Pilgrimage to Walsingham

At 8 am Monday morning, we boarded the 16 passenger bus and began our trip to Walsingham.  The seminary coordinated the 3.5 hour trip, and since this was on Chad's checklist of things to do, we signed up.  The kids did extremely well on the bus.  I was a little nervous because I knew it was going to be a long ride with no stops.  The bus was full, as there were seminarians from the College of the Resurrection and few monks from the Community of the Resurrection.  

The following is quoted from Chad's blog, walsinghamwanderings.blogspot.com (for more information and a better explanation of what Walsingham is, please refer to his blog.):  "Walsingham is an adorable, quaint English village complete with pubs, bookshops, and plenty of images of Our Lady.  The Shrine and surrounding grounds have recently undergone reconstruction and everything looked brilliant."

The kids and I were ready to explore but we had to keep stopping so Chad could take pictures.

Caroline ran up the hill yelling, "Mommy crosses, look at the big crosses!"

This picture is really to see the callalillies in the pot behind us. I had never seen them growing, only already cut in arrangements.

Caroline sat quietly watching the procession. She was fascinated by the protestors as well.

This is where the service took place.  Chad's blog can give you the details.

After the service, we hit the pub for lunch.  Tucker found a new friend.

Caroline insisted on watching the "cute boys" play pool. This lasted for probably 30 minutes. Fortunately, they thought she was pretty cute, too!

Chad and Caroline outside of the shrine.

This was at the very end of a long day! Caroline was getting silly and kept trying to get in the fountain.

We really had an enjoyable time, as the weather was perfect!  The only issue was that during the service, the priest would not give Caroline and Tucker bread during communion.  Tucker didn't seem to care because pretzels taste better anyway!  However, Caroline had a total meltdown because she wanted bread.  After trying to comfort her repeatedly, we let her cry and didn't worry about it.  Chad and I were not happy that they did not give her bread, especially since she put her hand out asking for it.  Once we got back on the bus, the kids fell asleep almost immediately and the rest was history!