The Parrillo Family

She worked so hard on selling, setting things up, sorting and delivering Girl Scout Cookies for her "Daisy" Troop this year.  She was the top seller in her Troop!  (Thanks, family!)

Earlier this year, we were able to make a quick stop at Disneyland in Anaheim with the kids as part of Uncle Charlie and Aunt Sasha's wedding.  This was our fourth time at the "Park that Walt Built" and I think I can safely say that we fall a little/bit more in love with Disneyland and California Adventure every time we go there. Here's some photos of our last visit in 2014 when Nat was pregnant with what would become Frankie ! We went in 2013 when SD was just a little thing.  Here's the photos from that trip .   And the first time we went as a family to *any* Disney park was when we went with the Morans back in 2011 when Ellie was less than two years old.  We were just a family of three back then ! This trip had some new experiences including where we stayed (yeah!  Disneyland Hotel.) and characters.  One of them was spending time in the new Star Wars Launch Bay where we met both Chewy and Darth Vader.  The girls reacted VERY differen...

Eloise recently worked on a little art project at school that was a self portrait of herself at 100 years old.  Check out what she wrote that she'll have to do when she's 100.  I think she's been hanging around with Papa and hearing all about his medications!?!   "When I am 100 years old, I will have to get so much pils."  is what she wrote.   Hilarious.

Leave it to my favorite pizza place Aurelio's Pizza to introduce my boy to the world of lollipops via the DumDums they give you with your bill.  I grew up on Aurelio's and it still is my 'pizza touchstone' of sorts, so getting DumDum's after pizza is a fond memory I have. What's amazing is that Frankie's big sister Eloise also had this moment documented.   Here's the post showing HER first lollipop .  And it was a DumDum, too.  But her's?  It was in church!  Yeah...church.  Ellie was 1 year and 5 months in that post.  Frankie is 1 year and 3 months in this post. Think Frankie liked it?  Of course he did!

Winter and the cold hasn't slowed Ellie down.  This winter, she's taken on a few new activities and is doing really well in them.  She's continued to play tennis - which I love! - but she's also started both soccer and basketball.  Both are team sports - which for us-  is one of the important aspects of this whole thing:  trying to figure out how to be a part of a team and working with others towards common goals.   The whole soccer thing has me excited and at the same time has thrown me into some weird personal flashbacks.  Before her first soccer practice (indoor, of course), we had to go out and buy her some shinguards and long socks.  As I was helping her pull them on, my mind brought up some very vivid imagery from my childhood.  I spent A LOT (I really mean *A LOT*) of my life growing up in shin guards.  Going to games, going to tournaments.  Practicing, etc.   Ellie tried soccer back in 2013 and she seemed to li...