Cinco de Mayo

Steve flew in on Thursday and we headed up to Marble Falls to pick up the kids on Friday.  They had Cinco de Mayo festivities at school on Friday so they were wondering about Cinco de Mayo in San Antonio.  Of course we have Cinco de Mayo celebrations in San Antonio.  It promised to be another warm day on Saturday so we headed out fairly early with El Mercado or the Mexican Marketplace as our destination.  Morgan had her "Cinco de Mayo" hairdo on.  Now that Fiesta is over, it was a little easier to find a place to park.  We toured the old Farmers Market area which is festive at any time.  Then we crossed the street to the area in front of El Mercado.  There were lots of booths set up and music playing.

They had all kinds of food booths and souvenirs for sale along with bouncy games and music playing.  We also saw this group all dressed up for the occasion.  Cinco de Mayo (the 5th of May) is not Mexican Independence Day as some think.  It commemorates the Mexican Army's 1862 victory over the French at the Battle of Puebla  during the Franco-Mexican War (1861-1867).  Although it is not much celebrated in Mexico, it has become a symbol of Mexican culture and heritage in areas of the United States with large Mexican-American populations.  It is usually celebrated with parades, mariachi music, and street festivals.  These performers were happy to pose with visitors.   

It really got warm by the time the kids were ready for a late lunch of chicken gorditas--something new to them.  Then Steve decided that it would be great to have a caricature of the kids drawn.  Cameron wasn't having any part of it unless "Dad" was in the picture too.

Hmmm?  Is that supposed to be Steve?

After the drawing was done and carefully rolled up to carry home, we headed out.  Of course, the kids were asleep before we left the downtown area.  Heat will do that to you and lots of walking will do that to you.