fireman, let alone board the fire engine by herself.  This year?  She stormed right up to every truck and made herself at home. If you are reading this in your email and can NOT see the full slideshow below, click here to watch the photos on the site .