Ring - Ring - Ring

I really love where we live: it's a quiet street in a fairly rural area. From a kid's perspective, too, it's a pretty good place to grow up. Though they now know there's something lacking:

An ice cream truck. During our visit to Rochester, I recognized the ring, ring, ring of the truck from a couple blocks away. Knowing this would be a unique experience for them, I couldn't let it just pass by. It's a summer time tradition. It's the kind of memory all kids should have. It's a bit of Americana. It's ice cream on a hot summer night!

So we gathered the kids and Jeff attempted to let each of them choose a treat. There were about a dozen different options, and seven kids total (eight if you count me.) I think my kids were simply in awe of the opportunity. A truck pulls up and sells you ice cream. How cool is that?!?

I think the neighbors thought I was a little strange for getting so excited, until I explained why I considered this to be a special moment. Ultimately, they recognized the fun, too, running for their camera to get a photo also.

So I don't forget, the kids are: top row - AJ, Sydney and Ben. Bottom row: Acadia, Ellie and Zollie. The girls sitting with Ellie live next door. Acadia, we learned, is just two weeks older than Sydney. We bought a treat for another neighbor boy also, though he had to run home before the photo was taken. That was an interesting moment. The boy is an Orthodox Jew, which means he had to make sure his treat was kosher. Something else we probably won't ever experience in our neighborhood.

Clearly, as I expected, the night was a memorable one. The next morning, we could hear a truck horn honking down the street. AJ looked at me hopefully, "Is that the ice cream truck?"

Now that they've had the experience, I can go back to loving everything about where we live. Including the fact that we don't have to deal with ice cream trucks and the whining that would no doubt result, "Can we please get something?"