The Parrillo Family

One recent weekend, Nat was out of town.  That meant that a special "Daddy Sunday Funday" as the kids called it was in order. We were busy and did things that I knew the kids would love and that Nat probably wouldn't love to do as they're mostly obnoxious.  Yeah..obnoxious.  But that's what happens when Dad is alone for a weekend, right? Alright, without further delay, here's how we spent a recent Sunday: Started the day at Chuck-e-Cheeses where we played tons of games.  And watched a show.  No food, though.  The kids loved collecting the tickets.  (But I was disappointed with the prizes!) After that, we went to the All Aboard Diner where they deliver our cheeseburgers by model train.   The kids loved it.  The Beef was in his element! Then we had to work off the calories, so off we went to SkyZone to jump on the trampolines for an hour.  Look at how high Eloise was getting! Frankie had to be hauled out...

For the second year in a row, I was able to bring both Sadie and Eloise downtown with me for "Take Your Kids To Work Day" yesterday to participate in what Edelman Public Relations calls "Edelkids Day". Here's the post showing last year's activities . The kids were so excited about going to my office and we talked all about it in the days leading up to our adventure.  I gave them the 'authentic' version of my day including a train ride on Metra and even had them listen in on a few conference calls.  I know they had fun, but as you would expect:  I had even more fun and loved every minute of it.  Wish they could come with me everyday!  (well...kinda.) Here's how the day went: We started with a ride on the Metra Rail.  It was raining, so the kids braved it out on the platform with me getting wet for a bit.  So glad we got a seat.  Last year, we had to sit in the stairs! I normally walk about 20 minutes across town once I get off the tra...

We've posted here on the family blog about model trains before, but they are usually timed to around Christmastime when we break out our 'Christmas Train' .  This year, we set up a train at Papa's house because we didn't have the space to do it ourselves.   The kids had fun running it when we went over there and this was the first year Frankie really got into the whole thing. So, it was no surprise that he gravitated towards his own train when we set up a mini train line on the table this weekend.  He played with it for a while and kept saying "choo choo"... His cousin has a MASSIVE, awesome train table set up in his basement and we played with it a few times.  Ever since, he's been talking about trains.  Until we move to our new house, this little mini setup will have to do.  Once we're in, his train line can expand! Here's a video of Frankie and his train.  If you're reading this in your email and can't see the video below, clic...

Late in April, Edelman (where I work) participated in the annual 'Take Your Kids To Work Day' that happens at offices around the country.   I've taken the kids to work before.   Here's a post and some photos from 2010 when Eloise made her first visit to Google .  And, here are some photos of Eloise dressed up for Halloween in her Eloise costume when she came to a Halloween party at the Google office in 2012 .   But, this year was the first time that I was able to take both girls - without Frankie and Nat - to the office to participate in the full day of activities. The morning started with the normal walk to the train in Elmhurst followed by a ride on Metra to the station in Chicago.  After that, we walked down Randolph all the way to the Aon Center.  I pointed out the Sears Tower (and we talked to Granddad on the phone so he could tell the girls about how his Dad was involved at the Tower) and stopped for donuts for breakfast. The team at ...

One year later and she's gotten bigger and even more interested in her Christmas Train.   Here's last year's post with the photo with Ellie and her Christmas Train from Papa.  We moved the layout and expanded it a bit, too! Sadie has been down there a few times and gets mesmerized by the train going around the oval!

Before Christmas 2012 got too far in the rearview window, I thought it would be nice to document a piece of our Christmas traditions:  Our Christmas train.  Or...as she likes to call it:  Ellie's Christmas Train. For the second year, we put up a Lionel train - but after doing a simple oval on the floor last year, with the help of Uncle Bill, we put up a 5x9 table complete with an overpass.  The whole train thing starts and ends with my father who has had trains throughout his whole life.  In fact, he has the locomotives from when he was just a little kids still!  Each year, at Christmastime, he would pull them out and we'd run them around the Christmas tree or in the basement.  That was until I became a teenager and I lost interest.  Fast forward 15 years and when Ellie was born, my dad gave me my own train set.  With a little help from his basement stash of train cars and buildings, I began to build our own line.  For the first time...