Mexican Fiesta:
NOTE: Ruby from the animated Canadian cartoon Dot. appears in this story.
At the Casagrande's apartment in Great Lakes City, Lincoln, Leni, Luna, and the Casagrande family were decorating the place and setting up food...
Lincoln: (looks at the viewers, and waves to them) Oh, hi, there. You're here on a great day. Me and my sisters had watched the movie 'Coco' 2 days ago, and we were so inspired by the end of the movie, we decided to have a Mexican-style party, just like Miguel and his family! We asked the Casagrandes if they could help us throw a Mexican fiesta to celebrate. Fiesta is the Spanish word for 'party.'
Luna: In all fairness, we would have did this kind of party anyway, even if we wasn't inspired by 'Coco', but thanks to that movie, we wanted to do this.
Ronnie Anne: (comes in the shot) The movie 'Coco' celebrates the Day of the Dead, or Dia de los Muertos, a holiday which pays respects to relatives of Mexican-American people.
CJ: (also joins in) Also, our grandmother has these kinds of meals on May 5, or Cinco de Mayo, the anniversary of Mexico's victory over France.
Lincoln: And we aren't the only ones who will be at this party. Jojo and a friend of hers are coming to this party as well.
Just as everyone finishing setting up, the doorbell rings, and Rosa went over to answer it. It was Jojo and her friend, a girl of Indo-Iranian descent, with blonde hair, and black eyes, wearing light blue glasses, electronic red and white hearing aids, a yellow and pink-striped shirt, black pants, and pink shoes.
Jojo: (sees the room) Wow, you guys set up for the party real good!
Rosa: Why, gracias! (thank you)
Carlos: Mom has meals that are like this back home.
Ronnie Anne: Yeah, it looks like we'll have another one later. (chuckles)
The blonde-haired girl waved to Lincoln and his sisters when she saw them...
Lincoln: Hello there, who are you?
Blonde-haired Girl: I'm Ruby Marshall. You must be Lincoln.
Lincoln: Yeah, I'm Lincoln. And these are my sisters Luna and Leni.
Leni: Nice to meet you, Ruby.
Ruby: Jojo told me about you guys. (sees the Casagrandes) And it looks like they have other family members.
Everybody in the Casagrande family introduced themselves to Jojo and Ruby, and afterwards, some of them had questions...
Carlota: Jojo, how do you manage to still be the same cute clown you were when you were younger?
Jojo: I guess you could say... I hadn't stopped clowning around yet! (chuckles)
Carl: Ruby, what are your things on your ears?
Ruby: These are hearing aids. I'm hearing impaired, so I wear them on my ears, so they'll help me hear better. So, this is your Mexican fiesta? (chuckles)
hector: Yep, this is our little Mexican fiesta!
Ronnie Anne: Lincoln called me up, and told me how he and his sisters wanted a Mexican fiesta after watching 'Coco,' so I told my abuela (grandma) about it...
Rosa: (continues from Ronnie Anne) ...and me and my family were happy to set it up for them.
Luna: (happy) Wow, we don't know what to say...
Carlos: you could say 'let's have fun' because Mom planned out fun things to do for this fiesta!
Maria: Si, (yes) with some music, dancing, games...
Rosa: Don't forget my delicious food!
Maria: Oh, of course, Mom!
Jojo: At a fiesta, you can play music while your friends dance to the beat. Lincoln, do you have a play to get any musicians to play here?
Lincoln: Certainly, Jojo, Ronnie Anne's abeulo (grandpa) is playing the violin, Mrs. Santiago can play the harp, Bobby can play a mean guitar, Mrs. Casagrande, or Frida, can play the accordion, and CJ here can shake the maracas! Luna here also brought some drums to tap to the beat!
Jojo: (waves her arms) Alright, everyone, Ruby has her tablet ready!
Everyone saw that Ruby was holding a tablet...
Leni: Ruby, you're going to record the Mexican-style dance?
Ruby: (very excited) Yes! Back home, I love to make movies with my friends. So, I have to own video tablet to film it all.
Jojo: I can dance divinely for you, Ruby!
That remark made Ruby giggle.
Lincoln: This is a Mexican folk dance called, 'Los Machetes'. Grandma Casagrande will teach it to you, as well as the rest of us. Her family knows about these kinds of dances.
Rosa: Alright, amigos, (friends) this is a dance I know pretty well. (brings out a box of wooden sticks) You each need a pair of sticks to play during this dance. After everyone who was going to dance got a place of sticks, Rosa instructed them how to dance 'Los Machetes', and after a while of learning it, they all got the hang of it...
Rosa: Okay, Familia, (family) start playing that Mexican music, because we're ready to dance!
The band played an instrumental tune of the 'Los Machetes' music, and then everyone did the dance that they were instructed to do, while Ruby was recording it on her camera. The ones that were dancing raised their arms up high, then hit their sticks together to make a tapping sound, joined together in a circle, and walked around during the beat. After they finished, Rosa congratulated everyone...
Rosa: Well done. That was some very fine dancing!
Carlos: It looks like we picked a good tune to play.
Rosa: Well, now, there's a Mexican lunch I personally prepared for this occasion! But first, I thought you might want to try some chips.
Luna: You brought chips?
Rosa comes with a plate of tortilla chips with cups of sauces...
Rosa: Yes, Luna, tortilla chips with some dipping sauces. There's nacho cheese, sour cream, and salsa, which, for this party, is the best I've made!
Ronnie Anne: This also means that, it may be very hot and spicy.
