fresh squeezed lemonade

I am a sucker for lemonade.  Growing up where the state arts and crafts festival was held each summer, I attended only for Joe's Jefferson Street Lemonade.  One year, I worked in the booth and learned to make fresh squeezed lemonade.  I recently found a similar recipe on pinterest, but it had way too much sugar.
I modified and I plan to keep tweaking it b/c Ben swears this stuff has crack in it (his own complement).  I want to try honey and vanilla as a sweetener in it.

Mix 1 cup water and 1 cup sugar (I used 3/4 cup but it needed a touch more) in a small pan on stove till boils.
Squeeze 8 lemons into pitcher and add 7 cups of water.  Add the syrup water and stir.
Garnish with fresh mint.

I then put the lemon rinds, 2 T vanilla and a twig of rosemary with 2 quarts water and simmered all day.  My kitchen smelled like cookies.  I was feeling quite domesticated.