Summer is the perfect time to spruce up your favourite cocktail recipes with a sparkling twist! With only a few ingredients, you can easily upgrade any classic drink into something special and refreshing. Here are some of the best summer cocktails that use sparkling mineral water as an ingredient to keep you hydrated while you indulge!

Strawberry Mint Sparkler

This easy-to-make cocktail is perfect for hot summer days. All you need is 2 ounces of vodka, ½ ounce of simple syrup, 3 fresh mint leaves, 4-5 strawberries, and 2 ounces of sparkling mineral water. In a shaker, muddle the mint leaves and strawberries until they release their juices. Then add the vodka, simple syrup, and ice before shaking it all together. Pour the mixture into a glass over ice and top with sparkling mineral water. Garnish with additional strawberries or mint leaves if desired. 

Cucumber Gin Fizz

This light and refreshing cocktail is sure to be a hit at your next gathering! To make it, you will need 1 1/2 ounces gin, 1/2 ounce lime juice, 2 slices cucumber (plus more for garnish), and 2 ounces sparkling mineral water. Muddle together the cucumber slices in a shaker before adding the gin and lime juice. Shake well then pour over ice in a glass before topping with sparkling mineral water. Garnish with additional cucumber slices if desired. 

Blackberry Lime Spritzer

This delicious spritzer will quickly become your go-to summer drink! All you need is 4 blackberries (plus more for garnish), 1/2 ounce lime juice, 2 ounces white rum or vodka, and 2 ounces of sparkling mineral water. In a shaker muddle together four blackberries until they release their juices, then add the lime juice and liquor of choice followed by ice cubes before shaking vigorously. Pour into two glasses over ice, then top each glass off with one ounce of sparkling mineral water before garnishing with additional blackberries if desired. 

Sangria Spritzer

Start by combining one part red wine, one part orange juice, and one part sparkling mineral water in a pitcher. Add a few slices of orange to the mix and let it sit for an hour or two before adding ice cubes when ready to serve. This refreshing concoction is sure to be a crowd favourite! 

Aperol Fizz

Mix one part Aperol, one part vodka, and two parts sparkling mineral water in a shaker filled with ice cubes. Shake vigorously for 15 seconds and strain into glasses filled with more ice cubes. Garnish with orange peel for extra flavour and pizzazz! 

Watermelon Cooler

Muddle half of a seedless watermelon in a pitcher until it becomes liquidy (about three cups). Add four ounces of vodka and stir until combined. Top off the mixture with two cups of sparkling mineral water and add a few sprigs of mint leaves for garnish. Serve chilled over fresh ice cubes.

Lemon Basil Gin & Tonic

In a shaker filled with ice cubes, combine two parts gin and one part lemon juice before shaking vigorously for 15 seconds or so. Strain into highball glasses filled with fresh ice cubes before topping off each glass with one part sparkling mineral water. Garnish each glass with basil leaves for an extra zing! 

Mojito Mint Fizz

Muddle 8-10 mint leaves in bottom of shaker until they become fragrant (about 10 seconds). Fill the shaker halfway full of crushed ice before adding two ounces white rum, one ounce lime juice, ¾ ounces simple syrup (or 1 tablespoon sugar), and 2 drops Angostura bitters (optional). Shake vigorously for 15-20 seconds before straining into highball glasses filled halfway full with more crushed ice cubes per glass. Top off each glass with sparkling mineral water and garnish each drink with lime wedges or mint sprigs — whatever suits your fancy! 

Bottoms up!

Any of these delicious drinks are sure to quench your thirst this summer! Whether you’re looking for something light or something fruity, there is something here for everyone to enjoy. Have fun experimenting in the kitchen this season by turning your favourite cocktails into something extra special using these recipes as an inspiration point. Enjoy!

If you’ve never moved before, count yourself lucky. In survey after survey, moving consistently ranks among the most stressful life events, right alongside divorce and the death of a loved one. Naturally, if you have an upcoming move, you’ll want to do everything in your power to make it less stressful and easier on your entire family. So, in today’s guide, we’re going to take a closer look at how to make moving less of a pain!

Make a Moving Day Checklist In Advance

Nothing throws a wrench in your moving day plans like a lack of organization. If you don’t make a checklist well before moving day arrives, you will likely feel agitated and overwhelmed. Fortunately, you can largely bypass these feelings by preparing for what’s to come. Make sure your checklist accounts for the people and vehicles you will need, as well as all of the larger items that must be moved. Don’t forget little things like having a phone charger on hand, as it could end up being a real life-saver!

Give Away Things You Don’t Want

One of the biggest issues associated with moving is taking inventory of all the stuff you own. Many families are shocked at the sheer number of things in their homes. However, if you’re like most people, you still hold on to plenty of things that you don’t actually want or need. Consider donating unwanted clothing, furniture, and other household items to charity or even giving them away to friends and family. Getting rid of these items ahead of moving day will greatly reduce the number of boxes and vehicles you’ll need to get everything moved to your new home.

