I begin my vacation posts, not with shots of Cinderella’s Castle as you probably expect, but rather, shots of a Church.  And I begin, not with the first day of our arrival, but smack in the middle of our vacation, Sunday, since it was one of my favorite days.

You see, we have slipped a bit over the years in our Church attending habits.  Always mindful of God in our home, and outside of it, always mindful of living a life that God would be proud of, but Church every Sunday?  Sporadic.  However, I find the more chaotic life has gotten, and the more challenging this parenting gig becomes, the more I am drawn to Church, finding solace in being surrounded by like minded people and listening to teachings that are a direct reminder of the importance of Faith.  So our family has been recommitted to attending Church regularly in recent months.

That being said, we felt it was important to take our mid-vacation Sunday off to attend Mass and to have a quiet day away from the hustle and bustle of the parks.  After Church, we enjoyed a quiet afternoon in the pool together as a family, ordered in dinner, and relaxed, recharging our proverbial batteries.

The Church we attended was the same one Zan and I discovered fifteen years ago in Orlando on Easter Sunday.  I remember reading at the time that had Walt Disney built a Church, it would look like this one.  Whoever said this was not mistaken in their assessment.  This Church is a sight to behold, but more importantly the Very Reverend Edward J. McCarthy is a treasure within a treasure.  He began Mass by making all feel welcome.  This is not a Diocesan Church…it is a Church where travelers gather from far and wide and he ministers to the needs of travelers only within these walls.

He began the Mass with a little history of the Shrine, and by asking for a show of hands from International travelers.  It was quite amazing to see families introduce themselves from Nigeria, Ireland, Canada, England, Cuba, etc., then to see Americans introduce themselves from all over the States.  He ended with a powerful sermon on the true meaning of being humble, that I will not soon forget.  It was quite a powerful experience to attend the service with people from all over the world who also find comfort in the ritual of the Mass and the gathering in common purpose.  The music was truly inspiring, and filled the Church with a richness of sound unmatched by the smaller Churches I am accustomed to.  A beautiful experience as a family, in a beautiful place.

I present to you Mary Queen of the Universe Shrine.

The view from the entrance to the sanctuary, looking toward the altar.  The Church seats 2,000.

The view from the front of the altar…the marble is truly spectacular.

The view from behind the altar looking back toward the entrance.  The statue of the Risen Christ over the doors is an impressive sight.  I’m sorry I did not get a closer shot of it.

This prominent sculpture of Mary and the Baby Jesus:  As per the website, “The Shrine’s defining representation of Mary, Queen of the Universe. A project long delayed as the sculptor, Jill Burkee combed the great quarries of Carrara, Italy for a block of rare, pure white marble, the completed 8-foot work stands on a marble base and encloses the names of some 3,300 Shrine Associates.”

Once a Mother, always a Mother…I loved this sculpture most of all.

And I couldn’t resist these shots of the candles before I left…

A magnificent gathering place, this.  So glad we found it.

If you’re interested in reading more about this place, click here.

So, I will NEVER, I repeat, NEVER drive to Florida again.

We prepared to leave home on Saturday morning at 2:00am.  Then overslept.  So we got up at 2:30, and gathered the last minute things.  As we made to walk out the door at 3:30, Zan got an alert from work, so he had to get online just to “check something out” before we left.  That something took about 20 minutes.  So we finally got out of the house, locked up, waved our goodbyes to our dear home, and began the 13 hour drive to Fayetteville, NC.  Mister complained as we left the house that his belly hurt.  Assuming it was a bit of gas, we proceeded.  Within 10 minutes he was complaining more, so at the very first off ramp, we pulled over at a local truck stop, figuring he needed his morning potty break.  The second we stepped out the rest stop door, the vomiting began.  So we turned back toward home and spent a very long day nursing my little boy with the unexpected stomach bug.  False starts suck.

Fast forward to Sunday morning…we planned to attempt a 2am leave again as Mister was feeling much better and he was keeping down food.  We overslept again…this time until 4:15am.  Got on the road to Fayetteville at 5:00am and proceeded to drive the first 7 hours through a monsoon.  Long story short, too many necessary stops, slow driving due to the downpours, and we pulled into a hotel 2 hours shy of Fayetteville at 9:30pm, exhausted, frazzled, with melting down kids. 

We slept in, ate breakfast, and were on the road to Orlando at 10:00am Monday morning…pushed fast down I95…arrived in Orlando exhausted and sore, but mighty relieved at 10:00pm. 

Did I mention that I will NEVER drive to Florida again????

On a positive note, despite the horrible weather, we had a fantastic first day here.  Started the day with a solo trip to the Super Target while Zan kept the kids….way too big, but had everything I needed.  The kids swam, I organized, and after lunch we headed to Magic Kingdom for a short afternoon.  (We are all pretty whooped still.)  Within an hour, we head to Toontown to kill half an hour before our scheduled FastPass time.  As I stepped up onto Minnie’s porch, I looked at the woman with the adorable kids in front of me and thought, “God, she looks SO familiar….”  Although I knew she would be here at the same time, never in a million years did I think we would actually just run into each other….

But lo and behold, “RENAE??!!”

Yep, it was her!  Kinda cool, don’tcha think?  🙂 

Now really, I have to do something about those bloodshot eyes and go to bed soon, and tomorrow I will even do my hair because this photo of me is just embarrassing, but here we are! 

It’s a small world after all.