The mother of Casey Anthony, the Florida woman accused of killing her 2-year-old daughter, broke down in tears today during her daughter's murder trial. 
 
 Cindy Anthony choked back tears as she described a playhouse built for Caylee, Casey Anthony's daughter, who was not seen for a month before anyone reported her missing in July 2008. 
 
 "It's patio stones, it's the square patio stones, we made like a four, we didn't want her to be on the grass when she was sitting in there playing," she said. 
 
 The prosecution asked Cindy Anthony to outline what kind of life Caylee Anthony was living at her grandparents' home with her mother, Casey. 
 
 At one point during the testimony, Cindy Anthony asked the judge to take Caylee's picture down from her monitor so she could try to testify without crying. 
 
 Cindy Anthony also outlined day by day, all of the lies and excuses that her daughter, Casey Anthony, told her, as to why she couldn't talk to her granddaughter. 
 
 Casey Anthony told her there'd been a car accident or she was at work or was in Jacksonville. 
 
 Caylee Anthony was last seen alive June 16, 2008, but wasn't reported missing until July 15, 2008. Her remains were found in December of that year. 
 
 Cindy Anthony's testimony comes a day after witnesses testified they smelled human decomposition in the trunk of Casey Anthony's car. 
 
 Earlier in the morning, ex-boyfriend Tony Lazzaro testified that Casey sent a text message that said, "If they don't find her, guess who gets blamed and spends eternity in jail." 
 
 Smell of Death 
 
 Anthony's father, George, said he discovered maggots and smelled "something that you never forget" when he opened the trunk of his daughter's car. 
 
 George Anthony along with wife, Cindy, arrived at a tow yard on July 15, 2008 to retrieve the Pontiac Sunfire that Casey Anthony had abandoned. 
 
 He testified that he said a quick prayer that the odor was not from his missing granddaughter or his daughter. 
 
 George Anthony said that he smelled a "pretty strong odor." 
 
 "I was very concerned about the odor," he said. "I had smelled something like that some years prior and I was concerned." 
 
 Casey Anthony's father, an ex-police officer, testified that the odor was that of a decomposing human body. 
 
 "That particular smell whenever you smell it, it's something that you never forget," George Anthony said. "It's a very distinct odor." 
 
 He did not find any dead bodies, but a bag full of trash and maggots. Forensic evidence in Anthony's car will be key in the murder trial, experts have said. 
 
 The car tested positive for chloroform and human decomposition and a strand of Caylee's hair was found in the car's trunk. 
 
 Friday morning's testimony about Casey Anthony's car marked a shift from days of former friends and family testifying about Casey Anthony's behavior in the days she knew her daughter was missing but hadn't alerted authorities. 
 
 Cindy Anthony ultimately called 911 that day to report Caylee was missing and that her daughter's car smelled like there had been a dead body in it. 
 
 The supervisor of the tow truck company that removed Casey Anthony's abandoned car while her daughter, Caylee, was missing also testified Friday that the car smelled like a dead body had been in it. 
 
 Simon Birch, the operations manager for Johnsons Wrecker Service during the summer of 2008, said the car had been on the tow yard's lot for three days when he examined the car's exterior in early July. 
 
 "I put my hand up to the glass to shield the sun and look through the windows. At that point, I did notice a fairly strong odor emanating from the vehicle," Birch said. "The instant flash in my mind was, whoah, I know what that smells like." 
 
 Birch, a 30-year veteran of the towing industry, told jurors that he can tell the difference between the smell of human decomposition and the smell of garbage. 
 
 Birch said that when he and George Anthony opened the car door, "the smell came out very instantly … very potent. It was eye opening…. In the back of my mind, I said to myself that' s the smell of decomposition." 
 
 Ashleigh Banfield's Live Tweets From Casey Anthony Courtroom ||||| Cindy Anthony described for jurors Saturday the slow torture she went through during June and July 2008 as she tried in vain to get her daughter to bring home her grandchild. 
 
 
 
 She said she went more than half a month without seeing 2-year-old Caylee — a child she had seen pretty much every day of her young life — as daughter Casey Anthony told lie after lie to explain where the little girl was. 
 
