Throw an Ice Cream Ball

"Aw, man, there's no climbing wall!"

Jackson's lament came during our first visit to a camping outfitter that recently opened near our home. Out of luck but not ideas, I pointed to the biggest tent on display and said, "Last one in is a rotten egg!"

We clambered in, testing zippers and lolling upon air mattresses, pretending to stargaze or glimpse aurora borealis through the gauzy mesh ceiling.

Browsing the gear aisle like a kid in a camping store, I encountered the Camper's Dream Ice Cream Ball (www.rei.com) . Hello, impulse buy. After a quick stop at the grocery store for ingredients, we brought our new toy home.

I'd seen these multitaskers in catalogs and pictured the boys kicking the ball around a camp site, both awaiting and making dessert.

"The instructions say, 'Caution: This is not a ball!'" said my husband, Dan.

"Da box says 'ball,' Dad," argued 5-year-old Nolan, our future attorney.

"I know, honey, but the directions say we can't throw, kick, or drop this ball," said Dan, once again sounding the death knell for the boys' dreams of afternoon fun.

"But we can roll it to each other on the floor, and we can shake it!" I quickly added, my voice rising an octave as I hustled to spin this into something fun. "Let's pour the ingredients in and see what happens."

The boys eagerly lined up along the kitchen counter, ready to blend ingredients (rock salt, ice, half and half, sugar, and vanilla). Everything was easy to measure and add, even for 3-year-old Aaron, our sports-minded kid who needed extra coaching to not kick or throw the ball.

Sitting in a triangle on the living room floor, the boys had a blast trying to roll their future dessert to each other as fast as possible. After about 20 minutes and some last-minute, vigorous shaking by Dan, we achieved vanilla ice cream. The results were both hard-earned and delicious, erasing any regret over dashed hopes of climbing and kicking.