Kids and ice cream make the most perfect combination imaginable, right? This statement is definitely true in my house because no matter the season or the time of day, ice cream was, is, and will forever be the ultimate dessert. My younger son can be simply obsessed, so we make periodic trips around town looking for the best ice cream places.
Recently we stumbled upon a true gem – BACIO di LATTE Italian Gelato in Fashion Island Newport Beach. The outdoor mall is beloved for countless reasons already and this ice cream place is just a cherry on top for us.
The gelato heaven can treat your taste buds to the point of forgetting your mama’s name – true story! You can indulge in refreshing sorbets, decadent yogurt creations, and divine milk ice cream. Anyway, I shouldn’t dwell on this any longer or I will be in a need of a bib over here as I write.
I can see all our shopping trips ending in BACIO di LATTE from now on, but ice cream love continues even after we get home. My 5 year old future baker has loved cooking and baking related toys for as long as I can remember. It might have something to do with the fact that we took him to various baking classes together with his big brother. It was those glorious pre-pandemic days, when social cooking was a thing…
Once cooking classes got cancelled, we turned to something more reliable – wooden baking toys at home. And Personalization Mall has lent us some serious helping hand with their personalized Melissa & Dough toys. We own two sets, use them all the time, and have been for years.
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The first set we bought was Melissa & Dough Bake & Decorate Cupcake set. This baby comes loaded with goodies – cupcake paper cups, plastic cupcakes, plastic icing, candles, icing pens, kitchen mitten, and even some paper money.
The mitten has Michael’s name on it and serves him well when he helps me out in the kitchen with real food.
The cupcakes come apart and can have different icing and candle combination each time the baker feels like he wants a change. We have celebrated many a family birthday with these cupcakes and candles, not excluding our dog. Finally, the money part is also important because while playing cupcake shop with his dad, our little guy started understanding how selling and buying works. And I feel that it’s never too early to learn this.
Another personalized set from Personalization Mall is our wooden ice cream counter also by Melissa & Dough. This is a little extravagant at $66, but it was a birthday gift for a boy obsessed with ice cream, so all worth it. He spends a lot of time with this toy, especially when we come back from our new favorite gelato place. Real experience seriously inspires pretend play, we can attest to that!
The ice cream counter includes 2 scoops, a menu, a cup, two waffle cones, 8 ice cream flavors, and an entire stand. The set is made of 28 pieces and that’s more than enough for a little guy to experience what running a boutique dessert counter can be like. If his baking career aspirations fail, I can see him going into food sales industry. Seriously, he is absolutely amazing with his stand and can sell a triple scoop of Rocky Road to our dog flawlessly!
I really enjoy that Personalization Mall cares about kids and features a nice selection of personalized pretend play toys. These two sets are so meaningful to us that we will save them both, for memories and for a possibility that our grandkids will one day play with them too. The toys are made of genuine wood and can last for generations, if our family dog is not going to be too enthusiastic about buying her ice cream and eating it too.