Who celebrates Cinco de Mayo?

Apparently we do now.

On Brendan's side of our family are some of the biggest 4th of July fanatics you'll ever see. I say that in a very good way, it's a big deal and one we ALL look forward to each summer. So I guess it's normal to now get a little festive to celebrate "the Independence day of our neighbors to the South" as Brian so eloquently put it in his prayer as he blessed the food. I'm not one to laugh during a prayer, but this one got a little out of hand and I think even Grandma was chuckling a bit.

Anyhoo~Brian and Lauren called up to let us know that they were planning a party at Brendan's parents' that evening. Hey, any excuse to eat his mom's chimis is good for me. I picked up the boys from the high school where Jordan was finishing up track practice and Jake was done with his Basketball Open Gym session. We dropped Allison off at Timpview for dance and headed across the street for the Fiesta. Brendan met us there after work. We ate homemade chimis/burritos with Cafe Rio pork, chips, 7 layer dip, and salsa. I brought specialty drink mixers to make Pina Coladas, Strawberry Daiquiris, and very sour Margaritas. Yummo!

Brendan's brother Joe (the real party animal of the family) brought over a pinata for all the little kids. Cute little Jack was scared to death of it and refused to hit it, but there were plenty of other little hands (and big ones) who did the job.

Brian walked around saying all the Spanish phrases he knew and even had Mexican music blaring from some site that he found on the computer. I just sat back and laughed at how crazy this whole party was, but we all had so much fun.

Here are Jordan, Brendan, his brothers Brian and Joe, doing a little "Mexican" for our entertainment.

(I stole this photo from Debbie's blog because it's just so cute to see all the little cousins holding hands to cross the street.)

Everyone went across the street to the park to play baseball after the pinata. Problem was, no one could find a baseball or a bat. It's been a LONG time since kids lived in the house. No problem. The house was full of ingenious eagle scouts....they sanded down a stick found out in the yard for the bat (which was also used for the pinata). A whiffle ball just wouldn't cut it so they got masking tape to cover the holes and give it some weight. Oh these boys just get better by the minute. Jordan designated himself as the pitcher, but we all soon realized that just because you are a quarterback, doesn't mean you can pitch. They played until the tape started to unravel and the ball became useless.

This was my very first Cinco de Mayo celebration, but I'm thinking it won't be our last.