I discovered a new flavor of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream yesterday. It’s called Banana Split, and it is fantastic. If you haven’t tried it, it’s strawberry and banana ice creams mixed with walnut, chocolate chunks, and ribbons of fudge. I have to admit, it was hard not to eat the whole container. I think if I ever find my way to Vermont, I’ll have to go and tour the Ben & Jerry’s factory.

Wally and I made it to the Dog Beach yesterday for a couple of hours (thanks for the directions, Diane). It was so fun! It was the way all beaches should be – with dogs running and swimming all over the place. We had a great time and will definitely return soon. I played fetch with Wally in the water for quite some time, then thought I’d try to rest on the beach a little. Wally would have none of it. If we weren’t playing fetch in the ocean, he was digging at his ball in the sand. (He did that with me behind him once and covered me in sand). So we went back to the waves for more fetch. He couldn’t have cared less about the other dogs on the beach, especially the 7-month-old yellow Lab that was trying desperately to play with him – all Wally wanted was fetch, fetch, fetch! I was going to wait until Wednesday, but he was just too cute. Here are some photos from the day:

Here he is retrieving his ball out of the waves –


And here, digging at his tennis ball in the sand –


And as it turns out, Wally is quite the natural body surfer –


The song for the day is “Perfect Way” by Scritti Politti off their 1985 album Cupid & Psyche 85. I always thought they were a one-hit-wonder, as this is the only song I’ve ever heard by them. But apparently the band, fronted by Welsh writer/vocalist Green Gartside, formed as early as 1978 as a “post-punk British rock group.” They became much more mainstream by 1985 and had a huge hit with “Perfect Way.” Gartside has a voice that sounds like it’s coming out of a 12-year-old, but the song is catchy and I always find myself turning it up on the rare occasion I hear it on the radio. When I looked them up in Wikipedia, I was surprised to see that the band had numerous singles which I assume did well in the UK. Gartside, after dropping out of the music industry for over a decade, returned to release two critically acclaimed albums between 1998 and now.