 
 
 Finally, in early July 2008, Cindy Anthony opened a MySpace account to express her desperation at being unable to locate the granddaughter she loved and missed dearly. 
 
 
 
 "It was my way of venting without yelling at her [Casey] and getting on the phone and being upset," Cindy Anthony testified. "I never got a response back from her." 
 
 
 
 Cindy Anthony's tearful testimony consumed most of Saturday's half-day session in Casey Anthony's murder trial. The 25-year-old is charged with first-degree murder in Caylee's death nearly three years ago. 
 
 
 
 The grandmother recalled a bittersweet Father's Day 2008, when she took Caylee to a Mount Dora nursing home for a visit with the child's great-grandfather. Later on, the child and grandmother swam in the above-ground pool at the Anthony home. 
 
 
 
 Then, Casey, Caylee and Cindy Anthony sat down to watch the video from earlier that day. 
 
 
 
 "That evening was a very emotional and a very special evening," Cindy Anthony said. "… Casey and I cried. It was a very special moment that the three of us shared." 
 
 
 
 The next day, June 16, 2008, is when granddad George Anthony said he last saw Caylee alive. And it’s the day Casey Anthony’s defense lawyers say the child drowned. 
 
 Cindy Anthony testified that her daughter told her she was taking Caylee to see nanny “Zanny,” and that mother and child were “just going to crash” there. 
 
 
 
 Jurors have now seen that this was not true: Video captured Casey and her then-boyfriend Anthony Lazzaro at a Blockbuster renting a video that night. Lazzaro also testified Casey Anthony was with him. 
 
 
 
 But the next day, June 17, Casey Anthony told her mother that she, Caylee and the nanny were headed to Tampa on work-related business through Universal Studios. 
 
 
 
 This was another lie: Casey was not associated with Universal Studios at that time. 
 
 
 
 By the end of that week, Cindy Anthony said, her daughter told her Caylee was at a Tampa theme park. Then the nanny was in a car accident, further delaying their return home. 
 
 
 
 By June 24, Cindy Anthony learned her daughter had had a run-in with her father at their home, but Casey continued with the injured-nanny story. 
 
 
 
 "I was missing Caylee very much at that time," Cindy Anthony testified. And that's when she started sleeping with one of Caylee's teddy bears. "After four or five nights, then I noticed it was missing," she said. 
 
 
 
 By June 27, Cindy Anthony hoped her daughter would bring Caylee to her workplace, but that never happened. 
 
 
 
 Instead, Casey Anthony told her she had met up with an old flame who had a young son and a hotel suite near Universal. The mother and daughter would stay with them. 
 
 
 
 "I thought, 'Who would want to interfere with that?' " Cindy Anthony said. "She was living in my home, but she was an independent person … ." 
 
 
 
 But by the week of June 30, Cindy Anthony testified, Casey Anthony continued to avoid her mother. Cindy Anthony said she showed up at Universal, thinking she would meet her daughter and granddaughter there. That's when Casey Anthony told her over the phone that they were in Jacksonville. 
 
 
 
 "It was a shock, and I was upset," Cindy Anthony said, adding that she was unsure where her daughter and granddaughter were at that point. "I realized she had lied to me the past couple of days." 
 
 
 
 Her son, Lee Anthony, indicated Casey Anthony might actually have plans to spend time with friends in Orlando for the Fourth of July weekend. That turned out to be true, according to earlier testimony. 
 
 
 
 "I was just really angry, upset and felt betrayed," Cindy Anthony said. 
 
 
 
 She also confirmed she never met "Zanny" despite hearing about the nanny frequently. And she said she continued to seek out this person until six weeks ago. By then it was clear the defense team planned to pursue an accidental-drowning theory and point blame at the Anthony family for Casey Anthony's lying. 
 
 
 
 Anthony family attorney Mark Lippman said after Saturday's testimony: "They don't believe this defense at all. It's absolutely ridiculous … ." 
 
 
 
 When asked whether the Anthonys were abandoning their support of Casey Anthony, Lippman said, "They support the justice system is the best way to put it. They hope for the best." 
 
 
 
 Casey Anthony has sat solemn and red-faced during her mother's testimony but appeared to tear up and wipe her eyes as Cindy Anthony described a playhouse purchased for Caylee around the time of her second birthday. 
 
