Marble Slab Creamery, please?

The other night, Madi asks me if we could go back to the ice cream shop with the big ice cream cone on top where they gave us a free tasting. When she reminded me that Matthew and Ryan (two of her little buddies) went with us, I realized she was talking about our tour of the Marble Slab Creamery last summer. How she remembers these things, I have no idea, but I agreed that someday we could go back there.

Now, I tend to feel a little guilty about taking my kids to run bunches of errands, especially on a nice sunny summer day, but I thought that my guilt would be placated if we went to the library and the ice cream shop as part of our trip, making it more fun for the kiddos. Probably I am just planting false assumptions that every day must include a fun adventure for them, but oh well…

Our first stop was the Fresh Market. I have never been there and needed to see the extent of their organic produce and meat for when my Mom comes in August. Wow. Definitely not your “big box” grocery store, full of tantalizing smells and indeed, plenty of organic items. I wouldn’t shop there every day, but if I needed a special ingredient or an unusual cut of meat, that would be the place to go.

Next we hopped around, stopping at Party America, Target, and Bed Bath and Beyond, buying random items like Magic Pen books for 50 cents (marked down from $4.19), folders for school, a cake mix for the coffee cake I am going to make, a swim vest for Parker at Lake Michigan, and Panko bread crumbs, just in case. I also was trying to find popsicle molds, to no avail.

We then went to the mall for a very unhealthy lunch of mini corn dogs and french fries (Madi loved it) and picked up hair gel for Ben and finally tracked down a popsicle mold set at Macy’s. It was probably overpriced, but I bought it anyways because Parker was getting really mad that I wouldn’t let him walk around in the glassware department of Macy’s by himself (I forgot to bring the stroller) and I didn’t have time to go back to Bed Bath and Beyond and buy the cheap version of the popsicle mold. Grrr…

Off to Marble Slab Creamery for the much anticipated ice cream, only to find that it had been shut down. Can you believe it? Now what? I actually thought that Madi was going to throw a huge fit, but she took it in stride and after stopping at the library to return our overdue library books and pick up our prize for finishing our summer reading goal, we went to our local ice cream shop – Suzie’s Donuts – and sat outside eating our ice cream, Playdough for Madi and Butter Pecan for Parker and I.

An adventurous day? Definitely…I have the sore wrists from carrying Parker to prove it.

Fun? Mostly…didn’t enjoy Parker screaming his lungs out when I stopped him from taking the shampoo off the shelves…books off the shelves…clothes off the racks…climbing out of the high chair…running down the mall corridor, but I did enjoy watching them holding hands like big kids.

Accomplishments? A few…I know that I would love to shop at Fresh Market but won’t, and I hope that these goofy popsicle molds work out…we’ll see if Martha Stewart’s design works…

Just a day in the life…thanks to Marble Slab Creamery memories…