There’s Never enough Ice Cream

I have a long-standing history here:

My mom tells stories of her childhood: once in a while, on a hot summer day, she and her older brother would be sent, across the blueberry fields, to buy ice cream for the family. Every one would get one pint and they would call it “dinner”.

In turn, every once in a while, Mom would take us kids out for ice cream sundaes – and call it lunch.

Sometimes, when we were driving some distance, we’d stop for ice cream on the way.  My dad would get a dish of vanilla for the dog.  (That’s, like, well before the current era of specialized doggie ice cream cups in the grocery store.)

Fast forward a few years, when we try to eat healthier and not gain weight – I haven’t been to an ice cream place in … years. (Not too many years – I think I’ve gone out once a summer? Maybe every other summer.  I try to be good in public although I’m not opposed to consuming an entire pint of Ben & Jerry’s Phish Food.  Dude is, however, opposed to my consuming the entire pint.)

Lisa came to dinner last night and suggested going out for ice cream.  Uh, sure. We don’t do this often/ever. It’ll be o.k.

Dude actually had to search for local ice cream places.

We found Rita’s.

And the nice person behind the counter asked if we’d like a Puppy Cone.  I was startled – stunned even.  Puppy Cone?  Really?  I may have heard of this – but Aurora was a diabetic and ice cream was certainly forbidden on her diet.  Was Sam too young?  Would this create a bad habit? What about his (puppy) teeth?  Dude mostly waited for me to puzzle this out but he was all for it and said “yes”.

Before I knew it, I was handed a tiny cone topped with a giant swirl of vanilla ice cream.  Absolutely adorable.

And Sam thought so too.  (What’s not to like?  It’s softer than ice cubes but still cold. Tastes yummy.  Mom is holding the cone part.  No one/dog is trying to get it away.)

I am still enchanted with how gently he licked the cone – taking his time but getting every last bit.  I am surprised at my own reaction to how much fun this was – and will be. I don’t have to be as careful with this dog as the last two.  I’m not sure what we’re going to try next.

(Tech note: I’m playing with photo galleries here.  (If you click through really fast, you can see his tongue move.)   I took so many pix because I was trying to click the button to make it a movie.  And once I figure out how to trim the video down, I’ll post it too.)

/sigh slideshow no worky.  Working on it…