The Parrillo Family

The kids woke up this morning to a total Winter Wonderland.  And the best.news.ever.  A Snow Day!  We were hit with about six inches of heavy, heavy snow (I should know....I had to shovel it!) and that meant that the buses weren't running.  I remember quite fondly snow days when I was a kid.  Felt like a total bonus day.  Our kids couldn't wait to get outside and take it all in.  So, I had them out helping me with the driveway before seven am.  Then, we got them in the backyard so they could have a ball running around (and we could go inside and watch from the warmth).  They got along so well and seemed to genuinely have a ball. I covered a "Snow Day" here on the family blog back in 2013 , but back then it was just Eloise and SD.  Action shot:

One of the great family traditions we have that kicks off the holiday season annually is a visit to pick out (and cut down!) our Christmas tree.  Welp, this year, we have tree(s).  Two of them.  And we cut them both down over the weekend. We've been going to the Tammen Tree Farm down in Braidwood for as long as I've been a part of the Moran family Christmas Tree tradition and have been posting the photos since 2010. Here's the post and photos from our trip to the Farm in 2016 . I don't seem to have posted about Christmas Tree Day in 2015? Here's the post and photos from our trip to the Farm in 2014 . Here's the post and photos from our trip to the Farm in 2013 . 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 year, we had our full crew and found our 'big' tree in one of the fields.  Yo...

This past weekend was my absolute, hands-down, favorite night of the year:  The annual Daddy-Daughter Dance at St. Mary's of Gostyn in Downers Grove.  This year....if you couldn't tell from the photos,  the theme was a Luau.  Loved that.  No suit.  Just a Hawaiian shirt and the girls were able to get all doll'd up in their most colorful flower dress, too! Here we are out on the front porch: We went out to a nice dinner with some friends (see the photo of the girls and their two classmates - well...Ellie's classmates!) out after dinner right before we headed to the dance.  I love being able to spend the evening with two of my favorite girls all alone, and I'm grateful for the opportunity to do it with other Dads.  With Eloise being in 3rd grade, in some schools, they start to taper off in terms of older girls attending the dance with their Dads.  The good news is that at SMG, they have plenty of eighth graders there!  So, ...

As we've done the past few years, we kicked off the Christmas season with a visit to meet Santa at Wannemakers for their annual Christmas Open House in early November. It is a nice little setup with the kids being able to meet with Santa and Mrs. Claus and the past few years, they've even had reindeers.  This year?  The reindeers were "sick", so it was a donkey - which is just fine with us! Here's the photos from this same visit in 2017 . Here's the photos from this same visit in 2016 . Here's the photos from this same visit in 2015 . You can see that SD and Frankie are right in there with the Big Guy.  Eloise?  She's over, a short distance away in her own personal, private space. Go flip back through the 2017, 2016 and 2015 photos.  Eloise has the same position every year.  Not too close.  Just enough to be in the photos.  Back in 2012, she was traumatized , I think.  She squirmed out of Santa's arms, but hasn't sat on his lap ...

Every time an election comes around it seems that it is billed as "the most important election in a generation".  But, this one earlier this week, did indeed, feel different.  And important.  Nat and I went to vote after work and - as usual -  took the three kids in with us.  She took the girls and I took the Beef.  And despite the fact that our votes mostly canceled each other out (and she ended up voting for all winners while I voted for mostly losers!), we were there to teach our kids something:  that voting matters.  And is important to be engaged politically.  Nat has done a great job educating the kids about why participation matters and even encouraged them to help her with her march with the #resistance .  We've been doing this since they were born.  Here's the photos of this same crew in the Spring Primary election this year .  And here's Nat and the kids in a more hopeful time right after she voted for a woman ...