We are lucky to have a tiny independent ice cream stand in our town. It’s one of those you name it they have places – everything from burgers, hot dogs, onion rings and fries, to every kind of ice cream and slushes. We all have our favorites. My husband is partial to the sickeningly sweet suicide slush (all flavors in one cup so you get a lot of syrup). Until last year, they’ve always closed “for the season” in the winter months. Every year we kept an eye out for when they re-opened. We joked that along with Girl Scout cookies, that “Open” sign was the first sign of spring. And we weren’t the only ones, people around the neighborhood traded the news that the stand was open.
On opening day we all ate blackberry ice cream sundaes, butterscotch dipped cones, or hot fudge cherry sundaes as we shivered in the barely warm air temperatures of early Colorado spring weather. The first trip of the season was always the most time consuming. Not just for the long lines, but because we all had a hard time deciding between our favorites. The kids would pick something and then decide that no something else sounded better. They’d change their minds at least five times before we got to the window. And even then my husband and I would have to promise that they could have a sip of our milkshakes or a bite of our sundaes.
Now the ice cream stand stays open all year, which is nice, but I miss that late February – early March ritual of hitting the ice cream stand as soon as they opened. I miss that bit of our family history. I miss that simple making-memories tradition.
Maybe that’s why today with the sun shining and the snow melting we are all thinking the same thing. That it is time to gather up the family for a trip to the ice cream stand. We’ll just pretend it’s the first day of the season.
More Family Fun With Ice Cream:
Cooking With Kids – Root Beer Floats