Our
Journey:
Journey:
Avalon's Army of Angels
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| October 7, 2008 Day 2 in Williamsburg |
Day two in Colonial Williamsburg. Lots of lessons
learned...
We started the day pretty early. I'd scoured the
"Today in Williamsburg" paper, and found a
couple of things that I thought might amuse the
little ones, so the big people could try to force
some actual history down their gullets. Turns out,
I picked well...but my insidious plot to educate
them still failed miserably. Lesson learned.
We began by returning to their favorite place, the
Governor's Palace. We lucked out and came on
the rare day (I think its once a month) that the
palace kitchen makes chocolate. We listened as a
well spoken cook described the process of
roasting beans, shelling them, smashing them into
cocoa powder, and all the intricacies of taking
ordinary looking beans and making them into
food-o-the-Gods. We also giggled, as a cook's
helper ate one delicious bean for every 2 he
shelled. We discovered that the best vantage
point for watching the action, was actually behind
the kitchen - peeking in through the open window.
This placed us rather close to the bean-eater - so
we were able to enjoy his quiet antics. As the day
progressed and we met several other interpreters,
we referred back to his snacking a few times. It
never failed to illicit a grin, and a few other stories.
This particular cook appears to be as sweet and
charming as he is notorious for his thievery. Too
funny!
Because we were enjoying the chocolate making
through a window, Avalon and Anam had the
freedom to wander around the kitchen gardens.
Actually, they didn't wander far. Avalon just rested
her legs and hung out on the kitchen steps, and
Anam randomly attacked her.
After learning that we're darn grateful to live in the
modern age where chocolate is so cheap and
abundant its only limitation is that of how wide
doorways can be built (to sustain the growing
derriere of a chocolate lover), we headed off to
our next adventure. We made our way to the
theater.
Now "Theater" might be a bit of a misnomer for
where we landed. In actuality, it was a grassy
spot, with a temporary stage, contained within a
neat little picket fence. The stage was period for
what a traveling troupe would have had to work
with, but its not to be the final home of the merry
band of troubadours we met. Historians have
determined that this plot of grass was, indeed,
home to the first theater group in Colonial
America. As time and money allow, the
Williamsburg association wants to replicate the
original building. As with all things though, wants
are in direct conflict with the needs of the
association, so this isn't a quick proposition. In the
meantime, they present their shows in the manner
most of colonial America would have seen, on a
small handbuilt stage, with very little pomp or
circumstance.
The "shows" in Williamsburg are presented in "real
time". Its a difficult concept to explain. We
attended the first theatrical exhibit of the day,
there were several more to follow. You could
actually attend each of them in a day, and learn
new things each time. The day might start with
"Actors arriving", then the afternoon might be
"Lessons in being a villain". The show we went to
after the theater stop was a prelude to several
other presentations later in the day. You don't
need to see them all, they each stand very well by
themselves. However, it was fascinating to see
how things knit back together as the day/story
progresses.
I'm glad we chose the theater time we did. This
particular interlude was mainly an explanation of
the differences between modern theater, and
colonial theater, with a small scene to illustrate
their points. I took History of Theater in college,
and I still learned quite a bit. In fact, my college
class led me to questions, which our interpreters
were excellent at fielding. The gentlemen did a
stellar job of explaining who attended colonial
shows, how society's humor differed from now, and
how shows fit into colonial society. They explained
the scene they were going to present, giving us
the societal references and framework necessary
to appreciate what we were about to see. They
did such an excellent job at preparing us, the kids
understood the humor as well as the adults. We
all scored this one an A+.
Next, we returned to the Governor's Palace. I had
chosen an event called "Lady Dunmore prepares
for the ball." I thought we'd get to see her
preparing her ball gown, and the kids would learn
about period dress. I was utterly wrong - but
delightfully so. It turned out even better than I had
anticipated.
As we headed for the play in the rear of the
palace, we had to cross through the Palace
Gardens. We chose to take one of the side paths,
so the kids could walk through one of the magical
covered paths again. (see yesterday's entry) As
we neared the rear of the path, I realized there
were "characters" sitting there, waiting for the play
to begin. I hoped they wouldn't be angry that we'd
stumbled across their "backstage" area. I was
soon to find out, I had worried for nothing.
The first people we came upon were Lady
Dunmore, her servant, and the woman she was to
have tea with. (the wife of one of the Burgess',
and a woman of Virginian society) The actors all
spoke to us completely in character, introducing
themselves, and asking the children if they were
enjoying the palace gardens. The girls were
enthralled. After a few pleasantries, I tried to hurry
the kids along, so we wouldn't disturb them too
much.
