I'm back from vacation - and a chicken update

I'm baaaaack! My family and I spent the past week in North Carolina on our summer family vacation. It was a 9-hour drive each way and my boys did great in the car, which I was quite apprehensive about with a trip this far. We had a wonderful time enjoying the change of scenery and seeing the boys experience hills and mountains for the first time.


Here's a snapshot of the mile-high swinging bridge at Grandfather Mountain that we crossed to climb on the rocks on the other side. It was a new experience for my Florida-born boys to feel the winds on top of a mountain and to see clouds below them. My 6-year-old wondered where all the palm trees were and wondered why he could smell Christmas trees on our hike. I guess he never realized that they don't grow in parking lots under a tent.


We also took the boys panning for gold at the Reed Gold Mine - the first place gold was discovered in the United States. They say if you're lucky you'll come home with a gold flake in a little vile of water after panning through a large pile of rock and sand. And oddly enough, BOTH of my boys found a piece of gold, which was an awesome experience. They also got quite a kick out of an outhouse at the gold mine with some interesting toilet paper.

*****


When we got home I ran straight out to the chicken coop to see how my recuperating girls were doing. Oddly enough, they seem to be handling this case of avian pox really well. All three chickens have some pox on them, but it's by no means severe. They seem better than when we left and it's definitely a very mild case. Thanks to everyone for the kind words of support and concern and all the emails asking for an update on my girls!!

I've got 9,000 loads of laundry to do and a ridiculous number of bags to unpack, but it's all worth it since our vacation was superb and we came home to healthy, happy pets!