The Parrillo Family

After a good run of more than 25 years, this past weekend, we said goodbye to Paw Paw Lake and Papa's place up there.  I have so many memories from my childhood up there and I'm so fortunate that my kids got to begin to grow up there.  We spent many a night at Noonie and Papa's place and having 'lake life' is so important to me and my family.  It was a joy to be able to live there all these years. Here's Ellie and SD along with their biggest cousin saying their respects and farewell to Paw Paw Lake.  I have a feeling that this isn't 'goodbye'.  More of a 'See you later'. So...so long Paw Paw Lake.  Thanks for all the fish.

One of the annual traditions that Nat has been able to keep up is peach picking during our summer visits to Coloma.  On the trip that we all went on earlier this month -  that included that stop at Lake Michigan and the dunes that I posted here - Nat and her sister also took the kids peach picking.   I posted details and photos from our peach picking adventure last year here .  Pretty remarkable how much our three have grown in that one year.  Frankie was in a carrier!   And here's the post from peach picking in 2014 when Nat was pregnant with the Big Beef and SD was battling a bad case of HF&M.   In 2013, we had a very small Sadie and Eloise who was getting so big .   And here's a post from 2011 when it was just the three of us peach picking .  A few of these photos of Ellie really remind me of big Frank these days! I wasn't there this year, but the photos below tell the story.  The kids and their bestie c...

Earlier this month, Nat and Aunt Sisi took the kids (our three and Sisi's boy) to a visit to Lake Michigan in St. Joseph's Michigan as part of a trip to Coloma. We've been to Silver Beach a few times with the kids in downtown St. Joe's, but there's another place called Tiscornia Park that either my sister Vic or my Mom recommended and the kids loved it.  We don't get to the 'big lake' very often because we spend most of our time on Paw Paw Lake or in the pool. But, this year is special and Nat wanted to take the kids on new experiences. So, off they went.  In addition to getting in the lake, there are dunes! Sadie above is all ready to go.  She has her goggles, her life jacket and even "Mr. Ray" to float on. The Big Beef got in on the action, too. You can see him below.   He likes being in the water, but loves working in the sand.  And mostly destroying sand castles that his sisters make. Brave SD taking on the waves. Ellie...

They fight like cats and dogs one minute.  The next?   They play so well together.  Then back to fighting and screaming and...even (gasp!) biting!  Yeah...biting. But, in the end, they love each other so much.  And Nat has done an amazing job of fostering the sister love and relationship between these two.  As summer ends, I'm going to through some photos to post here on the blog, but this one was too sweet to not warrant it's own post here. These two girls are amazing and loving and - along with their brother - are the best parts of our life.

One of our traditions is to spend New Year's Eve up in Michigan as a family.  We've done it since we were married and now as a family of five, we are having more fun each year. In addition to watching the ball drop on YouTube (from last year because we do it at 9 pm.  Shhsh!  Let's not tell the girls that fact.), we also eat ice cream.  And the girls make a "Happy New Year" video. Here's the first one that Eloise created back on NYE 2011 .  It is awfully cute. And below is this year's version featuring both Ellie and Sadie :

This past weekend, we packed up the kids and drove the minivan up to Coloma for a relaxing weekend at the lake.  We spent time with Noonie and Papa at the pool, in the lake and in the sand.  And then...on Sunday morning, we woke up early and went peach picking at Jollay's Orchard in Coloma. We go up to Michigan for peaches and apples every year. Here's last year's trip in 2014 when Nat was pregnant with Frankie .  We went up in September and did mostly apple picking with a little bit of peaches.   Here's the photos from our apple picking in 2013 with the full complement of cousins .   And... here's a post from 2011 with little Eloise eating peaches at the orchard ! Sadie slept most of the way to Michigan. When we arrived, she went right out to the deck and stayed there for almost 20 minutes. Just watching the lake. This is the third year in a row that we went to Jollay's in Coloma - which is conveniently really close to Noonie and Papa's plac...

We were able to spend the long Memorial Day Weekend up in Coloma with Noonie and Papa.  The girls were ready and able to assist as the 'crew' on the boat all weekend. Here's a post from last year with both girls on the boat .  SD has really grown up in the 10 months.

We made our annual trip to Coloma Michigan for the 4th of July holiday.   Last year was our first as a family of four and our little Sadie was just a tiny thing at three weeks old! Here's the photos from 2012.  Sadie was so new! Here's the photos from 2011 .  Look at how much Ellie has grown! This year we were able to spend the holiday weekend with Nat's family up in Coloma.  Her folks as well as two of her siblings (and significant others!) came along and we crammed it into Noonie and Papa's place. Our two girls had a great time spending hours outside with their Aunt Sisi, Uncle Bill, Uncle Peter, as well as Ryan and Molly. This was Sadie's first time out in the sand and after figuring out that it isn't best to eat the stuff, had a great time making (and busting down) castles. We spent time on the boat, out on the pier fishing (with Ellie and her 'net' below!) and had a few nights of panoramic views of fireworks out on the lake.  ...