Fiesta Days at Heritage Hill

Sometimes all you need in life to make you happy is a  Mariachi band and a dancing horse. Well, at least that’s all my family needed to declare our outing to Heritage Hill’s Fiesta Days a rousing success. We knew there would be butter churning, even candle making, and of course there would be a celebration of our area’s Mexican heritage. But the frantic hooves of a stallion stomping to the beat of the Mariachi caught us by utter surprise.

I imagine the caution tape that was placed in front of the stage where the dancing horses performed was to keep rabid fans who had been entranced by the rhythm of the Mariachi music from coming up front and trotting alongside the professionals. Mari was one of those rabid fans. Her eyes danced and her hands swayed to the beat. She furrowed her brow as she tried desperately to understand why no horse she had  rode in the past had ever stepped to the beat of the music she so sweetly sang. She stared dreamily at the man who rode those magical horses as he crooned love songs while wearing his glitzy ensemble. It was if he stepped directly out of her toddler imagination: a snazzy dressed singer who danced with horses.

It wasn’t just Mari who swooned at the performance. Women of all ages seemed to be captivated by the man who could make horses dance. After the show, they lined up to get his autograph and smiled for the camera next to their dream boat.

There was plenty more fun to be had at Fiesta Days beyond the dancing horses. The kids enjoyed hand churning ice cream, learning how to make their own hand dipped wax candles, and making their own jump ropes the old fashioned way. We watched people perform traditional Mexican dances and tried on bonnets inside the one room schoolhouse. It was a wonderful afternoon and while the candles and clay pots we made will become fixtures in our home, those horses dancing to Mariachi music will stay firmly implanted in my memory forever.  

Playing along with two for Twos-day at Who Says Eight is Enough.