Chile is beautiful!  We are staying on the farm of a family member.  It is a distant cousin of my stepmother actually.  They are having a horse show this weekend and the place is filled with people and horses.

The flight in was HARD.  I think we figured it was about 20 hours of traveling with only about an hour of sleeping.  We were beat when we got here.  The family picked us up at the airport in Temuco and drove us around a little doing some quick sightseeing.  We took a fast stroll around a local market.  I bought Finn a beautiful handmade wool sweater and myself a poncho.  You can buy skeins of hand spun and hand dyed wool as well.  It's really nice- with a great nubby texture and rich natural colors.  There was a ton of fresh fish at the market as well.  Here are a few glances at the market.  the gnome was on the mantle at a local chocolate shop.

and a bus passing by (you can see me in the reflection)

The family here operates a dairy that produces milk and cheese.  It's not a small farmers market type of operation but more like a Chilean version of Horizon or something (the co. name is Surlat).  The milk is sold all over the country in the major stores.  They also make yogurt.  My kids love chocolate milk so I bought some that I am bring home for them.  The chocolate is incredible- much richer than what we get in the US.  The grandkids of Ewe (pronounced oo-vay, he is the farm owner) have just recently returned from a year long trip around the world.  During their trip they got accustomed to "regular milk" vs. fresh-from-the-cow milk so now Ewe has to go into town and buy his own milk for them.  Pretty hilarious if you ask me.

the grocery carts outside...

some things are the same the world over...

The year long trip began in Chile in an RV.  They drove up through Panama, Costa Rica, Mexico and into the US.  They went all through CA, Nevada, Alaska, Canada, NYC and down to Florida.  Then they flew to Europe and on to China, Australia and Africa.  What an amazing journey!  Can you imagine your 3 kids in an RV for a year?  The youngest is 8 and the eldest is a teenager.  I just think it is amazing.  Many people never make it out of Texas much less to Africa and beyond!

The kids are great to watch.  Each of Ewe's daughters has 3 or more children.  They are all around the same ages and have sort of paired up amongst themselves with the cousin they enjoy the most.  The two youngest girls are together all day and the two 10 & 11 year old boys are always together.  They just run wild around the farm.  One minute they ride by on bikes and the next you see them swimming in the lake or climbing into the massive tree house.  It must be so amazing to grow up here.  I was talking to one of the fathers and he said when they are here that an entire day may go by and they will hardly see the kids.  They come in and eat when everyone eats or when they get hungry in between.  They just seem like they are in their own world.  They are always around and you see them periodically but they are never bored.  They are always active!  One of my favorite finds here is a little forest right in the middle of the farm.  It has a tiny house in the center.  I took a ton of pictures and will post those tomorrow.  Sayer and Finn would love it here.  Watching the kids run free like that makes me miss mine so much.  The landscape is amazing.  There are rivers, flowers, a swimming pool, a trampoline, horses and even roaming peacocks!

Here are 2 of the grandchildren, Jan and Kai.

Now it is time for lunch so I have to get off the computer and back into the action!  More later...