Full Tilt

The last few days have been for socializing.  On Saturday we invited Ronnie and Frank Maier and their girls, and Dana Ellis and her family over for a small pot luck dinner.  We have also become friends with a local homeschooling family with 2 girls and invited them too.  We had a GREAT time.  Good food, good wine, good friends.  I couldn’t ask for anything more.  And when Milo came up the stairs and exclaimed, “We have new fwends!”, my heart couldn’t have been happier.  He’s really been missing friends.  He isn’t quite old enough to put his finger on who he misses for friends, but he knows he was missing playmates and companionship.  He’s even put aside his aversion to girls and is enjoying our new friends Layla and Mia.  Dana brought us some of her famous coffee, She’s roasts and sells at farmer’s markets in her area, and it’s really good!  Even TJ who doesn’t really discern different coffee much , was surprised how delicious it was.

It was Layla’s birthday last night and they all invited us to an artisan ice cream shop called Full Tilt.  I’m a basic vanilla gal and enjoyed mine with rainbow sprinkles of course!  TJ tried the mexican chocolate which has a deep chocolatey flavor with a hint of cinnamon.    They also carry Ube (a sort of sweet potato), Horchata, and Memphis King which is peanut butter, banana, and chocolate covered bacon!  They’ll even let you create a flavor if you have your birthday party there! I can only imagine what *my* kids would pick! In addition to the ice cream they serve local beer, sometimes host local bands, and is home to a slew of vintage pinball and video games which I think they rotate out on occasion.  The kids had a blast and I was thrilled to see arcade games that cost a quarter to play!  Just like old times!  The guy working at the counter, which I’m pretty sure was the owner, was also really friendly with us and the kids.  That’s also important to me.  I can’t count how many times we’ve gone somewhere and the employees treat the kids like a nuisance.  I love when my boys can interact with with people in the community.  It’s so important for them to see how the world works. Through meeting others around us they learn about so many different things. We all can’t wait to go back!