It seems the obligatory drink at any baby shower worth its diapers is punch.  I can’t remember ever choosing to buy punch or even drink it on a regular basis, but for some reason I need punch at a shower.  There are millions of punch recipes out there, but I happened to stumble across one that I wanted to share.  Unlike most punches I’ve had, it’s not real sweet but instead somewhat tart.  Here’s the recipe for the next shower you hold.  Or maybe you just want to whip some up for a warm Sunday afternoon

The only variation I made to this recipe was to substitute regular ginger ale for cranberry ginger ale.  That was no scientific substitution, simply because the grocery store where I was shopping didn’t have cranberry ginger ale and I wasn’t about to go ’round town hunting it down.  I’m really not sure what that changed in the taste except, I suppose, making it less cranberry-y, but I thought it was plenty cranberry-y for me.  Also, beware of the can sizes when you’re shopping because what I would call the “regular” frozen concentrate cans are 12-ounces, not 6.  Now don’t say I didn’t warn you!

Pink and Bubbly Punch

• 2  6-ounce cans frozen pink lemonade concentrate
• 1  6-ounce can frozen pineapple juice concentrate
• 1 gallon cranberry juice
• 2 liters cranberry ginger ale
• 4 cups crushed ice

In a large punch bowl, mix lemonade concentrate, pineapple juice concentrate, and cranberry juice.  Add ice and slowly pour in the ginger ale.

- Clarissa

I recently hosted a baby shower for my sister who is expecting her first baby.  I don’t have a lot of pictures because, well, I was busy!

Here’s a nice one of my sister, our mom, and our grandma…



We had a big group of female family members, ranging in age from 12 to 86.  Possibly the most praised part of the shower were the activities.  It was important to me to have some activities that were a little different from the normal shower games, were group-oriented, and would be fun for all ages.

We started, as people arrived and mingled, by taking small groups at a time to the garage for a little creative activity.  I bought a whole bunch of white onesies ranging in sizes for the entire first year of the baby’s life.  I then provided fabric markers and paint for each guest to paint a onesie with whatever she desired.  This was a fun activity, and also made for a great present for the future-mom to take home.

Before the shower I had some of the kids decorate as well.

Our second activity was a baby animal game that I found online.  I prepared sheets with a list of the names of animals, and each team had to write the name of the baby of each animal (i.e. sheep –> lamb).  The guest of honor with our Grandma and sister sure were serious competitors…

It turned into a very competitive game — check out these cheaters who found a Mammal book sitting around…

This team won in the end, correctly answering 36 of 44 – it wasn’t as easy as it sounds!  Check out how serious they were…

Because we had such a wide range of ages and people from different sides of the family, I had a mini-activity to determine the pairs for the game.  My mom had little two-piece Sesame Street puzzles which we put into a basket and allowed each person to pick one piece.  After everyone had a piece, they all were tasked with finding the person with the other half of the puzzle.  This really mixed people up and served as kind of an ice breaker.

After eating, we played the final activity — Baby Family Feud.  For this game, I created a big magnetic board  (I used magnetic paint, but there are probably many better ways because that was not easy).  If you’re familiar with family feud, it’s exactly that.  If you’re not, check out the Game Show Network.  Seriously, though, people are divided into teams (two on the show, four for our large group), I ask a question like “Name a popular nursery rhyme,” and people guess what would be the most popular answer.  There were more details, but you get the idea.  It can be modified to fit any group size or any topic other than baby.  It got a little loud and wild, but not many games in my family don’t.  It was a fun time!

We finished with the obligatory present opening, and then everyone left to go home for a nap.  Not really, I assume, but it was a fun (and tiring) baby shower!

- Clarissa