Ireland day 5- Easter Sunday

Well, today we woke up early and our little family went to breakfast at our breakfast place in the hotel.  They had it all decorated with eggs in all the trees and bunnies everywhere.

Sadly I packed the wrong church shoes for Marky and he had to wear his tennis shoes.  No worries though- we were waaaaaay dressed up more than any other person at the churches, which totally surprised us.

I thought it would be fun for us all to wear green so all the boys had green plaid ties and Irish flag lapel pins.  Julia and I had green dresses.  The Irish folk got the biggest kick out of it!  They said, "look at you- dressed all green!  It feels like St. Patrick's Day!" and "Look at you- dressed to the nines- what a sight!"  I just kept saying, "well, it's Easter in Ireland."

Because it was Easter Sunday and we "knew" there would be a crowd we hurried and got up early and arrived at the local church in Enniskerry almost 30 minutes early to be sure to get a seat.  What a suprise when we got there and it was completely and totally empty.  The candles weren't lit, nothing was happening.  We waited and slowly, but surely, people trickled in at the last second.  They didn't have anyone tall enough to light the Pascal Candle so they had big Marc do it!

Once all the candles were lit and the pews were 75% full the organ started playing and we waited and waited.  Eventually someone came to the front and said, "Sorry, folks, the visiting priest did not show up.  You can go to the 10 o'clock in Curtlestown or come back here at 11 when our regular priest will be here."
What?!  We were so shocked.  We got directions to Curtlestown and made our way up a gorgeous mountain to a tiny stone church called St. Patrick's in the middle of nowhere.  You could hear sheep baaing when you stepped out.  It was precious.

 Across the street from the church-

The precious, friendly Irish priest had been at another church for the 9:00, was coming here for 10:00 and had another church at 11:00.  That's when we knew Easter in Ireland was going to be different from the U.S.  Again- we were the first ones there- no standing room only like we have.  And the mass was going to be 45 minutes max- Father has to get to the next stop!  At our home church I'm sure mass was almost 2 hours.  :)  The church seats at maximum 120 people.

One of the biggest shocks in this little out-of-the-way church was the gorgeous choir!  It was breathtakingly beautiful and they sang a most beautiful version of St. Patrick's breastplate- I had chills.  And you WON'T BELIEVE THIS- tonight I was trying to YouTube the song to figure out the name of it and I found a video of the CHOIR from the Church we visited today singing it, and it was filmed at our hotel!  This is the same lovely lady that stood behind us today and sang in that tiny stone church. Although it was more haunting being in a dark, tiny church and hearing her so close.   You have to listen at least to the 2:10 mark when they are singing the chorus-

After mass we rushed home to make it to the hotel Easter egg hunt.  Our little bunnies we'd played with at breakfast were fast asleep.

At this point- all the extra driving to find a church on the winding roads had made me a little carsick plus my normal morning sickness so I went and laid down.  Marc and Amber took the children with their maps to find their eggs.  Apparently it was a scavenger hunt led by the Easter Bunny himself.  :)

The hunt went all over the resort grounds.  The children loved it- I think the adults thought it was a little much!  :)

Eventually they make their way to the fitness center where the bunny gives each child a giant Cadberry egg!

After the hunt we were all hungry and headed to Johnnie Fox's Irish Pub for a yummy lunch.  It is a place packed with personality!

Then we decided to drive down to Glendalough- a town about 30 minutes south of our hotel.  It is the beautiful city where St. Kevin founded one of the first monesterys in Ireland in the 500s!  We went through the visitor's center and watched a movie about Irish monesteries and saw the ancient ruins.  It was so special to see how early Christianity was converting the Irish people and how the risen Christ transcends time and culture- He is Lord of all!

 It's easy to see why St. Kevin picked this spot- it is breathtaking with the mountains, valleys and lakes.

Daddy is a sucker and buys Tucker anything that looks this cute on him- Tucker LOVES this "Irish Viking" hat!

We were tired when we got home and ordered room service (including popcorn!) and let the children have movie night.  :)