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It’s The Simple Things: Fun With Sun Tea

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Nothing says summer like a good old cup of sweet tea and enjoying the simple things. For me, summer’s all about relaxation and slowing down. But since it is such a short season of recess and warm weather, I often have high expectations of doing tons of exciting things before we’re limited by the school season and shut in during the winter. It’s something I personally struggle with and I’d feel a lot better if we lived further south so that I wouldn’t have to treat summer like some scarcity. Some day. But, I digress.

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My expectations for summer definitely differ from my easygoing kids. They are unbothered and could care less about the amount of outings or vacations we take. It’s the simple things that they enjoy like gardening and making tea. Juicy is all about helping so I recently let him plant his own garden in a pot using old seeds we had lying around. His pot is now an overgrown mess of wheat grass, dill, and some other plants, but he had so much fun working on a project of his very own. When Jayden saw that Juicy had planted a mini garden, he asked if he could grow pumpkins so that we didn’t have to buy them from the store and so that we could make pumpkin pie to give as gifts. So that’s what we shall do.

It’s the simple things, y’all.

Just the other day I found the cutest summer pieces for our kitchen while shopping for a pitcher. While perusing I found the cutest mason jar lids and straws by Pioneer Woman. I went ahead and grabbed a pack of her napkins as well because they’re so gorgeous. I love her products so much. I knew that these inexpensive items would add some cheer to our summers and make them special. And let’s be honest, they make fantastic photo props.

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When we got home, I made a pitcher of iced tea infused with lemon for myself and Juicy helped make personal sun teas for him and Jayden. The idea of sun tea originated in the south to keep from having to use the stove to brew a large batch of tea on hot summer days and to instead use the sun. It’s said that this slower brewing process makes for a smoother taste. I thought it would be fun to use this idea to make individual jars of tea and Juicy enjoyed the entire process.

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First, he dropped a tea bag in each of the jars. Next, we filled them up with water. Some people advise using filtered or spring water to be extra cautious, but we used tap like the olden days.

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We sat the sealed jars out in the sun for 3 hours and our tea cooked by the sun was complete.

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Next, Juicy added lots of cane sugar to the tea. This was his favorite part.

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He gave himself two slices of lemon,

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gave his drink a whirl,

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and completed his sun tea with ice cubes.

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He’s going to be talking about his tea and plants for the rest of the summer.

It’s the simple things, y’all. I surely needed the reminder.

What simple things are you and your kids enjoying this summer?

traceykinohio

Monday 25th of July 2016

Well.... my "kid" is a 28 year old autistic young man, so we don't look for good things to do like when he was small. We usually indulge in walks while I photo shoot, but it's been so HOT here in OH that it's all you can do to get from your house to your car & vice-versa! Otherwise, simple pleasures for myself included scoring 3 large Boston Ferns for my porch, putting pots of red Gerber Daisies/Impatients around. Putting out a tomato & green pepper plant on the patio & waiting for cooler weather to till my new garden spot (since my huge willow tree decided to crash on top of my garage, but that's another ball of wax.) Simple things are good for the soul. :-)

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