We're back

As of last Tuesday, actually, but it's taken me nearly a week of procrastinating to get around to this. I think we're excused after some serious jet-lag and the initiative I took straightaway to deal with Eliza's sleep problems (more on that later). We had a wonderful visit with family and friends in the US...a pretty smooth trip over, a great stay with Grandma Nancy/mom in Arlington and trip down to North Carolina to visit Jenna and Ryan in the beautiful mountains near Boone. On the way to Boone we also stayed at Evelyn's family's farm outside Roanoke...and were spoiled by them with a delicious dinner and lodging in our own cabin.
After returning to Arlington from down south, Simon took off back to Sydney to get back to work, while Eliza and I spent the next week or so at mom's catching up with friends, carving pumpkins, and enjoying the crisp autumn weather. Then we flew to Chicago for three days to visit Aunt Alma, Uncle Josh and the cousins Zoe and Ada...celebrating Zoe's 3rd birthday, eating some yummy deep dish pizza and meeting the lovely young Ada. Finally after nearly a month away, missing her dad and having slept in so many different places her idea of sleep was to wake every two hours and nurse, Eliza and I did the marathon trip back on our own. And if 18 hours on planes wasn't enough, we also had a 7 hour layover at the charming LAX.
And sat next to family with two screaming toddlers on the LA-Sydney leg. Add to that the fact that little miss refused to sleep anywhere but her mother's arms, and you have a seriously harrowing journey.
So it was good to get home. All up, the trip went really well - and Eliza grinned and charmed her way across the country. Sadly, upon returning, our spunkiest chicken, Rosie passed away. I suspect that she was egg-bound, a problem she's had in the past, and a common concern for Isabrowns. I took it pretty hard, but we buried her in the garden and Mabel has been getting lots of extra attention to ensure she doesn't get too lonely. Do chickens get lonely? I'd think so. Rosie always was the bossy one, so I hope Mabel is enjoying getting first pick of the scraps.