I had been wanting to check out the National Cathedral; the tyrants’* naptime seemed like an ideal time to go. So, the three older kids and I hopped in the car and off we went. (*the tyrants= Isaac and Evie)
It’s an incredibly beautiful building. And it is enormous. It is the 6th largest Gothic Cathedral in the world. And is associated with the Episcopal church.
The kids’ initial reaction upon seeing the Cathedral? “It’s Hogwarts!”
Honestly, they’re not wrong. 😂
Sadly, an earthquake back in 2011 damaged the Cathedral, so it is in the process of being restored. The exterior suffered more damage than the interior, which only needed minor repairs.
(Unfortunately, it was uninsured 😬, so the process of repairing everything has been complicated and arduous.)
Logan didn’t want to be in the picture. He didn’t know I was using my phone’s wide angle lens 😈 
The Courtyard or the Cathedral Garth (new word alert!) 
It makes me happy that the church contributed to the Cathedral’s restoration. 
Flying buttresses! 
I friggin love this!! Hahaha! This was the result of a children’s design-a-carving contest to design four Cathedral carvings. The other designs were a raccoon, a girl with pigtails and braces, and a man with large teeth and an umbrella 
This is the area where Darth was supposed to be…. I think (?) we saw it? It was pretty hard to tell honestly. 
Once we arrived, we began our tour by getting lost. We wandered all over the grounds trying to find the public entrance to the Cathedral. It worked out well, honestly, cause I don’t think we would have gotten to see the courtyard (the Garth! Fancy word!) otherwise. Eventually we found the entrance. And wouldn’t ya know, it said “Public Entrance” on the door.
Only the main, 7th, and crypt levels are open to the public. The rest of the floors hold just meeting spaces and offices. We started our tour by heading up to see the views from the 7th floor. In addition to being a tall building, the cathedral is on a hill, so the views are pretty awesome. The tallest tower is actually the highest point in Washington DC.
After we had properly appreciated the views we made our way downstairs to the nave. (I’m just learning all sorts of fancy words). And it was pretty much breathtaking. And absolutely huge.
And the details throughout are just incredible. There was too much to take in, really.
The Canterbury Pulpit. Many prominent faith leaders have preached here over the years, including Billy Grahahm, the Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and Martin Luther King Jr (he preached here just four days before his death) 
The High Altar 
Depicts more than 100 saints and martyrs of the Christian faith. 
But I have to say, the Stained glass windows were definitely a major highlight for me. I loved seeing them. In particular, I loved the series of windows depicting the Parables of Jesus and on the opposite side of the building another series depicting His miracles. I just loved that.
Lazarus, Talitha Cumi, etc. 
Water to wine, loaves and fishes, etc. 
Calming the sea, walking on the water, etc. 
The soldier’s ear, immediately he received his sight, etc 
Good Samaritan, Lazarus and the rich man, etc. 
Good shepherd, 10 virgins, etc. 
Mustard seed, wheat and tares, etc. 
This is the Space Window- Logan’s favorite. So, the big dot inside the large circle is actually a piece of moon rock!
Besides the main worship area in the middle, there were also several smaller areas or bays around the perimeter of the large space: the Abraham Lincoln Bay, the war memorial chapel, the holy spirit chapel, etc.
All the seals of the states were along one of the hallways. I had to take a pic with my home state. 
A little display talking about the 2011 earthquake 
The kids wanted to light a candle, but unfortunately I didn’t have any cash on me. 
We did talk about the symbolism though and about the incense burned in the original tabernacle 
Pretty door!! 
Woodrow Wilson is the only president buried in Washington DC.
The kid’s favorite was the Children’s Chapel; everything in it was designed with a 6 year old in mind (That’s our Logan!). There were little chairs, a tiny organ, and very fanciful and sweet details throughout.
By this point, we had briefly seen everything on the nave level. It was pretty amazing, but I especially enjoyed the discussions that we had as explored.
So, next we made our way down to the Crypt level.
A large portion of the Crypt level was actually off limits because some filming was happening. So, we missed seeing where Helen Keller’s and her teacher’s ashes (Anne Sullivan) were laid to rest.
But we did spend a few minutes in the Center for Prayer and Pilgrimage, which is exactly what it sounds like: a cozy space to sit and pray or reflect, or read (they had a lot of cool books about the Cathedral) The kids and I took a few minutes to meditate there. (It’s something we’ve been working on)
At this point, the Cathedral was getting close to closing time, and we had seen the things we’d come to see, so we made our way out. When we entered, we came in a side entrance. But now, we exited through the main doors and got to see the Cathedral from the front.
Off to the side, is the Bishop’s garden, and naturally, I wanted to go see that. I’m such a sucker for a beautiful garden. So we went in.
This little building was the baptistry, but in the last little while it was converted into a for-profit coffee shop to help fund the Cathedral’s repairs. The kids thought it looked like Hagrid’s hut. 
I love this shot. 
They were beginning to melt 
I may have used potty humor to get some real smiles out of this guy. 
I regret nothing. It totally worked. 
Heavenly. 
And it was basically heaven. It was such a lovely little space. I loved it.
I tried to keep my meanderings (and picture taking) to a minimum because the boys were starting to melt, despite their haircuts.
In all fairness, it was hot, and the air was starting to feel super heavy, because a thunderstorm was approaching.
As we were heading to the car, it started getting really windy….
And then suddenly we were being blanketed by mist. The kids absolutely loved this. I loved the accompanying 10 degree (at least) drop in temperature. I let them dance around in it for a bit, but once it started really coming down, we ran and got into the car. And by the time we pulled out of the parking garage, it was absolutely pouring.
So, I’d say that our timing was absolutely ideal.
