Cinco de Mayo

In honor of an epic date (5/5/25) for Cinco de Mayo, here is an epic adventure I had working on a pinata during May almost 25 years ago.

We loved making pinatas back then. We would blow up a balloon and cover it in newspaper strips that had been dipped in a flour-water paste. Then, we would let it try, pop the balloon, and decorate it with tissue paper.

This time, we were feeling ambitious, so we taped two balloons together to make it duck-shaped, with a smaller balloon as the head and a larger balloon as the body.

Then it was time to decorate it. My sister Kaylie and I would hang out in my bedroom at night, alternating between gluing tissue paper on the pinata and applying the glue directly to our fingers and hands. Once the glue was dry, it was so satisfying to pull it off, especially if it came off in one piece. I have always wondered why it took three times as long to decorate this pinata as our normal pinatas, and this is probably why.

Then it was time to fill it with candy. There was a problem, though -- my parents were out of town the day I wanted to go get some. My grandparents were watching us, and I didn't know if they would approve of us just buying candy.

So Kaylie and I got our bikes ready and told my grandpa, "We're going on a bike ride to the local grocery store. We'll be back soon!" He might have been reading a book at a time and barely noticed we were gone.

And off we went! Back then, Maceys was where Big 5 Sporting Goods is now. That meant that we had to cross a highway. (Did I mention that Kaylie wasn't even 9 yet? I was such a good big sister.) After 5 minutes of waiting, traffic on both sides of Highway 165 was clear, so we pedaled as fast as we could and made it to the store. 

We headed straight to the bulk candy section. I had seen people scoop candy into bags and weigh them other times I had gone to the store, and I tried to match what I had seen them do. After I had filled a few bags with Tootsie Rolls, caramels, and other candies, we headed to the checkout line.

"Looks like you got the good stuff," the cashier said. I tried to act as nonchalant and grownup as possible as I handed her a $10 bill.

Then it was time to ride our bikes home. This direction was easier -- we just crossed at the light.

"Maybe we should have crossed here on the way there," Kaylie noted. I had to admit she was probably right, even if she was younger.

We hadn't met our deadline for the pinata to be done by Cinco de Mayo, but we got to use it for another sister's birthday party a few days after we bought the candy. It was sad seeing our duck pinata get destroyed after we had put so much work into it, but we were still glad we had gotten to make it and buy the candy ourselves.

At the same time, as much as I'm glad I had the experience, I hope my kids never try to cross any highways just to get some Tootsie Rolls.