Midday recount

For breakfast this morning... Oh, wait, I didn't have breakfast. Well, maybe I did if you count the graham crackers at 8:30. My daughter had watermelon at 7:30 and graham crackers and chocolate soy milk with me.

I'm concerned with her getting enough liquids in this hot weather, so I "made" her drink one of my bubbly cherry lemonades at 10. That's when I made myself the rest of the Dole salad from last night, though we ate all the good toppings so I just poured a bunch of grated asiago over it and then added the remaining ginger dressing. It was fabulous.

At 11, my husband and daughter had a real picnic on the college quad, with crackers and leftover lebanon bologna and port salute cheese, a banana and a 100% juice box. Then they played some quad golf.

When I got home from class at noon, I brewed some green tea to ice later. I then packed a glass bottle (20 ounces?) with ice cubes and water for the little one. AND I gave her the rest of the watermelon.

Now, I'm finally sitting down to eat some homemade bread and port salute cheese, with a glass of diluted lemonade.

Super Cherry Lemonade with bubbles

Any mom will probably agree that keeping your child well-hydrated can be impossible. I drink a lot of water. On my good days, I used to drink 90 ounces a day. So I always poured my daughter a drink when I got one. Nowadays, it seems like they get left all over the house more than they get drunk.

And if you give them too much milk or juice, then you worry about filling up little bellies with the "wrong" calories.

Plus, now my daughter's at the age where relatives have given her a root beer here or a cream soda there and she's starting to think bubbles are cool.

Here's my solution:
Super Cherry Lemonade with Bubbles
1/3 glass your favorite lemonade
2/3 glass seltzer
1 tablespoon maraschino cherry juice
1 maraschino cherry

And you tell child he/she can't eat the cherry until she finishes the drink. This also works with diluting any juice with "bubbles." Experimenting with different seltzer flavors can create some crazy combos. My daughter loves picking the "bubbles" because the seltzer bottles usually have big cherries or limes on them to show the flavor.