D.C. Quinque

by Shannon


I've been trying for a couple weeks to figure out how to make a slideshow in Blogger, and I. GIVE. UP. If you want to see pictures of the beautiful Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, go to the Facebook page. You might have noticed I posted all the pretties a few days ago.

I could go on and on and on on on about how beautiful/amazing/gorgeous/inspirational/etc. the basilica was, but you can look at the photos with your own eyes.

If you've not visited, you should. It was certainly the highlight of our trip.

We also ate at the cafeteria at the basilica (food was decent but expensive), and we picked up volumes 2 and 3 of The Baltimore Catechism for Cruncher. He's a mini theology-machine! Ryan's doing a really fantastic job with his formal catechesis.

If you remember way back when I first started posting a review of our D.C. trip, I mentioned we were excited to go and experience a St. Francis of Assisi pilgrimage ... BUUUUUT we didn't get to go. You can't tell much from the few outdoor photos we took, but there was a crazy storm system traveling over D.C. that day. We ended up cutting the day short and heading out of D.C. to our third and final hotel. Unfortunately, the storm system never came to a head, so we could have stayed. But I have to admit I was really happy to start making the trek home.

Traveling back to hotel #2 so we could hop in the car and get to hotel #3.

Driving through Sideling Hill for the second time. We conveniently saw a
display on it at the Natural History Museum. 

The beacon of light at our final overnight stop, Morgantown, West Virginia.
What a sad, sad town. 

Cruncher's best souvenir from D.C. — first-time freckles. 

The restaurant/brewery where we ate in Morgantown, one of the few good things offered. Food was great, beer was good, service was fantastic.  

I may not enjoy the taste of beer (typically), but there's something about
photographing beer that I enjoy. Weird?

A study in an expert at work.

I'm gonna hop on Jen Fulwiler's bandwagon and hang on tight for the Seven Posts in Seven Days challenge. I have sooooo many things we've done this summer that still need to put put on the blog, and summer's almost over! Tomorrow, I'll post the last day of our D.C. trip (if you follow on the Facebook page, you've seen pictures from that day). And maybe we'll even hear from our resident adventure writer and birthday boy this week.

D.C. Vier

by Shannon


So, really, I'm not blogging. I'm just watching October Baby, Cruncher is watching the four separate amateur firework displays out the front window since it's too noisy to sleep, and Ryan's over at a friend's house drankin' some biers. While I'm completely distracted by the film, I'll load these pictures in and give them crap captions. What better way to celebrate independence than with pictures of our visit to the nation's capitol? I totally waited weeks to post these pictures FOR THAT VERY REASON. Promise.

Clockwise from top left: On the Metro (no injuries sustained), some building,
one of our destinations by foot (Cap Hill), walkin' with Daddy, and posin' suave.

We got there! It was quite a walk. And Cruncher is quite the trooper.

Very few people will understand this photo. I wish I didn't. 

Air and Space museum. Top left is the docent we evaded. 

Things that fly.

By Cruncher.

Then we went to the National Zoo again, where I took amazing photos.
Or not. These pictures were on display at the Natural History museum.
You can see the florescent lights reflecting off the prints. 

Daddy shows Cruncher how it's done.

Dinosaurs and fossils and stuff.

Water in tow. Obama needs to do something about the grass. Sheesh.

Treasury, White House (where he kept all the good grass for himself),
and the beautiful Eisenhower Executive Office Building

Basilica in Covington: Praise and Beauty

by Shannon

Praise and beauty are before Him: 

holiness and majesty in His sanctuary.

~Psalm 95:6

On Saturday, Ryan, Cruncher and I visited St. Mary's Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption in Covington, Kentucky. I don't think any of us knew what we were in for when we walked through those doors. It. Was. Just. Gorgeous — FULL STOP. I'll let my camera do the talking. Lots and lots of talking. Some short captions are mixed in, so watch for them.

The largest church stained-glass window in the world, outside and inside views.

The view from the front doors.

Baptistry.

The tintinnabulum and umbraculum for if a pope ever visits.

I like the window in the center, showing the Nativity, paired with the station below, Jesus Meets His Mother.

Center: Rose window and main organ.

Confessional.

Blessed Sacrament Chapel with Frank Duveneck murals.

St. John Vianney, pray for my godsons!

Two organs and two rose windows.

Altar and with largest church stained-glass window.

The view up was my favorite.

The stations are mosaic, from Venice, Italy.

And then my camera battery died. True story.

God's Architect