Watermelon Coolers and Popsicles

It's still summertime for us, it's been over 90 and school doesn't start until after Labor Day. I'm soaking it in. We adapted a delicious recipe for these Watermelon Coolers.

For ours we used:
9 full cups chopped seedless watermelon (around 3 batches in the blender)
Fresh lime juice, I'd try 3 or 4 limes depending on size plus another for garnish
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
Dash of salt

Preparation:
Blend watermelon in batches in blender; process until smooth. Strain watermelon through a sieve into a pitcher; keep solids for another use. Combine sugar and water, bring to a boil, give a couple stirs, boil 2 more minutes. Let mixture (simple syrup) cool. Into strained watermelon juice stir in simple syrup, lime juice and a dash of salt. Serve over ice. Garnish with mint and lime slices. Add 1 1/2 ounces vodka or white rum per serving, if desired. So refreshing.

Then we kept the solids and froze them for some easy popsicles. Next time I will add a touch of the simple syrup and watermelon juice to add a bit more flavor, but my kids ate them just so.