The REAL Country-Time Lemonade

Today, Grace said to me, "Mama, let's make a lemon-stand! You know, like they do in books." Now, you have to understand that up until three weeks ago, we lived on one of the busiest streets in our fair city. That's right: prime lemonade stand territory. However, the idea didn't strike my little sunshine until this very day.

Naturally, the practical side in me surfaced: "Well, sweetie, that would be fun, but we aren't near any main road, so we wouldn't get any customers. And I don't really want you out by the road, anyway, and Jonathan's going to be heading down for a nap soon, and..."

And then I gave myself a swift kick in the pants. Because the child simply asked for a "lemon-stand," darn it. We also (randomly) had four lemons in need of use in the fridge. And there were even men working in the yard--read: customers.

So, I put Jonathan down, and we set to work. When I asked her what our sign should say, she dictated: "We have a LEMONADE STAND! FREE! Our names are Mom and Grace!" She signed it herself, and added a very detailed picture of a lemon, a heart-face, and a pitcher of lemonade, with purple ice cubes. After we'd squeezed the all lemons by hand (the child is strong, I tell you!), we stirred up a delicious pitcher of the real stuff, and we headed out to put our stand together. Here's how it all went down.

She is SO proud...can you tell? She even changed her clothes into some that were fancier, for the big occasion, of course.

CUSTOMERS! Can you tell how impressed they were with our bargain prices? This little lady knows how to bring them in! (Grandpa to the left, Daddy to the right, BTW.)

Greg Merkel stands a cautious distance away from the stand, undoubtedly remembering tepid Kool-Aid at the competitions' stands. But this is not that kind of place.

Soon, all three sign on, with lemonade and fudge-stripe cookies all around. Grace is as cool as a cucumber, taking it all with a wave of her hand: "Yep. It's good. And it's free."

Grace examines the damage. It's been a very successful day at this rural lemonade stand!