fiesta, forever...come on and sing along

if you grew up in santa barbara, fiesta is part of your soul. it's a summer marker that is etched in your brain. being in parades, watching parades, making cascarones, buying cascarones, meeting up with old friends, drinking margaritas, dancing, dressing in costume, eating churros, tacos, feeling a slice of history and just having a good time are all part of the 5 day celebration! the familiarity of this tradition for me, is unlike any other celebration i grew up with. i suppose i could compare it to celebrating the holidays. something i look forward to, that brings my family and friends together and that ultimately always wipes me out by the end. 

i want my children to know this tradition just as i do. i want them to have amazing fiesta memories. the girls happen to be 10th generation santa barbarian which furthers my interest in showing them all there is to the party! 

fiesta has evolved in the way we celebrate it today: heavy on the parades, light on the margaritas, but the anticipation for the fun and the exhaustion when it's all said and done have not changed...and the amount of confetti that lingers for weeks following our santa barbara party will always be. viva la.

opening night, dinner at the rose gardens

mama bit off a little more than she could chew, with bringing both girls, solo, who were tired and just wanted to see dancing...but we lasted until the opening ceremony and ultimately it was awesome!

excited spectators, for the friday (noon) parade. both were ready before 9am...mila complete with binoculars

adrea and i with her sweet baby boy. spent countless fiestas together growing up. not sure why neither one of us could remember one?

silly selfies, post parade

teaching the girls how to shake the confetti out of your hair into the bathtub

mila doing flamenco in her sleep, after fiesta day 3

saturday's children's parade

gorgeous costumes

walking down state to the placita

"mama want-choo"

the cuteness from these two cousins is over-the-top

paseo performances. evia has taken a liking to the flamenco performances and is talking about performing "on stage with the girls." we shall see what our future fiesta's hold.

in the cantina with grandma lu

done. done and done.

trek back to the car

recharging before fiesta-del-norte

roller coaster with cousin

where she prefers to be for the rides (sidelines)

tio gamz and isei can fly!

mila, evia and yinny - in action

playing a game to win a prize!

matching prizes. these ladies were at the mercado until 10pm!!! another fun fiesta come and gone.