Garden Week at Bacon's Castle

Buckle in - lots of photos ahead!

Last Saturday, May 4, the Regency Society of Virginia turned out to celebrate Garden Week at Bacon's Castle!  Reptar and I dressed up for the day - me in my old Yellow Sprigged Dress and her in her new Pink Sherbet Dress.

The little one stole the show, and made lots of new friends! 

This is right after she gave Anthony a stick.  ^^  He then gave it to Stephani:

Who gave it back to Reptar:

The party went off in search of a good spot to take photos, and naturally Reptar followed along:

And as always, she had a lot to say!

"I love your shoes!"

It was very hot, and inside the house was nice and cool!  So I elected to take Reptar in for a tour midway through the day.  She started off well:

Here's how she was by the end:

Everyone else seemed to enjoy the tour.  (It was very good.)

After the tour, a few of us went for a turn about the garden.  Reptar was all for it!

Thank you to Heather for taking these photos of us!

Even though it came out blurry, I rather like this photo:

It kinda looks like an impressionist painting, no?

Stacy and I attempted to show Reptar how to play croquet:

She had... her own way of playing.

But she was having fun!

Mostly she wanted to explore the grounds.

I had brought along a game of Quoits, which I purchased at Colonial Williamsburg a few months ago:

She played with it for a little bit:

But the gravel driveway was way more interesting!

We picnicked in the shade of a large tree, which was the only time I could get her to sit still.

Other picnickers engaged in small talk and handicrafts:

Stacy regaled us with funny passages from some books she'd brought along:

I learned my lesson from the first time I let Reptar eat strawberries in Regency dress - give her a huge bib!

After lunch, more exploring!

Even though the day was hot, it was a lot of fun.  Both of us were wearing cotton voile dresses over linen shifts (I also had on stays and a bodiced petticoat) which kept us reasonably comfortable.  Reptar's cap is an antique that was gifted to me at her baby shower, and her shift was also a gift.  I was given two of them by a reenacting couple whose grandkids had outgrown them.  I put three 1" tucks in the skirt of this one the first time Reptar wore it, and let one of them down for this wearing.  It should be good for many years of wear - as will her dress!