We took off from Villarica and our sweet family there for a couple of days to visit the Cespedes farm and go to Temuco for Christian's civil wedding ceremony.
In Chile, you have two marriage ceremonies - the civil one for the government and one at a church. Usually, the couple begins married life as we know it after the church ceremony, but some skip that and just have the civil service. But without the civil marriage service - you are not legally married in Chile! If you are Catholic, you must also have the ceremony in church. These weddings are lavish and very expensive so are often held months after the civil service.
Back to the farm, though...
Juan has a little house or cabin in the forest between two large pastures. It's cedar and new and smells divine! There are three bedrooms and two bathrooms and it's very homey and sweet. I was in love with the cabin and property instantly!
We took a walk through the back fields, down the hill, through a grove of trees and came out onto a dirt road. We were going to meet the caretaker and his family. The fence was lined with blackberry bushes for the fruit and additional security. The property next to us had been replanted with groves of trees that were mature and in perfect rows!
We walked up to the caretakers house (his name is Juan too) and met his wife and nephew. The nephew was 8 years old and the best tour guide we could have imagined! He took us to the barn to see the horse (gorgeous, male, strong, and intimidating) and to more fields to see the cows, sheep, bulls, and down to the river.
We all had to wade into the river to cool off and it was lovely. We had hoped to come back for a swim but time ran out on such a short visit.
Our young guide told us all that he could about the trees and plants, animals and property. The kids had a ball running in the fields, being closer to the animals than ever in their lives and seeing a real farm (campo). They found sticks that made perfect swords and ended up transported back to Narnia for a little battle before Christian arrived to pick them up on the ATV. They were thrilled to ride a four wheeler!
I walked back to the house, up the hill, and had a nice, quiet time with my thoughts and just enjoying the tranquil peace of the farm.
Back at the house, the guys could not wait to get to the MX track. Did I mention that there is a huge, professional MX track on a large farm nearby?! Kiko rates it as the best track in all of Chile. It's certainly gorgeous, from my non-rider perspective and looks amazing. They were hitting jumps and having a blast when we arrived on the ATV.
I was able to take some photos of the guys riding and the kids had fun watching them and playing in the fields and riding the ATV with Christian. Christian took Tristan on the track on the four wheeler and he was screaming with fun and laughter.
When we arrived back to the house, Juan & Juan had been slow roasting a lamb on a spit for us. The table was set outside (isn't that divine?)
We ate a wonderful meal the men had prepared for us and the kids tumbled into bed, falling asleep quickly after another full day.
I went to do the dishes and discovered a new bug. They were huge, bright lime green flying bugs who loved to land on me, sink their four little "claws" in and hang on. They didn't bite and were gorgeous to look at BUT I was freaking out, a tiny bit. I also saw some lightening bugs, which I haven't seen in years so that was fun and I had so wished the boys were able to see them. Though I was pretty glad they didn't see the giant, green, clingon bugs.
Needless to say, I did the dishes very, very quickly, said goodnight to the guys and went to bed! The men stayed up drinking and talking until early hours. Juan Cespedes drove back to Temuco shortly after dinner. Other Juan, Kiko and Christian stayed up on Christian's last night as a single man! I have no idea what manly stuff they talked about but I fell asleep to a lot of laughter!
In the morning, all those beautiful bugs (oh, maybe a hundred or so) were dead on the floor of the kitchen and living room (I made sure none of them were in our bedroom) and porch. Poor guys only live for a day!
I put out a big breakfast for the guys and they went to the dirt bike track without us. I took the kids riding the ATV in the field for ages until Other Juan showed up with the horse ready to ride.
I went first and Patria (it means "Patriarch" and it is apt) was very stubborn with me. I was nervous and he knew it! He played around with me and teased me but barely gave me a ride and I was nervous for Tanner as we knew he would kick Tan if he got close to him and Tanner did not understand and kept wanting to come see Mama ride the horse! I gave up quickly and gave Patria back to Juan to take Tristan for a ride on the lead.
Tristan would have ridden all day. He loved Patria and Patria obeyed Juan. Juan taught Tristan to ride and use the reigns so that he was riding on his own, controlling the reigns and Juan stayed nearby walking the perimeter of the field over and over. Tristan was in heaven! He did great! The stirups were fitted for me so he was just using his legs to hold on and would drop the reigns every time Patria had a snack because he felt himself slipping in the saddle. I was so proud of him and grateful to the Juans and Patria!
At the end I had made friends with Patria by giving him apples and talking to him and rubbing him. Victory. Hoping he remembers me or warms up quickly on our next visit.
In the afternoon, we took Christian back to Temuco to get married! We had a wonderful lunch at his father's house, got ready and went to his Bride's home for the civil ceremony. It's the first one I've been to and was very low key and official. The government official talked a lot during the service. I took a lot of photos and understood a little of what he was saying. Afterward, they had a caterer who passed canapes and drinks for the party. We stayed for a few hours and then Kiko took the boys and I back to the Cespedes home for the night. The boys played in their big yard with a sprinkler, had snacks (they are living on bananas and cheese sandwiches here) and went to bed to watch a movie (in Spanish) on Disney channel.
It was a very full two days.
The next day, we went back to Villarica where Tristan was eager to see Antonia (his cousin) and Baco, the new puppy. We grabbed some camping gear, gave snuggles to the puppy, and drove to Conaripe for camping near the lake!
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