We left the covering and continued on the path to
the theater, only to stumble upon Lord Dunmore
himself, deep in discussions with two of his staff.
Again, they greeted us in perfect character, asking
the children about their day, and welcoming them
graciously to their gardens. Governor Dunmore
even went so far as to instruct the children to be
sure to pick a pomegranate from the palace trees.
He told them how to find a ripe one and how to
properly pick it. He said if anyone questioned
them, they were to say that Governor Dunmore,
himself, directed them to do so, they were simply
following orders. How insanely cool is that?!
We left our encounters to find our seats, neatly
tucked under large trees, on a peaceful grassy
knoll. The story that unfolded before us was of a
tea party being held by Lady Dunmore. While
remaining in character (and griping about how silly
his mistress was) the servant described to the
audience what the women were like, and how they
treated him. He invited children up on stage to
help him prepare for the tea, showing them proper
period manners and dances. As he "rambled" on
about the ladies (with a good bit of humor), he did
an amazing job of painting the picture for you,
about how so much of what we think the men
accomplished, was done with the help of the
women they kept company with. This tea was a
perfect example of how women could help/hurt the
causes they chose to.
As the children returned to their seats, the ladies
entered and took theirs. As an audience, we
learned not only from what the ladies said, we
learned a lot by how they treated the slave. He
was a high ranking slave in the Governor's Palace,
probably brought there from Europe, yet they still
saw him as little more than furniture. The tea
conversation was fascinating. The Virginia
socialite was so keen to gather interesting court
gossip, that she was easily played for information
by the cunning Governor's wife. It had never
occurred to me before that the
wives/daughters/slaves of the founding fathers
would have had such an impact on their intrigue
and accomplishments. But the fact is, they were
men who lived in families. They were real
people...so duh...they were affected/helped/hurt
by the people around them. Interesting history
lesson.
After the women left, the Governor's top aides
took the stage. As I said earlier, the shows in
Williamsburg are all cumulative. The story we
were watching, fed into later venues, and they all
led up to that evening's events in Revolutionary
City. RC is a time of day when part of Colonial
Williamsburg is closed down, and it becomes an
all-encompassing re-enactment of certain
historical events. We were there on a "Collapse of
the Royal Government" day (check it out at this
link Williamsburg - Revolutionary City )
Therefore, our little events were about things that
led up to the Governor's decision to close the
House of Burgesses.
When the Governor's aides came to the stage,
they were discussing the news of the Boston Tea
Party, and the fact that the Burgesses had
declared a day of prayer in support of it. With
humor, and great dialogue, they filled in the
historical information, while worrying about how the
Governor would react. Once the Governor
entered, you learned that they had worried for
exactly the right reasons.
I'm not sure how much the children understood of
the intrigue of the women, or the "frustration" of
the men - but I think they at least grasped some of
the historical cultural connotations. I was
fascinated by the elements of history I'd never
stopped to consider. Of course the governor had
advisors and aides. Its just, when you learn about
the building blocks of our democracy, you really
don't take the time to worry about the thoughts or
actions of the mortar that held it together. I found
this part of the day endlessly thought-provoking.
After the show, we spent even more time goofing
around in the Palace Gardens. Of course we had
to go pick our pomegranate. After all, the
Governor had decreed it. We also took lots of silly
pictures, and enjoyed soaking up carefree time in
beautiful surroundings. Time well spent? Well, in
historical terms, probably not. In family
terms...worth every single second.
After the Palace, we headed to our first house tour
of the visit, the George Wythe house. George
Wythe was a legal scholar, teacher, and mentor to
Thomas Jefferson. I had more of my
wow-what-conversations-took-place-here
moments. Meanwhile, the kids' favorite part was
the 4-seater outhouse. This is where I really
began to figure out that history by osmosis isn't all
its cracked up to be.
From the Wythe house, we crossed the green to
the Everard house. Avalon and Anam chose to sit
this one out - the tour was crowded and the stairs
were too much for Avalon, she was already tiring
out from her garden play. The Everard house is a
good example of a middle class house of the day.
In fact, its the house the American Girl doll
"Felicity's" house is based on. The upstairs
bedroom is the bedroom "Felicity" supposedly
lives in. I knew NONE of this, but a wise tour guide
saw Ambrosia and guessed her age. She filled me
in, so that I could take the grinning picture you see
of Ambrosia, just in case she were to ever get a
Felicity doll. Nicely done, dear interpreter. I
appreciate the heads up.
From the Everard house, we headed to the Geddy
family house. The Geddy house includes a
residence, shop and working foundry behind the
house. Again, Avalon and Nick opted out of the
house tour - too many stairs, too many people.
