Busy Cooking: Homemade Pink Lemonade

Have you ever seen a pink lemon?  - Neither have I.  Do you ever wonder how they made that delicious and extremely popular version of lemonade?  Pink lemonade is so subtly different in taste than regular lemonade, but there's just something about it that makes me want it more than the yellow version.  My kids are always begging me to make homemade lemonade.  I have fond memories of using my Nana's citrus press to make homemade orange juice and lemonade, then dreaming up my own combinations.  I wanted my kids to be able to have the same experience.  I was determined to set out and find out what makes the pink lemonade different from it's yellow counterpart, but it's so subtle you can't taste another red fruit flavor added in to make the taste noticeable.  After some internet research, and a few test runs, I have found the secret to pink lemonade- want to know?

It's GRENADINE!!!!!  (and you thought yellow and red made orange- no!, it's pink!)

I adapted this recipe from soulfoodsoutherncooking.

Pink Lemonade:

1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (from 5-6 lemons)
4 cups water
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp grenadine

1) Put 3/4 cup water and 3/4 cup sugar in saucepan and heat until sugar is dissolved.  This is called a simple syrup.  Set aside to cool (now you will not have to worry about the sugar floating to the bottom).

2) Juice the lemons

3) Pour the 1 cup lemon juice into pitcher, add remaining 3 1/4 cup water, add simple syrup, and grenadine.  Stir.

4) Pour into an ice filled glass and enjoy ( you can adjust sugar amounts depending on how tart or sweet you like your lemonade).

Ah yum:  What a way to beat the heat, bring a bowl full of ice, cold homemade pink lemonade, lots of cups, and straws outside and enjoy your drink.

Let your kids pour their own, who cares if they spill on themselves, that's what the hose is for!

This was a great way to spend a hot afternoon last week!

Busy Playing and Learning: Fun at the Beach

Today's way to beat the heat was a trip to the beach.  If you aren't lucky enough to live in a coastal state, you could always visit a pond, lake, or river nearby.  With temperatures upwards of 90', the ocean breeze and water was a perfect way to spend the day.

Most of the times at the beach, we dig holes and build sand castles.  Today, we skipped the sand castle building and instead drew pictures and practiced writing.

You can use your finger:

Or be creative with a sea gull feather (it was the first time my nephew was ever excited to write- I foreshadow tons of feather pens making their way into my sister's house):

You can use your hand as an "eraser":

We skipped the name books today and went straight for the sand:

I drew the ABC's and had the kids fill the letters in with rocks (we didn't get to the end before the tide rolled in):

Nathaniel was very excited to have lots of space to draw his room filled with 1,000,000 video games and lots of prizes and he was even more excited to explain it to me- in fact, he told me it was the most fun he's had at the beach all year.

You can play dress up at the beach too ;)

And of course, there was lots of swimming and wave hopping:

Something else I thought of (on the way home of course) was to use rocks to create life sized dot to dots for your child to trace - how fun would that be?

Busy Playing: Make Your Own Waterpark

Too hot to go to the playground?  Think again!  Check this out- we filled all our empty containers and watering cans with cold water and took them on the road:

It's so hot that my sister and I are the only cars in the lot- let the fun begin!:

Watering cans make great waterfalls and waterslides:

Splash in on the swings:

Spray me on the zipline (be sure not to get zipliner's hands wet):

Squirt guns and old waterbottles to get you wet to help beat the heat on this funfilled playground afternoon!

Best part?:  FREE and a LOT of fun, the kids were totally excited!

Busy Playing: Homemade Sundae Slide

Last week, I said to my husband "it's too hot out, there's nothing we can do".  Whoa- I can't believe I even said that, I was totally hot and bothered- just because we don't have a pool, doesn't mean the world has to end.  I am determined to think of something fun and cool to do with the kids outside everyday this week, so check back for ideas.

Did you ever watch Double Dare on Nickelodeon?  The obstacle course at the end of the show was so awesome and I always wished I had a chance to do it.  My kids have never seen the show, but I've always wanted to make a sundae slide for them (and me too).  I wish I had a waffle maker big enough to make the giant waffle with a big pat of butter on it, covered with syrup for them to sift through for the flag too (ah dreams).

What better way to fill up a hot day by making your own sundae slide.  We don't have a slide at my parent's house, but I know the playground down the street is empty on hot days, so I planned the slide activity for a hot day.  My mom was worried the chocolate syrup would stain the playground slide, so we brought our slip and slide (got it on clearance at target for $2.00), and set it up on the side of the hill at the playground.  

Then we added chocolate syrup:

Some whipped cream (the cans don't produce as much cream as you would think):

And sprinkles to complete the sundae:

We forgot to bring a flag, so we put the whipped cream can at the top.  The kids had to start from the bottom and try to climb up and grab it (we told them no standing because it was very slippery and we didn't want any banged heads), if they slipped back, they lost their turn:

We let them have two turns each, no one made it very far, but they sure had fun trying to climb and tasting their hands:

We switched to sliding from the top down, it got more messy and fun:

Look at the smiles, love it!:

We poured water down (brought it in watering cans) to clean the slide and the kids- check out the chocolate puddle:

Did someone order sprinkles on their sundae?

I don't think any one of these kids will be complaining of a boring summer, do you?