Cookout at Nana and Papa Ferrara's House

The last week of Summer vacation we went to Nana and Papa Ferrara’s house for a cookout and a nice swim in the pool.

Sophia and Daddy spent some time in the pool swimming with Nana , Papa and Ebony the dog watchinh Sophia swim all by herself in the pool.

Sophia loved spending some time on her Papa Ferrara’s lap.

Later in the day Papa took out some of Daddy’s old football stuff and told us stories about when Daddy played football. Sophia loved trying on Daddy's old football helmet from Saint Domenic Savio High School.

After a great day of stories, swimming and great food that Nana Ferrara prepared…Sophia enjoyed some ice cream with Papa, Daddy, Nana, and Mommy.

What a great way to say good-bye to the summer.

Bowling

I remember the first time that we took Sophia bowling. Her feet were so little that they didn't even have shoes to fit her.

Now look at those feet!

You know that you are a mom when you find yourself tearing up when your child does something as silly as wearing rental bowling shoes for the first time!

Sophia loved being in control at the bowling alley. She wanted to hand us the balls, press the reset button and even keep score on the computerized screen.

Sophia was great at rolling the ball down the lane but the ball usually had no speed... so it would get stuck in the alley. After about 3 trips down the alley to recover a stopped ball. Mike and I decided to pull out the bowling ramp. Sophia thought it was great to let the ball go and watch it roll down the ramp. By the time the bowl was at the end of the alley hitting the pins she already had another ball ready to be released at the top of the ramp.

At the end of our adventure, Sophia used the leveled seats as her stage and began dancing to the music. She will find places to dance anywhere she goes!

Ferrara Family Vacation~ Six Flags Safari

When I was planning this trip I wanted to do more then just drive down and back to Sesame Street. So I began asking suggestions on what to do and everyone said to try the Six Flags, NJ drive thru safari. I am so glad that I convinced Mike to do it.

Sophia and I had a blast and Mike was a little tense going in that our car insurance wouldn't cover being stepped on by giraffes. I think his tension made the trip through even better because every time an animal was close to the road Mike would tense up. It was hilarious!

When we first entered the park there were a lot of ostriches and their young close to the cars. So, I broke the first rule...never open your window....to get a picture of them. My law abiding husband quickly made me close it but not before I got their attention. So once they realized that we were there they decided to cross the street. Sophia and I were over joyed to see this....Mike, not so much!

Once all the birds crossed the street we continued on to the trail and were able to see so many animals up close. It was amazing! The zebras come up next to the car to eat and I was able to really look at their stripes. They are beautiful animals!

Along the way a curious ostrich was standing on the side of the road peeking into stopped cars. Due to the traffic jam caused by the giraffes we spent a lot of time next to the ostrich. It kept pecking at the window and looking in at us. Sophia was on my lap so she was able to enjoy this encounter as much as I did.

The best part of the safari were the giraffes.

They were standing in street and around the cars. One giraffe kept licking the top of cars and windows. Sophia thought they were eating the cars. I was so happy to get her conversation about the giraffes on video.

After about 15 minutes in a traffic jam we finally made it to the front of the line and the giraffe who moved out of the way to let cars through now decided to stand back in the street. When it came to be our turn to pass him Mike began to accelerate and the giraffe moved towards our car, so Mike stopped hoping he would continue by. This happened about two more times of Mike moving and the giraffe moving towards the car. Finally we got through but not before me shooting this video. I laugh every time I watch it because you can see the relief in Mike's face once we did get past it!

The rhinoceros were huge, a little aggressive and very close to our car! I wanted Mike to pull over so I could watch them but I figured that would send Mike over the edge so I caught a few quick pictures and moved on.

The bears were fun to watch. They were playing and swimming when we drove by. This young bear was having a blast playing in the water. Sophia loved watching him swim. She made us clap for him because he was swimming all by himself without a bubble!

The brown bears were just as beautiful!

