I love summer, as do a lot of kids. I mean, who wouldn't? You don't have to worry about school and homework and you get to hang out by the pool with friends, go on vacation, sleep in, hold Lemonade Stands... speaking of Lemonade Stands, it's a lot more work than you think, especially if you're not just selling lemonade...

I remember how it all started like it was yesterday... My sister Ale and I were sitting at the kitchen table at my grandparents' house in Yountville with our Noni (that would be my Italian grandmother) she was showing us how to make pizzeles (an Italian breakfast cookie), on a pizzelle maker which looks something like a mini waffle maker, anyways, we got excited and started making batch after batch and before we knew it we had enough cookies to feed an army, but sadly our Army is, well, fighting the people that threatened our country's security on September 11, 2001. We decided to sell them the next day on our grandparents' street. The sale was successful and two years later, we have added more and more to our menu.

When my sister Ale and I decide to have our stand, we have lemonade of course, coffee and Mexican hot chocolate along with a large variety of cookies, brownies, scones, muffins, coffee cake, biscotti, and our special cookie: pizzelles. We would have to start baking the day before the stand in order to bake all that. We normally leave the house at around 7:00 am, my Dad's truck loaded with the goodies, a table and chairs, umbrellas too, it gets pretty hot out there on a summer afternoon. We set up on our usual corner and try to get the early morning joggers, the tourists taking biking tours, and locals walking towards Bouchons for the first cup of coffee... Thomas Keller will be disappointed when he figures out that a couple of kids got his usual clients to buy something from them before they could get to his world renowned bakery.  

When it's all over around 2:00 in the afternoon, we don't have much left other than some broken cookies and crumbs, and a box full of cash.

The first time we did it our goal was to make enough money to buy school supplies for the following school year, needless to say we accomplished our goal. The following stands were just as successful with a different goal in mind every time we set up. One day I made our goal to be to add money to our college fund, since I want to go to Davis so I can become a Veterinarian. Once I received a $50 tip from a biker that liked to see us saving money for college, man, I love people who believe in young entrepreneurs, at least that's what he said...I had to look it up in the dictionary since I didn't know what entrepreneur meant.

Now, what about taxes? Am I obligated to pay them now? Should kid have to have business licenses in order to have lemonade stands? Nah, the IRS is just going to have to wait until I become a veterinarian, then I’ll pay my share.