My Little Fortune Cookie: Chihuauas and Cinco De Mayo!

Kayli and I have been talking about Cinco De Mayo for a few weeks now, and surfing the net to see what kinds of celebrations would be taking place around the city. Surely there would be a festival of some kind...right? We just looove festivals! Well, we came across something intriguing. Not a festival, per se. A parade. Wait, but this isn't just any parade, like all other parades. Ohhh nooo, this is a "Chihuahua Parade!" Oh yeah, that's right, a parade consisting of hundreds of chihuahuas, dressed in costume! Nothing else, just Chihuahuas! (Actually it was open to other dog breeds too, but the focus was on Chihuahuas) The committee was trying to break the Guinness book of world records for largest number of costumed chihuahuas in a parade. They needed approximately 700 Chihuahuas to break this record! Oh my gosh, now this was sounding like our kind of fun! Kayli was over-the-top excited as she began counting down the days!
Well, the day arrived, we had our wagon, water, sunscreen, and even a fancy chihuahua t-shirt for Kayli to wear!

We hopped on the interstate, with just enough time to get down to SW Boulev and Broadway, and traveled approximately two interstate exits when we hit gridlock! There was a van flipped over on it's side, airbags deployed, glass everywhere, emergency vehicles everywhere. We got off the interstate and began an alternate route (loooong alternate route) downtown! I happened to know that the interstate was already down to one lane for construction at 75th street, so we really needed to head north before getting back on the interstate. I kept thinking "we just can't miss the parade!" as the minutes ticked away, and we of course were behind every slow moving vehicle in town! We made it at the stroke of the hour, with not a minute to spare, finding a parking place several blocks away, no time to put on sunscreen, no time to waste, and the perfect opportunity for me to burn a few calories by racing with Kayli in the wagon the 4 or 5 blocks to get to the action!
We knew we had arrived as we turned the corner and saw this little guy...

then...

and the action had just begun as they were trying to gather the masses for a photograph...

this was sooo funny, so many dogs, so many costumes, and nobody really knew how the parade was supposed to form. People and dogs were just milling about, mixing and mingling, and stopping occasionally to pose for a photo...

Wait a minute, who snuck that pig in here????

Kayli just kept saying "Mom, look at that one, look at that one!" Then we'd both crack up!

Eventually, one guy, who apparently was in charge of this whole thing, said "Ok, everyone, follow me!" and like the pied piper, people and their chihuahuas began to follow him down the sidewalk of SW Boulevard, and so, the parade began!
Apparently about 500 dogs showed up today, and 80% of them were actually Chihuahuas! They did not break the world record but it was quite a show! The proceeds from all the entries went to local no-kill animal shelter, where chihuahuas are among the most common breed of dogs to be dropped off.
Whew, with the parade over, and the sun at it's hottest, we walked back to our car amongst the throngs of pet owners carrying their tiny tired dogs, with their tiny tongues hanging out of the mouths, just begging for a drink. Yep, reminded me that Kayli and I have plans to head to my favorite Mexican restaurant tonight, where I will quench my thirst on a tasty Cinco De Mayo drink!
...and so we did...later that day...after dance class and a few errands...celebrate some more...

Ahhhh...Mmmm...

and after our fabulous dinner, we decided since the weather was equally as fabulous, we needed to head to a play park and soak up all the fresh warm air we could stand! Since we were already in our old neighborhood, we headed to one of our old favorite places we call "the dinosaur park"...

Kayli amazed me, as she adeptly made her way across the monkey bars...

then, she found a new friend, and quickly had her playing some kind of "spy and sneak" game that kept them entertained for quite a while...

As the other families started leaving the park, we I decided it was time to for us to call it a day. "Aww, C'mon mom, can't we stay just a little longerrrr???"