Making Our Way to Maker Faire!

We were excited to (finally) support Maria's long time dream of hosting her own lemonade stand. We encouraged her to sell for a cause, and so, we decided to share our plans for taking the Young Makers Club, Love and Rockets, to Maker Faire. Through this club, and the high school club, Art of Engineering, we are supporting bringing at least four students, in addition to our own children, to the Faire. A little gas money for the long drive will help a lot! Thank you... everyone that came was generous, thirsty, hungry, and curious. We had a really, really, really fun time. Really!


Before we share the sale, the demonstrations, the fun, I'd like to share peeks of some of the preparations...


Obviously, we made lemonade. We made as much as we could from our own tree, and then we supplemented with the tasty frozen concentrate from Trader Joe's. Maria was insistent on making all the lemonade fresh squeezed, which is admirable, but our poor tree had a limited supply of fruit to offer.


I think combining ours and theirs was a tasty compromise, plus we had a delicious, and homemade berry syrup to liven up the flavor and add color to our lemonade.

Max offered to be CFO of the operation, and he took all my receipts, to calculate expenses, and help create pricing guidelines. It's a genuine pleasure to be so closely acquainted with someone willing and able to provide these services!

Alex was appointed technical support, and strongman. He helped set up Lavender, the big robotic arm. He moved tables, chairs, the fire ring. During the sale, he was on hand to wave in customers, and support his sister.

Bambi, the latest and greatest Young Maker, came supplied with mixes for hot apple cider, hot chocolate... emphasis on the hot, because the day of the sale turned out drizzly, damp, cold, cloudy, windy... and decidedly unfavorable for ice cold lemonade. Bambi also made an excellent greeter and sales associate. And! The sun came out! I think she chased the poor weather away by helping us prepare for a change of plans.


We made three versions of Maria's notice. Every time it drizzled, on the days leading up to the sale, the message would get washed away!


Hmmm... I think this is version II. We wanted the neighborhood anticipating all the goodness to come. Maria was even prepared for dogs!

We baked, too. And we, of course, sampled our wares. You cannot sell unsampled cookies. It's too risky.


Speaking of risky... we made lemon-mint syrup, and berry syrup for shave ice. When the weather started out cold, like it did, we thought shave ice will be a flop. But, like I said, the day changed, and shave ice was a big hit.


Ah... I'm getting ahead of myself. I have some editing to do, but very soon we are going to share a few of the fun moments we enjoyed at Maria's Lemonade Sale and Mini-Maker Demonstration. We hope you'll come by for more!