No Break From Spring Break

By Rachel

MY spring break (unlike the KID'S spring break) included scrubbing crayon and marker drawings from my walls, settling disputes over who touched who first, and an emergency trip to the vet (dog hit in the eye during an unsupervised indoor golf game). Even our favorite stores put "No kids allowed" signs in their windows. To save my house and pets from further mayhem, I called a girlfriend to go to the Arboretum. It was a beautiful day and I was looking forward to seeing the spring flowers. Here is a summary of our adventures.....

The drive took a while but you would have thought we had driven for 40 days and 40 nights instead of 40 minutes. I pretended not to see them trample a bed of flowers when they got out of the car. As I surveyed the beautiful scenery, my son ran up to me with a bouquet of stolen flowers......roots and all. How does he get away so fast??

At the fountain the kids wanted to throw in some change so I dumped my purse on the lawn looking for some. Found my missing credit card that I had reported stolen (OOPS!), my husband's missing car keys (OOPS again!) and a reflex checker from the pediatrician's office. I guess my 3 year old put it in my purse when he was getting a check-up. Now I have to make another appointment to slip it back.....

As my girlfriend and I were enjoying the fresh air and horticulture and chatting about how neither of us can even grow a cactus, I suddenly heard a man yelling. I looked up - our kids were IN the fountain picking UP coins! I guess they ran out of money. The only thing left to do was take them home to spend quality time with their father while I made my favorite drink (recipe below) and locked myself in the bathroom to get some alone time.

This drink would be fabulous in a drink fountain for your next girlfriends' get-together!

Sangria Punch
1 orange
1 lime
1 lemon
1 cup orange juice
1/2 cup white sugar
1 - 1/2 cups rum
3/4 liter bottle dry red wine (drink the other 1/4 while you are making this drink)

Freeze the orange juice into ice cubes (this will help keep your drinks cold without diluting them). Chill the wine, fruit and rum.

Slice the orange, lime and lemon into thin, round slices and place in a large pitcher. Add the rum and sugar. Chill for 2 hours to allow flavors to cultivate.

To serve, crush the fruit lightly with a spoon and stir in the wine. Add the orange juice cubes. Serve in your favorite drink fountain or pitcher. Enjoy!