An Ice Cream Play Date with Hudsonville

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Thank you so much to Hudsonville Ice Cream for making this fun ice cream play date possible for my children and their friends!

Summer may be coming to an end, but that’s no reason to stop enjoying your favorite warm weather treat – ice cream!

In order to savor those last warm days of the season, I decided to host a fun ice cream play date. My daughter was absolutely ecstatic at the thought of two of her favorite things – ice cream and friends! 

When it came time to chose the star of the party, the ice cream, it was a no-brainer.  We tried Husdonville Ice Cream a few months ago and our family (especially me!) fell in love with it from first bite! 

After all, they’ve been making ice cream for over 90 years, so I think we can consider them experts! With over 50 flavors to choose from, along with Dairy Free options, Hudsonville is my number one ice cream choice.
 
I took my daughter on a special mommy and me trip to pick out a few flavors. We chose Mint Chocolate Chip, Vanilla Bean, Strawberry Cheesecake and a new flavor, Brownie Batter Cookie Dough!  I wanted an assortment of flavors to suit everyone’s tastes and I think we nailed it! 
 
With the hardest decision over with, I now had to finalize plans for our play date. As a stay-at-home-mom, who’s hosted a number of play dates, I’ve learned a thing of two. 
 
Here are 5 tips to host a successful play date with ice cream: 
  1. Choose friends to invite, but don’t go overboard. At this age, I stick with a small number so it’s not too overwhelming for the little ones.
  2. Ask about allergies. Hudsonville makes a delicious Dairy Free ice cream for any non-dairy friends!
  3. Have lots of napkins, wipes and other clean-up supplies near by.  Even better – host outdoors for easier clean up. 
  4. Make sure you have enough ice cream and flavors for everyone to enjoy! Tastes vary, and kiddos can be picky!
  5. Consider making a fun ice cream dessert, like an ice cream pie!  (See our recipe, below).

On the day of the party, my daughter must have asked 50 times if it was time for the party yet. She was so excited!  In order to distract her, I had her help me make an ice cream pie as a fun addition to the party.  Yes, it’s easy enough for a 4-year old to help make! Doesn’t this look delicious? 

The pie was now made and the ice cream, toppings and party supplies were bought.  Friends had been invited and it was show time!

I don’t think I have to tell you how excited these little ones were to make ice cream sundaes and get outdoors!  It was a miracle I was able to take this photo before they all dug into the ice cream, toppings and fun!

Chaos ensued shortly after with the little ones digging into the ice cream, spilling toppings and generally just making a mess, but having so much fun in the process. This was one time I didn’t mind a little extra mess and clean up!

With kids going back to school and fall activities nearly here, it’s the moments like this, during the warm days of the year that I know we’ll remember.  To see the excitement on the kids faces when they saw the ice cream and got to make their own sundae – pure summer magic and memories I know we’ll all savor for a long time to come.  

Do you remember times like this from when you were younger?  Have you made some fun memories like this with your own children and their friends yet this summer?  If not, there’s still time!  And now with these tips, you can easily host your own ice cream play date!  

Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream Pie
1 store bought graham cracker crust
1 (48 oz.) container Strawberry Cheesecake Hudsonville Ice Cream, thawed
2-3 cups frozen whipped topping, thawed
Fresh strawberries, sliced in half, for topping
 
Directions
1. Place crust in the freezer for 15-30 minutes to harden
2. Add enough ice cream to reach the top of the pie crust, there will be a little ice cream left. Place back in freezer for 30 minutes.
3. Top ice cream with whipped topping and smooth.  Place back in the freezer for at least 30 minutes.
4. Cover with plastic top (which came with the crust) and freeze until serving.  Remove from the freezer 5-10 minutes before serving to thaw and top with sliced strawberries.
5. Enjoy with family and friends!
 
 
I hope this post has inspired you to host a fun and delicious ice cream play date of your own.  If you do, make sure to tag #ColumbusMomsBlog and #HudsonvilleHappy so we can all see!
 
 
 

 

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Melissa
Melissa is a Central Ohio native who’s been living in Columbus for the past decade. After graduating from Miami University and living in Boston for a few years, she’s happy to call the capital city of Columbus her home. Melissa’s currently a stay at home mom to Emily and Thomas who are four and one year old. When Melissa’s not chasing around her kids and changing diapers, she loves to cook, decorate her home, try out local restaurants, read a good book and those first sips of her morning coffee! She's recently hopped on the decluttering bandwagon and is sharing her journey on her insta-blog at @everyday.simple.mom.