1,002,819

I woke up this morning to my usual tall glass of iced coffee, logged on to my computer and saw that we reached a very special milestone for this blog. We broke a million hits, which I never ever thought would happen. We are obviously touched by this accomplishment and look for more good things to come.

  Though I can see the meta data, like below, I cannot see who is viewing and why. I can only surmise as to who is viewing based on the comments coming in from the different channels. I would think it is mostly families but have no way to prove it. I have been asked if there was a spike in viewership due to the election. The quick answer is I don't think there was a noticeable spike but cannot definitively prove it. The blog views have been growing, for sometime, at a  rate of about 20% a month. 

   More important than the numbers, though, we are getting people interested in traveling, with family, and that is a win for everyone. Seeing a world, that you thought you knew, through your child's eyes not only gives you another perspective, it also gives you clarity on what's most important. I encourage each of you to live, love, and value your moments before they become memories. 

   Thank you for making this blog such a joy to create and hope you enjoy your day.

   Here are some of the blog stats to date:

     Pageviews by Browsers

Chrome	(84%)
Mobile	(10%)
Firefox	(3%)

     Pageviews by Operating Systems

Macintosh	(74%)
iPhone	(11%)
Windows	(9%)
Android	(3%)

      Pageviews by Countries

United States	1
Nicaragua	2
France	3
Germany	4
China	5
Australia	6
Japan	7
Brazil	8
Colombia	9

        Referring Sites

www.facebook.com
www.google.com
www.google.com.au
accounts.google.com
ala.convio.net
antenavi.net

       Most Visited Entries

Time and love, our two year anniversary  Portraits of Latin America Halloween costumes Granada style

Chili cook off for a charity

It doesn't get much better than seeing friends, eating different types of chili and donating for a worthy cause, all at the same time. The annual chili cook off raises money for Puedo Leer, a non-profit community library, in Granada. The event was packed and raised thousands of dollars for a wonderful library, in a less fortunate area of town. For those of us always connected to the internet, it might be hard to fathom that so many people around the world are not connected to the luxuries of the net. Many of those same people without internet also live without access to libraries, and with it, the information and knowledge that exists about our world. Information matters and the more educated a society becomes, the more manageable their problems become. For more information on Puedo Leer refer to this link  http://www.puedoleerlibrary.com/      

Lining up for chili and socializing .

The charity was held at the Garden Cafe. 

A good crowd generating good money for a worthy cause.

Janice, in the white blouse, won the people's choice award for chili.

Getting to meet others in the community is always a good thing.

Children and pets

We recently moved to a larger home, outside of Granada, with a huge yard and a nice sized pool. Since we now have adequate space, we've decided to surprise the girls with newly hatched chicks and baby bunnies. The girls were so patient in our efforts for getting a bigger home that we wanted to give them something special. Seeing the unbridled joy of our daughters and their friends reminded me how special the bond is between children and pets.
   Within moments, the chicks and bunnies all had names based on the the kids' first impressions and what human emotions they read into each of the animals. The loner bunny looked sad, the chick in the middle of the clutch looked happy, and so on. The ease at which children radiate their love on to others is a lesson many adults could use. The impracticality of owning bunnies and chicks is eclipsed by life's lessons of interconnectedness, nurturing, and ultimately life's impermanence. As our children develop their own views of the world, it is important for us "old fogey" parents, to provide, step back, and watch from a distance, in that order. After all, the greatest gift we can give our kids is believing in them.  
 

Sierra could not hide her excitement.

Olivia thought this was the coolest idea.

Zoe was overcome with emotions knowing she had chicks that were hers.

The chicken queen taking care of her brood.

The chicken whisperer.

The bunnies are very soft and furry 

Each of the girls got their own bunny to love and care for.

The kids formed a circle to watch the bunnies play.

Everybody was happy!