Back to school book exchange

The last weekend before Dylan and Yara left for Italy we had a lemonade back to school book exchange party for the kids. They all picked a few of their own books to swap with each other and got to enjoy lots of goodies and yummy food. Yara made some amazing flatbread, Sara and Jorge brought spectacular empanadas and we made our favorite fresh summer chicken salad. 

Enjoying some homemade lemon popsicles on the porch

We surprised the kids with tons of water balloons Joey had filled for a big water fight! They loved it.

The kids put a lot of effort into decorating this cute little cake for their party. I couldn't help but to order all the little candies on it from a sweet shop in the U.K. 

Always licking the frosting off the tops of the cookeis

My first attempt at homemade macarons. I studied and read lots and lots before giving it a go, but was still a bit disappointed in the way they turned out. I guess macarons really are as tricky as the rumors say. They seemed more like whoopie pies to me. Everyone LOVED them anyway, especially Joey.

We put a jar of crayons out so the kids could decorate the paper tablecloth as they munched on treats.

Lemon chex mix...not as good as the original nutty buddies but still worth a try for the sake of a lemon party.

These lemon pops turned out so yummy! See the recipe at the end of the post.

By the end of the party there wasn't any white left on the table cover!

Sugar high!

Getting ready to set up a lemonade stand // This ceramic pitcher is so special to me because my grandma Beth made it by hand.

They all took about one bite of cake and then just ate the candy on the outside. 

Homemade Lemon pops:

INGREDIENTS

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup water

1 Tbsp light corn syrup

Zest of 2 lemons (ONLY the yellow part!!!!)

1 cup of lemon juice--no pulp (about 4 lemons)

Heat water and sugar in small saucepan until sugar completely dissolved. Add lemon zest and corn syrup to water mixture. Bring to a simmer, then remove from heat and let cool.

Add the water mixture to the lemon juice, straining out the lemon zest as you pour the mix into the juice.

Pour the lemon mix into the popsicle molds. Put in freezer for at least 4 hours. To unmold, run under hot water for a few seconds.

I also added a thin slice of lemon to each mold which turned out to be super yummy to suck on at the end.

From simplyrecipes.com