Hire Professional Movers

It can be tempting to save a few bucks and try to do everything on your own. Unfortunately, you’ll quickly find that trying to manage a big move without some hired muscle is an enormous undertaking. Not only can it be stressful, but you may find that you don’t have the right equipment to move bigger items in your home. So, don’t be afraid to invest in a reliable moving company like Black Tie Moving. Not only will you have people to do most of the heavy lifting for you, but you’ll also eliminate a lot of the stress associated with changing homes.

Make Fun Arrangements For Your Kids

If you have young kids, you know that it can be difficult to get things done unless they are entertained. While older children and teenagers can be a huge help when moving, younger kids may not be able to help as much. Not only could they get hurt, but they could also get quickly bored with the activity. So, if possible, try to arrange to have young children entertained while you handle the move. For example, you might ask your parents or friends to watch your kids for the day. Alternatively, you could have one of your older children take the kids to the movies or to the park for a few hours. This will help keep your kids happy and make moving go by much faster!

Looking for more great advice on ways to make your busy life easier? Be sure to check out some of our other posts on 3 Kids and Us today!

These days, one of the most common complaints that parents have is that they have a hard time getting their children to play outside, as most kids prefer spending time playing indoors or doing a different activity like watching TV. It can be difficult to ensure that your outdoor living space is one that your kids will enjoy spending time in, especially if your yard hasn’t undergone any recent renovations from Hiner Outdoor Living and is lacking in fun elements that your children can enjoy. If you’re looking to give your yard an upgrade, here are 5 kid-friendly things that you can add to your backyard today!

1. Sandbox 

Sandboxes are a classic addition to any kid-friendly backyard. Playing with natural elements such as sand can be a great sensory experience for young children, and can encourage creativity in children as they try to build things from the sand! Sandboxes are relatively easy to build or install, and blend easily into any yard. 

2. Outdoor Art Station 

An outdoor easel or craft table is a great way to keep children of all ages entertained outside. As an added bonus for parents, children doing art projects such as painting outdoors can reduce the risk of a mess inside the house! Ensure that your children have outdoor-friendly pieces of equipment and supplies such as an easel, washable paint, chalk, and more, and your children are sure to enjoy spending hours outside expressing their creativity.  

3. Swings 

One of the outside activities that kids enjoy the most is swinging. Swing sets can be purchased or built relatively easily, and can come with custom additions such as slides, treehouses, and more. Don’t want to invest in an expensive swingset? Attaching a singular swing onto a tree will work as well. 

4. Nature Observation Tools

Many kids love to go outside and explore the elements around them, such as plans or insects. Encourage your child’s natural curiosity with a nature observation kit that includes a magnifying glass, a pencil and paper to record notes about their findings, and, most importantly, a box where they can capture bugs to observe closer. Just make sure to set rules about where these items can be left if you would prefer to avoid a bug being accidentally brought into your home. 

Conservatories can be quite the showpiece of any home. More and more people are turning to their conservatories as an additional room for entertaining guests, studying, or simply a space for relaxing during the evenings. However, unless you have a solid roof fitted, these rooms can become quite hot during the summer months, making it beneficial to find window coverings that serve their purpose of providing shade from the sun, look good and offer additional functionality, such as insulation from wind and soundproofing. Here are some ideas on selecting the best window coverings for your conservatory that will meet all of your needs and look good while doing so.

Vertical Blinds

A conservatory is a space that is meant for enjoying nature and relaxing. The area’s typically large windows allow a lot of natural light but can also create glare, heat a room and cause distracting patterns on walls. Adding vertical blinds can be a great way to solve these problems while adding style and colour.

Roller Blinds

Because of their versatility, roller blinds are some of our most popular conservatory window coverings. As well as being great at blocking light and a certain amount of heat from entering your conservatory, roller blinds can also be quickly drawn back or removed completely if you want more natural light during certain times of the day. It’s also reasonably easy to control ventilation in your conservatory with roller blinds – depending on how many windows you have, simply raise or lower all or individual blinds to regulate airflow.

Venetian Blinds

If you’re thinking of installing Venetian blinds in a conservatory, it may help to know that these window coverings have several advantages. A great deal of natural light will come into your conservatory as a result of fitting Venetian blinds, allowing you and your family members a bright space to relax. However, they are not very good at blocking out heat, which could mean the conservatory is warmer than you would ideally like, in the summer.

Plantation Shutters

These are classic and add a touch of history to any room, but they are likely to be more expensive than other coverings. Plantation shutters come in various styles that give you total freedom over how much light you want to let in or how much privacy you want at your fingertips. Plantation shutters are great for a conservatory if you live somewhere where there’s sunlight most of the day, as they are perfect for cooling a space during hot summer months.

Curtains

While you can undoubtedly bring in fresh air and light with your curtains, they can also block it—which is possibly less than ideal, depending on how much time you spend in your conservatory and how much privacy you desire. Curtains are probably the least efficient choice for a conservatory window covering, but they are also the cheapest option.

No Coverings

The main benefit of not covering the windows is that leaving windows bare helps make your conservatory feel like a more natural home extension. This can add value both psychologically and financially. There’s no need to worry about curtains or blinds getting dirty, meaning you don’t have to deal with cleaning them or replacing them if they break. The downside is you will have no protection from direct sunlight and zero privacy.