The Parrillo Family

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, ...

I might be the luckiest guy in the world!  Why?   Because 2016 is the year that I get to go to TWO, yep...two Daddy Daughter dances. Because of some scheduling quirks, the girls' schools moved their Daddy Daughter dance up to the fall.   Here's the post from earlier this Spring when we got all doll'd up and went to the rodeo-themed dance at Immanuel Lutheran School here in Elmhurst . For history's sake, here's some photos of the very first one of these that we went to back in 2013 .  Then, it was just Ellie and me.   And here's the Dance from 2014 . This year, we followed the same blueprint.  I bought both girls some special wrist corsages, we went out to a special dinner at Francesca's in Elmhurst, made a stop in the photo booth (see pic below), at a bunch of snacks and danced our hearts out all together out on the gym floor. I know that the girls really love these nights, but I know I love and cherish them even more.  I'm so lucky that I g...

This year, I was able to take BOTH girls to the annual Daddy-Daughter Dance for the first time.  SD was *finally* old enough to be invited to the party.  For some reason, I didn't post any photos from last year, but trust me...we went! This year, we decided to change things up and NOT go to the Dance hosted by the Elmhurst Park District, but to try the one at the girl's school.  And it was great! We started the evening by getting all 'doll'd up' and posing for pictures with Nat.  As usual, I went out and picked up both girls some wrist corsages - which were a hit! I know that part of the point of the night is to create some special time between dad and girls and to make them feel special.  But you know what?  In thinking about the night, *I'm* the one who feels special.  It is such a joy to watch these two different, wonderful young girls grow up.  Eloise is becoming so mature and poised and deliberate.  And SD is figuring things out ...

Last weekend, I had the pleasure of taking Ellie to our second ever Daddy-Daughter Dance. You can see the post I wrote last year here and much of it still holds true.  We got just as 'gussied up' as last year, still danced a bunch together, and I likely had even more fun that Ellie did.  We even were able to go out to a 'fancy' dinner with Ellie's cousins from down the street and their Dad (Ellie's Uncle Marc). This was billed and has been a special night for the two of us.  We don't do all that much 'special' that involves just the two of us and Ellie seemed to really enjoy having some time with me.  And...I had a great time seeing her mix it up with some of her friends, dance a little bit, and feel like a princess - even if just for a night. Of course, her favorite part was getting her own flowers!  Just like last year.  (Or...maybe it was the decorate-your-own cupcake bar at the Dance!)  Looking at the photos from last year, it is incred...

Last week, I had the pleasure of taking - as my date - the lovely Eloise to the annual Elmhurst Daddy Daughter dance.  The theme was "Under the Sea", so that part alone had Ellie excited because of her love of Disney's Ariel.  The dance is set up for girls from 3 to (I think) 8.  That means this was the first year that we were eligible to attend.   We got all 'gussied' up as I put on my best suit and Ellie put on her fanciest dress.  Even though she desperately wanted to wear a sparkly/glittery Disney princess dress, somehow her Mother came through and convinced her that wearing a formal dress would be more appropriate.   That night, Ellie also received her first corsage.  It was a red wrist corsage with a pearl-ish wristband.  She ADORED it.  That might have been the cutest part of the night.  Here she is admiring her pretty flowers. As we left the house, just Daddy and Ellie, we both were excited. ...