Dieciséis de Mayo!

*Pinata pictures added! Scroll down.

Other people have Cinco de Mayo parties....we have ours a bit later. 
(All the stuff is on sale, that way!)

Actually, the fiesta this year was held on the last day of school as a farewell/thank you party for Celestia and Jasper, our teachers for the last five years and dear friends for much longer than that.  It was tons of fun, but there was also a tiny bit of sadness, because we're going to miss them so very much. 

It has been raining...a LOT...so we weren't sure there was going to be much of a crowd at all. Fiestas are much more fun outside, but this year we set up in the Cohagen Gym and it worked out pretty well, actually.  It helps when there are miles of tacky plastic Mexican cut-out flags to string around and sombreros for everyone! Add mariachi music, lots of good food, great company and margharitas and it all comes together into a great party....

Cowboys, desperados, and senioritas...

Pancho and Lefty....appearing on posters in U.S. Post Offices near you.

The guests of honor, hitting the taco/enchilada line before anyone else.  Cohagen cooks are excellent and generous, and we enjoy every morsel! There was a particular chocolate brownie trifle that we all want the recipe for....if I get my hands on it, there'll be a recipe post, here, because it's to die for. (In fact, I think the cook called it Death By Chocolate, come to think of it...)

Everyone looks cooler in sombreros, don't you think?

The problem we ran into was hugging!  Apparently, Mexicans don't hug too often; either that or they have developed a technique that allows for it without knocking sombreros off left and right. 

AND there's almost nothing cuter than kids in sombreros!

Witness the adorable vibes....

Good vibes coming from the Bull Pen, too!

I wouldn't exactly call it adorable, but good vibes nontheless...

This picture doesn't do Baby Hannah justice.  She's the most adorable little thing!  I talked her folks into letting me hold her while they ate....pretending it was a favor, when really it was a favor for ME.  We played by the stereo; she was enthralled with the mariachi music and it was fun to dance and swoop with her! 

Three of my favorite women in the world, discussing the meaning of life I'm sure....

Speaking of desperados....

If it wasn't for the big hat, he'd have been able to slip in the line and abscond with a couple dozen Jello blocks, unnoticed.

Traci told me that she ordered a cake (last minute, at Costco) with Mexican wishes, but when it was time to leave, she had to grab a "Happy Birthday" cake instead; the other cake wasn't anywhere to be seen.  So she scraped the wrong sentiment off and put an appropriate Thank You on it.  We think somewhere in Billings there's a birthday party with a Hasta Luego cake...

And the pinata!  I don't have pictures of the destruction, but Traci does and as soon as I can talk her into sharing, I'll add them to the post...

The pinata got knocked off the rope, but still didn't break, so I had to hold it while this little girl whacked away at it.  She was last in line, being the oldest, so I thought it only fair to let her work on it, having had to wait through all the other kids.

 Ended up having to just shake the candy out...

...on their greedy little heads and sombreros. Incidentally, if you're wearing a sombrero and picking up candy while more is falling, the hat acts as extra hands because candy falls on the brim!

Making sure there's no more candy in the pinata.  The little girl beside me swiped up one package of licorice and was good with that.  Just open it and eat it and let the other shmoes scrabble around in the dirt.

Loot

Nice job! Plenty of candy for the first day of summer vacation!

My co-host, looking quite spiffy in her sombrero!

A good time was had by all and we are already looking forward to next year's party!