Jojo: Why, thank you, but knowing what kinds of salsa I've had, I'll skip this one. When I was ten, back in Circustown, when my boyfriend and former neighbor Skeebo made his own salsa one time, and he asked me to try a sample. Five seconds later, I ended up drinking a full carton of milk.
Lincoln: Yes, we already have enough hot food for our Mexican lunch.
Ruby: (raises her hand) Mrs. Casagrande, I'd like to try that salsa.
Ronnie Anne: Hold on, Ruby, are you sure? It's pretty hot.
Ruby: (proud and determined) Oh, yes! If your grandmother says her salsa is the best, I'd like to try it. Plus, I've sometimes had hot sauce on fish tacos. This can't be that hot.
R.A.: (reluctantly) Well... alright. Wait a moment.
R.A. whispers something to Bobby, who nodded, and got out a gallon of milk, and a large cup. Bobby gave R.A., the cup, and carefully poured the milk into it until it was full...
R.A.: Jojo, can you get a tortilla chip, dip it in the salsa, and then give it to Ruby?
Jojo: Sure, Ronnie Anne.
The clown girl took a chip, dipped it in the salsa a little, and handed it to Ruby to try...
Ruby: (smiles) I hope this salsa tastes good.
Ruby slowly put the chip in her mouth, chewed it up, and then swallowed it...
Luna: So... how is it, Ruby?
Everyone waited a few seconds, then they saw that Ruby's forehead and cheeks were turning bright red. Finally, the blonde-haired girl couldn't keep quiet, and opened her mouth, panting, and fanning her mouth with her hand...
Ruby: Hot, hot, hot...!
It was just too hot for her. R.A. carried the cup of milk over to Ruby. Ruby took the cup of milk with both hands and drank it quickly. Her face turned back to normal, and she let out a small sigh of relief after finished the whole cup of milk...
Jojo: Are you alright, Ruby?
Ruby: Yeah. (Ruby turns to R.A.) Thanks. That salsa was delicious, but also really spicy.
R.A.: You're not ready for that kind of salsa yet, Ruby. It's best that you stay away from it.
Ruby nodded, then Rosa announced, 'For our Mexican lunch, I made a variety of tacos and burritos, plus my best flan, and slushies to drink.' Everyone was pleased, and Lincoln replied, 'Let's eat!' Everyone got a full plate of food, got to the table, and ate as much as they could...
Jojo: Wow, that meal was really filling.
Leni: I don't think I can lift myself out of here tonight!
Rosa: Oh, I have an old Casagrande remedy that could fix that!
Luna: What kind of remedy?
Rosa stated, 'Lick your finger... and put it in your bellybutton.' Leni tried that... and she felt better.
Leni: Wow, I don't feel as full as I was before.
Rosa; Who else would like this special remedy?
Everyone nodded their heads, and Rosa gave them the same advice as Leni.. After Jojo got up, she said, 'Granny Casagrande, you should be a doctor if you can make people have energy again, even with a full stomach.
Rosa: (laughs for the compliment Jojo, but my daughter (points to Maria) is the real doctor in this big family!
Maria: Gracias, Mom! (kisses Rosa on the cheek)
The piñata was set up in the living room, and Maria announced to everyone, 'I hope you can hit a piñata, because we set one up here that's filled with chocolate!'
They all saw a big Paper-Mache donkey hanging above the room, and said, 'Whoa!' Jojo was hanging on to the rope...
Maria: Okay, Luna, you get the first whack at it. But first, let me put a blindfold on you.
Maria put the blindfold over Luna's eyes, then told her to swing the stick and try to hit the piñata. Luna swung the stick and hit the piñata as best as she could, but it didn't break.
Rosa: Good try, Luna. Now it's Jojo's turn.
The clown girl took a swing at the piñata. While she did hit it pretty hard, the piñata stayed intact.
Rosa: Alright, let's have Lincoln take a whack.
Lincoln gave a big swing to the piñata, and had a much stronger effort. It broke open a little bit.
Rosa: We're getting there. How about we have my youngest granddaughter try and hit it!
Ronnie Anne then stepped up to the piñata, pulled back the stick, and then swung it very hard. That whack finally broke open the piñata and released all the pieces of chocolate candy onto the floor. Everyone went out to grab as much as they could. After all the candy was picked up, Rosa announced, 'Here are some brown bags to pick your candy in!' After receiving the bags, everyone who had candy in the pockets put them in the bags. Soon, it was the end of the party...
Frida: Well, the party's over, but we all certainly had a good time!
Hector: Yep, I got to play 'Los Machetes' on my guitar!
Leni: That dance we did was really interesting.
Luna: I like to say to everyone, thanks for throwing a great Mexican fiesta!
Bobby: Well, you're our friends. We wanted to make sure you had fun.
Jojo: And it seems that you had a lot of it!
Lincoln turned to Ruby, and said, 'Ruby, I hope you'll come visit us again soon.'
Ruby: Oh, Lincoln, next time, maybe we can make some movies together on my tablet. (small laugh)
Rosa: Me and my family will clean up the apartment. You can all leave this to us.
Lincoln: Are you sure you don't need help?
Rosa: (laughs) Thanks, but we can clean pretty fast. You go on.
Jojo: Okay, Granny Casagrande.
Jojo and Ruby then said goodbye to their friends, and went to their way. The Casagrande family said their goodbyes to Lincoln, Leni, and Luna, and then the Loud siblings walked out of the apartment complex, outside to Leni's car, which she drove them back to Royal Woods. It was a great day for Lincoln, Leni, and Luna, as they were proud to play a part in having their Mexican fiesta at the Casagrande's apartment.