We saw a few more animals the rest of the ride through but nothing as exciting as the first part of the Safari. Mike was much more relaxed because these animals didn't want to interact.

After 2 1/2 hours in the Safari we decided to stop at the little discovery area before exiting the park. We stretched our legs and took the final pictures of our vacation.

We started home with only one stop for dinner and to change Sophia into her pajamas before heading over the George Washington bridge for home. We got home just before midnight, left everything in the car and went to bed.

We made so many great memories and had lots of laughs. The 1st Ferrara Family vacation was a success!

Ferrara Family Vacation~ "Ringing Rock Park"

On our final day of vacation we decided to pack up the car and head out to Ringing Rock State Park in Upper Eddy Black, PA. It was about an hour from our hotel but I was very curious to see this natural phenomenon that I had read about when researching things to do on this trip.

Located within the park is a field of boulders, about 7-8 acres in size, that have an unusual property. When the rocks are struck with a hammer or another rock, they sound as if they are metal and hollow and ring with a sound similar to a metal pipe being struck.

Sophia loved climbing and hitting the rocks with the hammer.

Mike found this to be amazing too. Sophia enjoyed sitting on the rocks and telling Mike which rock to hit them since she struggled at getting herself on and over the rocks. There were a lot of large gaps between the rocks and she kept getting her foot stuck.

This spot was a beautiful place to visit and explore. Mike and I are not usually the outdoor/hiking type but this trip made us both want to try it again around here.

On the walk back to our car, Mike and Sophia went ahead of me and it gave me time to take in the beauty around me and reflect on the amazing time I had with my family on this trip.

Eventually, I caught up to my crazy family to finish the walk back to the car.

Last and final stop....Six Flag, NJ Safari!

Ferrara Family Vacation~ Sesame Street Here We Come!

It was no surprise that we were up bright and early for Sesame Street. Before Mike and I were even dressed Sophia was dressed, backpack on and waiting by the hotel room door!

She was so excited I had to take a picture of her in the elevator just to be able to capture the expression that she had on her face all morning!

No car ride to Sesame Street would be complete without a CD full of Sesame Street songs blasting on the radio and Sophia singing along!

Once at the park we had breakfast with Elmo and all his friends. It was well worth it because Sophia got to get pictures with some of the characters before the park even opened. She didn't each much because she was all over the place visiting all the characters.

After breakfast we walked around the park, took more pictures, saw shows and rode some rides.

Have no fear Sophia the Sesame Street fire fighter is here!

Mike hanging out at Louis and Maria's fix-it shop while Sophia and I took pictures (The 102 degree heat was getting to him...as was my camera!)

Sophia helping Big Bird out by checking his mail.

Sophia tried to get into the apartment to see if Maria and Gabby wanted to sit on the stairs and sing a song with her!

She only spent a minuet on the stairs before she saw Oscars can and wondered why he would not open it for her. I told her he was sleeping... so when she saw that he was awake in the parade we spent a lot of time trying to find him around the park.

Luckily, he was at the front of the park taking pictures when we were leaving. After more than 7 hours in the park Sophia and the Grouch looked and acted a lot alike!

We caught ALL the shows while we were there. Sophia's favorite show was "Elmo's Rock Concert." She could dance in front of the stage and thought that was great. We also caught the parade both days we were there.

We saw "Elmo's World Live!" and she couldn't wait for it to be over so that she could say hello to Dorothy.

After all the shows, pictures, lunch and the parade. We decided to ride a few dry rides. Her favorite was the carousel and Big Bird's balloon race. I don't have many pictures on the ride because by that point Mike was ready to throw my camera away! :)

I love this picture of Sophia. Her face sums up the fun that she had at Sesame Street.

We had just as much fun the second day we were there. We did the water rides so I kept all the cameras at the hotel. After two 7 1/2 hour days in 102 degree weather at the park... we sadly had to say good-bye to our friends and think about heading home.