The Parrillo Family

Eloise has been a Daisy in the Girl Scouts organization for the past few years.  Here's a post where she was showing off her brand new vest back a few years ago .  This year, as a second grader, she gets to 'move up' to being a Brownie.  And the troop she's a part of at SMG in Downers Grove does a nice ceremony that involves horses and a bridge that symbolizes the young ladies 'bridging to Brownies'.  It is awfully sweet and since it involved horses, Ellie was all over it! Here's a quick video of Eloise on the horse below:

If y ou look back in the archives to this post from August of 2012 , you'll see a photo of young Eloise -who was about 2 and a half back then - up on a horse for the first time on a Moran family trip to Sea Island, Georgia.  We were down there with the entire Moran Clan and experience the magical place called Sea Island for the first time. We recently went BACK to Sea Island for Easter this year ( here's the post that shows those photos ), and in addition to spending time at the pool and beach, the girls had some time at the stables and got on horses. Since our last trip to Sea Island, Grammy has gotten the girls on horses from time-to-time and all that work to bring horses into our lives has worked!   Here's all the posts showing the girls on horses . The session that Nat signed the girls up for included time riding the horse and brushing/grooming/learning about the horses. Here's Ellie walking with her horse from the Barn to the area where they were going to r...

Over the weekend, Nat, the girls, and their horse-loving cousin went to a horse show with Grammie out in Oswego.  This wasn't a 'stand-on-the-sidelines-and-watch-horses-type-of-show", rather it was hands-on, or rather sit-on. Ellie got up on this white horse and by all accounts, did a great job holding on.  This wasn't her first time with horses.  She was out at the barn with Grammie last September  and was up on a horse in Sea Island last August . Might horses rise up Ellie's in-brain hierarchy to rival princesses and the color pink?  It seems to be on it's way up! Nat also was able to bring along Ellie and Sadie's horse-loving cousin.  She got on the horse, too!  But...she's been in classes and camps and on horses before, so she knew her way around!  Sounds like it was a really fun afternoon inside the barn. A trip to the barn wouldn't be complete without a post-ride meal.  Here Ellie and her cousin chat each other ...

Recently, Eloise was able to spend a few hours with her Grammy at 'the barn' where she helped tend to the horses.  She was so brave to feed Kirby the apple (above) and to meet and then help brush the pony Brit (below). This wasn't her first time dealing with horses.  She's visited Grammy's horses before, but she also rode one last month ! She loves spending time with her Grammy....but it seems like she loves being around the horses.  Just like her Grammy!

Can you believe it?  Ellie's Grammy got her on a horse!  All that early work with the horse toys and horse clothes have clearly paid off.  She looks so polished already, doesn't she? We spent some time down in Georgia and Florida this week.  We'll post the photos of Ellie's (and her sister's) trip soon.