 
 
 During a recess, Casey Anthony seemed to break down, crying and speaking as one of her attorneys comforted her. 
 
 
 
 Jurors on Saturday again heard from Lazzaro, Casey Anthony's ex-boyfriend, who detailed their text messages after Anthony revealed in mid-July 2008 that Caylee was missing. In those, she acted as if Caylee were still alive. 
 
 
 
 "I am the worst [expletive] person in the entire world. Don't know what I'll do if something happens to her," she wrote, but later added, "If they don't find her, guess who gets blamed and spends eternity in jail." 
 
 
 
 Her trial resumes Tuesday morning. 
 
 
 
 acolarossi@tribune.com or 407-420-5447. ||||| The mother of a Florida woman accused of killing her 2-year-old daughter gave a tour of the family home, including a playhouse built for the toddler and the above-ground pool the defense team claims the girl drowned in. 
 
 Casey Anthony listens to the testimony of Mallory Parker during Anthony's trial at the Orange County Courthouse, Friday, May 27, 2011 in Orlando, Fla. Anthony, 25, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree... (Associated Press) 
 
 Simon Birch, an operations manager for a tow truck company, testifies during the Casey Anthony trial at the Orange County Courthouse, Friday, May 27, 2011 in Orlando, Fla. Birch towed Anthony's abandoned... (Associated Press) 
 
 Mallory Parker tries to compose herself during her testimony in the Casey Anthony trial at the Orange County Courthouse, Friday, May 27, 2011 in Orlando, Fla. Parker is engaged to Lee Anthony, Casey Anthony's... (Associated Press) 
 
 Lee Anthony, brother of Casey Anthony, hugs his fiance, Mallory Parker after she testified during day 4 of the trial at the Orange County Courthouse, in Orlando, Fla., Friday, May 27, 2011. Casey Anthony... (Associated Press) 
 
 Casey Anthony is seen shopping in a detail of a surveillance video shown as evidence in the Casey Anthony trial is shown on a monitor at the Orange County Courthouse, Friday, May 27, 2011 in Orlando,... (Associated Press) 
 
 Cindy Anthony testified Saturday at her daughter's murder trial that she and Caylee went swimming on June 15, 2008 _ the last day she saw her granddaughter. She said she removed a ladder used to help Caylee get into the pool _ something she did every time the pool wasn't being used. 
 
 Casey Anthony, who is charged with first-degree murder in the toddler's summer 2008 death, wiped away tears with a tissue during her mother's testimony. Prosecutors contend Casey Anthony suffocated the girl with duct tape. If convicted, she could be sentenced to death. 
 
 Cindy Anthony was not asked directly Saturday whether she thought the young girl drowned. The trial will resume Tuesday in Orlando. 
 
 Through most of her testimony, a photo of young Caylee remained on display on television monitors along the courtroom, where evidence is displayed for the jury, media and spectators. Anthony eventually interrupted her questioning, asking prosecutors to remove the photo. 
 
 "I can't look at my granddaughter without getting upset," she said. 
 
 Casey Anthony's former boyfriend, Anthony Lazzaro, also testified Saturday about the hours after the Anthonys reported Caylee's disappearance to authorities. He described a text message exchange in which he was trying to get Casey Anthony to reveal where the toddler was. 
 
 "If they don't find her guess who gets blamed and spends eternity in jail?" Casey texted Lazzaro.
– Casey Anthony's mother had an emotional day on the witness stand today, crying throughout her testimony and at one point asking the judge to remove a photo of Caylee from her view, reports ABC News. She recounted the lies her daughter told to explain the girl's disappearance, with Casey sometimes claiming the girl was with a (nonexistent) nanny or with Casey at her (nonexistent) job. Cindy Anthony also testified that Caylee could not have reached a back-yard pool on her own and that she always removed a ladder the girl used when they were done swimming, note the Orlando Sentinel and AP. (That could shoot a hole in the defense team's claims that Caylee drowned in the pool.) One of Casey Anthony's ex-boyfriends also testified today, and he detailed texts he received from her. "If they don't find her guess who gets blamed and spends eternity in jail?" read one.