October gets apples, pumpkins, and quite a lot of attention for its leaves. We would like to keep ice cream in the conversation.
Our stop at Dairy Joy in Weston was a little October outing with James, Mom-Mom & Grandpa Steve (aka Grandma & Grandpa), and Ruby. Ice cream and time together: a perfectly good reason to get out of the house.
And then there is the photo cutout. James has both hands around the top of an enormous painted soft-serve cone, his face right in the middle of the swirl, and a grin that makes this photograph an immediate keeper. There are sprinkles. There is a bright red lobster. Subtle it is not, and I’m very glad.
I love the picnic-table photograph, too. Grandpa Steve in his blue cap, James in shorts, Ruby beside the bench. A few cups on the red tabletop, the tablet in its blue case, and sunshine falling across the stone patio. All the ordinary things that come along with us, right there in the picture.
There is something especially nice about sitting outside for ice cream when the calendar says October. Summer has officially moved on; we are still finding uses for a picnic table.
A little time with Mom-Mom and Grandpa Steve belongs in the family album. So does James having fun with a ridiculous ice-cream cutout. These are exactly the sorts of afternoons I want to remember.
Ice cream in October. Grandparents. Ruby. One very good grin. We’ll take it.