The Parrillo Family

Welp...we finally did it.  Nat and I went on a vacation to Walt Disney World (gasp!) without our kids!  Yep.  And...we had an amazing time.  We were there to run the 2017 Wine and Dine Half Marathon which was a makeup for the canceled Half Marathon in January of this year.  You can see how Nat ran a 'bandit' half to make up for it at the Polynesian here in a post from earlier this year .  Nat ran a half marathon in Oak Brook back in 2013 that you can read about here . This race, however, was something that we decided to do together.  That meant training together (when we could) and running together, despite my speed being a lot slower than Natalie's!  Even though she was literally running circles around me during the race, she stuck with me and we finished together.  Our time wasn't record-setting, but that wasn't because we were just slow.  We also spent some time enjoying the festivities.  Here we are on the Tower of Te...

The girls both had a few days off from school around Columbus Day so we had planned to take them down to our favorite place: Walt Disney World for a quick Halloween-oriented trip.  We've been there just a few times, so we are able to take the pace slow and try things that we've never tried before. I know the kids have fun, but I think that *I* have the most fun! Check out all three of them in Disney Halloween gear posing in front of the Castle.  Eloise is *really* into Dab'ing these days. This was also a big trip for SD.  She was able to - on her own - shoot the gun on the Buzz Lightyear ride...scoring 13,200!  Big girl!  She was so proud. We also were able to partake in a new experience that included some great seats for the projection show on the castle and fireworks.  They also treated us to an all-you-can-eat dessert buffet.  SD was in heaven.   And her big sister Eloise thought she was VERY fancy with the sparkling c...

We made a last-minute decision to head down to our favorite place Walt Disney World last weekend.  And we had so much fun!  And met lots of characters. The kids met Peter Pan.  And he was as good as you'd imagine.  He spent lots of time with all three kids. The girls met Cruella DeVille, but Frankie was too scared to go see her! And while Nat and the girls were riding Soarin' at Epcot, Frankie and I went to meet Baymax.  He was awfully cool. We found time to check out the newly-opened Pandora at Animal Kingdom.  We were all in awe.   And Eloise posed in front of the now-famous "Mossy wall". We also tried the new "MinnieVan" service.  Disney's version of Uber.  The vehicles are adorable.  And a trip wouldn't be complete without Mickey bars, right? We rode plenty of rides.  Check out Nat and Eloise in the back row of Splash Mountain. Dole wh...

For Spring Break this year, we joined up with the girls cousins and went down to visit Mickey the Mouse at Walt Disney World.  Where else, right? This was our 11th trip to WDW and while each trip is different, this one was very special because we got to share it with Noonie and our family.  My sisters brought their kids down and we were able to wander around the parks together for a few days. Having Noonie there was great, not just because she's a big help with our kids, but because we get to see the kid-at-heart come out when we're trying to keep up with her!  My goodness...Noonie is a machine!  She walked every mile with us and rode every ride.  Simply amazing. Aunt Sharon and G & I were a special treat, too.  We've been to visit Disney World with the Gooz a few times including a trip in 2015 and in 2014  and all the way back in 2012 - when we were total Disney rookies. This trip, Aunt Linda and Uncle Shaun, along with C & J came...