Ice Cream, More Ice Cream, and (Yep) Still More Ice Cream

Well, we all know that Weston likes ice cream. So, now the question remains: do Jean and Tim also like ice cream? I think that we can answer that question with an emphatic, crazed, eardrum-shattering "YES!!!!!!!!!"

So, when my Houston friend Lauren told me that one of the highlights of living in the South is Blue Bell ice cream, I not only became very excited (and very grateful for the inside tip), but I also started to try to figure out how I could out-Blue Bell her, being the great and appreciative friend that I am. And I feel confident in saying that I have succeeded. Here's why:

STEP ONE:

Eat some Blue Bell ice cream.

I guess you have to start somewhere, and for me that somewhere was the Walmart freezer case where I picked up a pint of Butter Crunch and a pint of Moo-llennium Crunch.
Alright, Lauren was right... it is pretty darn good ice cream.

STEP TWO:

Visit a Blue Bell factory.

Who'duh guessed it, but there's a Blue Bell factory right here in Tulsa!! (Well, technically it's in Broken Arrow, which is the next town over, but for a former L.A. girl, that's basically around the corner.)

The factory tour only cost $2.00 (Weston was free), and it included a free scoop of ice cream at the end. So, I made a reservation and got a little group together to head to the headquarters of creamy frozen deliciousness:

Here's our tour guide lady, along with Kira and Faith on the left. (Folks in Tulsa are going to learn very quickly, as my other friends have, that I like to put pictures of people on my blog all the time without asking their permission.):

Sorry!! No cameras allowed in the factory! But here's the scene in the Country Store afterwards, where we flocked for our ice cream:

Here are Kira and Faith again with their kiddos. Don't Oklahoma people just look so nice? Truth be told, they're more Utah people than Oklahoma people, but still... this area is not a tough place to make friends, because everyone's so darn friendly.

Even though I upped the ante by visiting an actual Blue Bell factory, I still decided to do one better with...

STEP THREE:

Attend a Blue Bell festival.

That's right... an ice cream festival!!! I've been to strawberry festivals, peach festivals, apple butter festivals, and even sorghum festivals, but never an ice cream festival. (I guess if you have enough money, you can host a festival for pretty much anything. Therefore, I'll just go ahead and announce right now that when I'm a billionaire, I'm going to have a Raisin Nut Bran festival.)

Moving right along... despite the hot, hot, hot weather, it was a fun festival. Admission was $10 for all three of us, and that included ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT ice cream:

... a big ol' kids' craft tent:

... shiny, snazzy cars (well, not for the taking, just for the looking):

... a fire truck (look how serious Weston looks... hahaha!):

... a big bouncy thing:

... and some more bouncy things:

... and even a giant-ice-cream-tub bouncy thing (where, sadly, several people froze to death in the ice cream before they shut it down):

Weston enjoyed his very first push pop! (FYI, parents, if your child's push pop starts to melt in the summer heat, don't bother trying to pour out the melted stuff and leave the frozen core. Because, incidentally, it just may happen that when you tilt the push pop, the entire contents spill out onto the ground, leaving you with muffled laughter, darting eyes, and a hurried "Okay, push pop is all gone!" announcement to your child.)

Ahh, here's my yummy cone. (However, if I could go back in time, I'd tell myself to skip the cone, because even though it was really good, it tasted like a regular Drumstick, and it took up precious stomach space that I could've saved for all the varieties of scoop ice cream.)

Aaaaand there's one of the scoop ice cream stations:

I tried the "banana pudding" ice cream. OOOOHHHHH!!!!! IT WAS GOOD!!!! It was smooth banana ice cream with whipped cream and vanilla wafers. Oh my yum. Sadly, I don't think they have that variety in pints, but fortunately, they have this one -- good old chocolate:

After some more wandering/chasing/shopping, with red faces, sweaty clothes, and full bellies, we said goodbye to the festival:

And finally, that brings us to the last step...

STEP FOUR:

Become the CEO of Blue Bell and use my gargantuan new income to build a house made out of ice cream, staffed by butlers and housekeepers also made out of ice cream, so that if I get hungry I can just call Cookie Dough to my office and then take a big bite out of his arm.

I'm still working on this one, but give me another few months, and it's in the bag.

(Thanks Lauren! Lovers of Blue Bell, unite!)