HOWARD, Wis. (WFRV) – Remember six months ago when it was freezing cold outside and many of us were praying for a heat wave?

Well, that heat is here and people all over northeast Wisconsin are finding ways to stay cool. Ice cream shops were a popular place on Friday afternoon including BrainFreeze Ice Cream Shoppe in Howard.

Owner Deanna Henkel said hot weather means more customers in her store and that Friday had been particularly busy because they had a classroom of students from a local school stop in for some treats.

The warm weather means school is letting out soon which is also good news for Henkel because she gets some of her seasonal employees back.

“The kids once they graduate, their first summer back from college they come back to work at the shop,” said Henkel. “So it’s kind of fun to get them back.”

She said that she started the ice cream shop in 2007 simply because she and her husband both love ice cream. She said she really enjoys getting to know her customers over the years.

“It’s fun to talk to them and know their favorite flavors and when they change it up it’s like whoa you got a different flavor today,” said Henkel.

The Duck Creek Quarry in Howard was also a busy place on Friday afternoon.

“Definitely come swim, it’s the best way to do it (cool down on a hot day) or sit in front of a fan, I don’t know,” said Averey Thompson from Howard.

The Green Bay pools don’t open until June 10 and that’s dependent on staffing levels at that time. Appleton opened its public pools on Friday.

This is the first year that the city of Howard is letting non-residents swim at the quarry. Longtime swimmers at the quarry said that although there was a good amount of people swimming on Friday afternoon, it wasn’t nearly as busy as they’ve seen it on other days.