Today was one of those days...

Not the days that mama told you about. One of those glorious days when parenting seems effortless, everyone is happy and you think to yourself, I want eight more children right now. This is easy.

Today, Ben and I played, ran errands, went to the library and even went on our first date.

Ben was my Valentine today and after a very sophisticated dinner of chicken w/ ketchup, ravioli from a can and strawberries, we went to HEAVEN.

Heaven has several Columbus locations and is more commonly known as Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams.

To make things even better, there was a special angel in heaven tonight, AJ Perry of Sassafras Bakery.

OMG.

There are not words to describe the amazingness. (See what I mean? Amazingness isn't even a word, but it is appropriate in this circumstance.)

We got a slice of AJ's apple pie and a trio of Mackenzie Creamery Goat Cheese w/ Cognac and Figs, Gooey Butter Cake, and Blackstrap Praline.

Let me start by saying this: I do not like pie. But AJ has converted me. I will now eat only her apple pie. It was like... apple pie from the gods. I am still thinking about it. I'm thinking:

I should have bought an entire pie. No. I am so glad I didn't buy an entire pie, or it would already be gone. But next time, I'm buying an entire pie. Maybe I should just set up some sort of slice-a-day delivery service with AJ. I means, she's in Gahanna, not that far from my house. Stop it, self. You do NOT need pie daily. That is ridiculous. But AJ's pie, should be, like, it's own food group. I mean, there are apples in it, after all. Apples and love. There's nothing wrong with THAT.

And, I could go on about the ice cream for hours. But nothing says it better than Ben did. His face literally lit up with each bite. Before every bite, he looked at me and said, "Mama!" Then after pulled his spoon out of his mouth with gusto (seriously, I should have brought the video camera) he looked at the ceiling and declared, "Mmmmmmmmmmmm!" Even the person working mentioned to me how much fun he was having just eating his ice cream. And, of course, he was practically BESIDE himself when it was all gone. I considered buying a pint for him. But decided that it wouldn't really be for him and that I would likely devour the entire thing myself. (Can you tell I have portion control issues?)

And if you don't believe me, check out these pics of him in action. His love of ice cream is proof he is my child.