DeCarlo News: Ice Cream Bash

We brought back SO MUCH ice cream from Seattle! Mireille and Jerry's freezer is always stocked with ice cream. They get the overruns and samples, which we enjoyed completely while we were there. Travis discovered a new favorite flavor, banana creme pie, which is made by first making a banana creme pie and then crumbling it into the ice cream. I agree that it is very tasty!

So we emptied Mireille and Jerry's freezer and brought it all back with us for an ice cream party. We thought that summer was the perfect time for pizza and ice cream, so that's what we planned. Of course, nothing goes exactly the way its planned, and this was no exception.

The party was planned for Sunday after we got back from Seattle, but first we had to get through Meat Day on Friday. Friday night as we were waiting for people to come get their meat and my mother and I were furiously cooking for Meat Day Mission, Randy realized that it wasn't just warm in the house because we were cooking, but because the air conditioning went out! So we stopped cooking and packed bags to spend the night at Randy's parents house. They jinxed us because they were thinking that it had been a while since our A/C had broken and they were due for overnight guests. It happened, and of course on Friday night. We spent the weekend with them and the A/C was fixed on Monday.

But in the meantime, we needed either to cancel the party or find a new location. "Yes, hello, I was wondering if I could come over with about 25 friends and have a party at your house?" In spite of my totally crazy, outlandish request my first call got a positive response and my friend, Mrs. TD, saved the party.

I still had lots of cooking for Meat Day Mission so I spent Saturday in the kitchen at our house with a fan blowing on me trying to finish what I could. Randy was outside mowing the lawn. Together we enjoyed a nice lunch outside under the fans because it was cooler than inside. A few hours later Randy came inside and asked, "Is there some reason why some of our friends are outside pulling up in their cars?" Well, no, I don't think so unless...

Yes, I sent the wrong date on the e-mail invitation! Everyone I had talked to knew about the date and hadn't even looked at the invitation that carefully, but everyone else showed up on the wrong/right day! I was finished cooking by this time, but I still had to clean up my mess, and one of my friends graciously offered to help me since she had nothing else to do! When our other friends showed up, I made their daughter CRY because I had no ice cream to offer her! I felt terrible! I offered her as much ice cream as she wanted...the next day...

That night when we were back at Randy's parents' house, I was talking with some of our neighbors and telling them of the new location for the party, when the phone went dead. They called back 10 minutes later after they found a flashlight and their cell phone because the power went out with the storm. Yes, I said "neighbor", which means our house lost power too. With all the ice cream in the freezer. I was starting to doubt whether the party was such a good idea!

But in spite of everything, the party went on and we had so much fun with some of our friends and neighbors. I think ice cream is a great healer. And it certainly spans the generations. I considered calling it the First Annual Ice Cream Bash, but I am not sure I can do this again...

Hmmm, which one should I start with??