¡Olé! ¡Feliz Cinco de Mayo!

Growing up in the desert southwest, I celebrated Cinco de Mayo every year… but is not just an excuse to eat Mexican food and drink beer or margaritas.  Cinco de Mayo is referred to as Mexican Independence Day here in the states, but this is not the case.  Mexican Independence (the countries most important patriotic holiday) is actually September 16th…. so what is Cinco de Mayo then?

The actual significance of Cinco de Mayo, or the 5th of May, is the commemoration of the out numbered and ill equipped Mexican army defeating the French army (who had not been defeated in 50 years) at the Battle of Puebla on May 5th, 1862. Cinco de Mayo is not an obligatory Mexican National holiday and celebrated regionally in Puebla, Mexico and various other locations.  It is celebrated in the US and other parts of the world as a Mexican heritage/pride day… with margarita drinking and tacos.

Although I am not of Mexican decent, I grew up 40 miles from the border of Mexico in Arizona where there is a great deal of Mexican cultural influence (remember Arizona did not become a state until 1912).  I consider myself a cactus flower transplanted in the Midwest.. I miss home, alot!

So for a little piece of home the boys and I have decided to celebrate Cinco de Mayo, Saint Bernard style. ¡Olé!

Rufus looks like he is plotting his revenge and Brutus, the indignity… lol

I’m really excited about the boy’s Cinco de Mayo Collars, I had them made by none other than the fabulous Sew Crazy Dog Lady.  They are black sporting red and green chili’s with a festive southwest flair.  They have been wearing them for a week or so now, I was just too excited about them to let them sit in their collar drawer any longer.  Their drawer is full… I think they need their own armoire for their fashion accessorries and shoes… yes, they have shoes!

They even had a cute little Puppy Piñata!  I should have gotten the larger 8″ plush size, but the company sent me the small 4″ plush size.  The tiny one actually worked out pretty good.  I had my doubts at first, but they were able to get the treats out with out tearing it up, which is good.

The puppy piñata, Poncho, is a plush blue dog wearing a cute little sombrero.  He comes in two sizes, 4″ (small/medium dogs) and 8″ (dogs over 25 pounds) and instead of stuffing, it is filled with beef jerky treats.  The back has a velcro strip so you can refill the pinata with your dogs favorite treats over and over.  My Saints we dumbfounded and couldn’t quite figure out how to get the treats out and lost interest pretty quickly.  But the labradors… they LOVE it!  I cant even tell you how many times I have refilled them (I have 2 pinatas).  I was a little surprised to find one in my bed last night.  Apparently Apollo decided he was going to hide in my bedroom and enjoy his treasure in the peace and comfort of my bed! I am definitely going to try out the bigger size next time.