A late postcard, a surprise dinner, and our trip to Hogwarts at Universal (7 Quick Takes)

~1~

Running behind on something? Don’t worry. You’re still doing better than the postcard my sister and her children sent to us last summer. It took almost nine months to appear in our mailbox. We checked the mail this week and there it was—a postcard sent from Vatican City last summer, way back in early July.

Maybe it came across the ocean on a barge. Or a pigeon. Whatever it was, we were really happy when it arrived—and we enjoyed it more than if it had been on time.

~2~

I knew we were overdue for spring break the morning I forgot to wake one of the children up for school. Mornings aren’t flawless, but it’s late enough in the year that we should have some kind of rhythm. In all my years of doing mornings of school prep, I’ve never forgotten to get someone out of bed.

Now we are in the midst of two weeks of someone being on spring break, with our sons’ breaks overlapping a little in the middle. It’s a good challenge for me to be able to keep track of who has school on which days. Let’s hope I don’t pack the wrong lunch for anyone.

~3~

The day we got home from Florida, our flight had been delayed, so we didn’t walk into our house until after 3 a.m. I was so tired that day. At lunchtime, though, my father showed up on my front porch with raw corned beef and a hunk of cabbage.

He walked into my house, asked for a pot, filled it with water, threw everything together with some vinegar and a few other things, and told me dinner would be at 6.

It was an incredible gift. People should walk into your kitchen and start dinner for you more often. It made me think a little about how I might do that for others.

~4~

A few days ago, I wrote about our trip to Disney World, but I didn’t give you a full glimpse into the overall experience. We flew to Florida on Wednesday night, March 15, and we spent the next day at the Magic Kingdom. That Friday, St. Patrick’s Day, the band participated in a competition, which was so much fun to watch, and then we spent Friday afternoon and Saturday at Universal Studios. On Sunday we went to Mass and then to Hollywood Studios and flew home.

That Saturday night we went to an awards presentation—held at Universal. I forget how loud large groups of high schools can be, and an amphitheater full of excited high school students can make an unbelievable amount of noise.

The band won several awards, but the best part was that our son’s good friend won a prize for his trombone solo! I was able to capture a little video of him running down to collect his award and texted it to his mom. Sometimes you are in the right place at the right time.

~5~

I reminded our sons that since we would be visiting a new church in Florida, we would each get three wishes. One of mine was for safe and smooth travels home, which mostly happened, but with a significant flight delay. Still, I can’t complain. We made it home.

The church was the Basilica of the National Shrine of Mary, Queen of the Universe. I was excited that we were visiting a church that was focused on our Blessed Mother as queen since the Queenship of Mary happens to be the feast day we met our younger son in China.

It was a lovely church and the priest welcomed the band by name from the altar and asked us to pray for the future of these young people.

~6~

I had expected us to enjoy our trip, but I didn’t think it would be as much fun as it was. And I never expected to have so much date time with my husband while our boys were off doing their thing with their friends.

It was fun to bump into our boys during our explorations, and it was also great to have some time when we were just on our own, being a couple, wondering what our children were enjoying while we were discovering the parks ourselves.

The Star Wars section of Hollywood Studios was phenomenal. We didn’t try the blue milk, and we didn’t buy the custom-made light sabers—though we did ask the price. As my father says, “If you have to ask, you can’t afford it.” But just being there was terrific.

~7~

I think our sons loved Universal Studios the most because the rides were so cool, while John and I enjoyed the Disney parts the most because of the nostalgia and the charm. But I also couldn’t get enough of the Harry Potter part of Universal, which is so incredibly well done.

We went on a ride that was inside Hogwarts. The ride itself was a little intense for me, a non-ride person, but the exhibits leading up to the ride were so creatively done that it was worth it. We shopped our way through Hogsmeade and bought fudge flies from Honeyduke’s, the candy shop.

I didn’t get myself a wand—since I was buying two for the younger half of the family, which felt like enough. Magic isn’t always inexpensive.

But I took many photos and drank a Butterbeer and rode the Hogwarts Express in both directions. If there were a video of me seeing Platform 9 ¾, you would see that I was as giddy as a very enthusiastic 6-year-old girl. In fact, the children near us were less enthusiastic.

It was all very magical, and I am so grateful we had the chance to go and make some memories as a couple and as a family. We also made some wonderful friends, which was a beautiful bonus.

I’m betting that Owl Post would have worked better bringing that postcard from Rome to Baltimore. But we’ll never know for sure.

~Holy Week~

I was so struck by how Pope Francis helped me recenter myself with his beautiful baptism of a baby in the hospital and how he stopped to comfort the grieving parents of a child who passed away at the hospital.

May you have a beautiful Holy Week journey as we walk together toward Easter.

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