Visits to the Big Dipper, our neighborhood ice cream stand (and a Missoula icon) are an important summertime ritual. A less frequent, but no less important, spring, fall, and winter ritual as well …

Naturally, Orly and I looked forward to Dotty’s first ice cream! The momentous occasion finally arrived on a hot evening when I had a handy pair of helping hands. My friend Ken, a digital nomad who makes frequent stops in Missoula, was my capable dog-wrangling assistant and documentarian. (All of the photos are stills from the video he shot.)

Orly is a gobbler. Her ice cream disappears in nanoseconds. (Cali was also a gobbler, except on her birthday, when she got an entire kid-size scoop and took the time to enjoy it…)

Dotty seems to be a licker.

Once Orly realized that Dotty had ice cream while she did not … Orly quickly adapted. And became a co-licker. Luckily, Dotty was amenable to sharing.

Update …

Before digital nomad Ken hit the road again, we had a second ice cream outing.

Orly was onto Dotty’s “licker” approach and, under the guise of licking alongside her, tried to gobble Dotty’s ice cream. No, Orly, No!

Mom had to intervene and rescue Dotty’s ice cream. At that point, taking no chances, Dotty instantly converted to a gobbler and swallowed her ice cream. Well, most of it …

She did leave behind enough for the cutest ice-cream mustache!