Dorito! Lorito! Loteria!

Lindsey and I before the game started --
she still likes me here

Our lovely coordinator for Baby Toddler Play, Mariana, planned a fun game night for us moms last Friday night -- it was a kid-free, husband-free evening filled with lots of delicious food, prizes for everyone, and the best company around. Mariana is Mexican and had the idea to the play the game Loteria, which is like a Spanish BINGO with pictures instead of numbers. Each card had a different combination of sixteen random pictures, but there were probably about 30 pictures total,  like "el sol" (the sun),"el parajo" (the bird), and "el violoncello" (the violin). It is purely a game of luck, much like BINGO, but those of you who know me know that I am competitive no matter what the game! Keith won't even play Taboo with me anymore because I get so mean into the game. sigh.

So Loteria was no exception -- I picked out my card and told everyone they might as well give up now because I was going to the be the big winner! Like Keith always says, "Winner, winner, chicken dinner!" However, Mariana planned the night to ensure that everyone went home a winner, so we continued to play round after round until everyone had won a prize. We decided before each round how it would go -- whether you had to get the middle four, full card, or a diagonal, horizontal, or vertical line , etc. When you had the winning combination you got to yell out "LOTERIA!" Except many people would forget what to say or mispronounce it or even yell "BINGO!" It was pretty funny to see what people would scream out when they won. : )

Mariana and Sara

And guess who won the first round??

Not me . . . Brandi did ( congrats Brandi! )

BUT . . . guess who won the SECOND round??

Not me.

And I didn't win the third round.

Or the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, or eighth round either. It literally came down to Lindsey and me as being the only ones who hadn't won yet, so everyone was cheering us on (or pitying us? I'm not sure) as we played the final round to see who would get each of the remaining two prizes. The rules for that round were ANY LINE, ANY WHERE-- I think everyone was sick of watching us lose, haha! 

fingers crossed!

At that point is was pretty comical -- I think Lindsey blamed me for our jinx since she was sitting next to me and I had been so competitive before. People started offering us their winning cards just to help us -- but finally, after nine rounds, I was able to yell out "LOTERIA!!"

I finally won!

Showing off our prizes : )

We seriously had so much fun though, and Mariana promises to plan another night of Loteria. She went all out, ordering authentic prizes from Mexico, sticking with the theme, like hand-painted bowls and pictures, and glass trinkets -- every detail was perfect! But what I enjoyed most was just spending some quality time with good friends, laughing, telling stories, and enjoying a night out! Can't wait to do it again soon!

~Jessi