Besides Avalon had to go potty, and that was a
Tibetan death trek requiring much time, and nearly
Herculean powers to get her wheelchair across
cobblestones and over obstacles.
As it turns out, little Miss Avalon had to do more
than just potty. On the way back to meet us, she
promptly "puked" (her words) "in the rocks by the
road. Daddy covered it up with leaves!" She had
been complaining of tummy issues all day, but we
had chalked it up to forgetting her Dulcolax the
night before. Now, we started to worry a bit that
the constipation was going to require more
intervention if it was making her sick...but then
again, Avalon just does things like this sometimes.
After added to the landscaping, Avalon said she
was feeling a little better, so we decided to press
on with our day, and see if she might improve. We
checked out the Geddy foundry and played in the
yard a bit. The other kids tried their hands at
period toys, but Avalon wasn't terribly interested in
playing, so we didn't stay long. We left to take a
break again on the greenspace in the center of
town. Its really so lovely there at this time of year.
We hoped that slowing down for a while would
perk Avalon up. Eventually, it was time to head to
Revolutionary City.
On our way across "town" to the part of
Williamsburg where they do Revolutionary City -
we had to stop and take the "in-the-stocks"
pictures. Poor Avalon, she was feeling so awful,
she missed out on the silliness. I feel terrible
looking at the pictures. I'm sure it looks like we
were insensitive jerk-holes. But honestly, she
often does this, gets very tired, very easily. The
wheelchair has been her lifesaver. When she
poops out, she just hops in, and we take her
where we need to go, often while she dozes off. I
know it looks horrific, but this happens more often
than not, so we really had no reason to think this
was out of the normal.
Like I said before, tonight's Revolutionary City
presentation was about the collapse of the royal
government. As RC begins, the streets and
sidewalks become flooded with costumed
interpreters who are speaking and interacting as
they would have during the events in question. A
rider on a horse gallops down the street
announcing the impending arrival of the Governor
at the Capitol. The rider is soon followed by a
carriage bearing the Governor and other key
players. They are greeted on the steps of the
Capitol by Patrick Henry, and other historical
figures. As the Governor and Henry give
speeches, the characters/people in the street act
as they might have back then - gossiping among
themselves, or shouting out opinions. Our favorite
was a very loud, very opinionated slave that had
the other slaves turning themselves inside out to
shut her up. The kids said she reminded them of
me. I told them I took that as a compliment!
As thought provoking and educational as the
entire ordeal was...it was utterly, completely lost on
the kids. I'm talking
supersonic-space-shuttles-buzzing-above-their
noggins it was so far over their heads. Another
lesson learned...you can dress up history, give it a
cool building to stand in front of, and even bring it
in on fast horses...but you absolutely, positively,
can not cram it into a kid's head by osmosis.
Nope. Doesn't work. Been there, done that, have
the T-shirt that says, "Failed!" to prove it.
On that note, I'm sure it won't be hard to
understand why only Aurora and I took the
"Capitol tour". In all honesty, she really only
wanted to go on the tour to see if she could
capture anything spooky with her camera. Ask her
if she learned anything about colonial government.
Go ahead, ask her. I'm pretty sure she'd answer
that a "Burgess" was a type of colonial purse...
No doubt, the day had completely derailed by now.
With a tired, bedraggled Avalon, and a
bored-beyond-repair remaining brood, it was
LOOONG past time to head back to the condo.
Besides, we had dinner to share, and games to
play with Marnita and Kevin. At least we knew the
kids would LOVE that!
learned...
We started the day pretty early. I'd scoured the
"Today in Williamsburg" paper, and found a
couple of things that I thought might amuse the
little ones, so the big people could try to force
some actual history down their gullets. Turns out,
I picked well...but my insidious plot to educate
them still failed miserably. Lesson learned.
We began by returning to their favorite place, the
Governor's Palace. We lucked out and came on
the rare day (I think its once a month) that the
palace kitchen makes chocolate. We listened as a
well spoken cook described the process of
roasting beans, shelling them, smashing them into
cocoa powder, and all the intricacies of taking
ordinary looking beans and making them into
food-o-the-Gods. We also giggled, as a cook's
helper ate one delicious bean for every 2 he
shelled. We discovered that the best vantage
point for watching the action, was actually behind
the kitchen - peeking in through the open window.
This placed us rather close to the bean-eater - so
we were able to enjoy his quiet antics. As the day
progressed and we met several other interpreters,
we referred back to his snacking a few times. It
never failed to illicit a grin, and a few other stories.
This particular cook appears to be as sweet and
charming as he is notorious for his thievery. Too
funny!
Because we were enjoying the chocolate making
through a window, Avalon and Anam had the
freedom to wander around the kitchen gardens.
Actually, they didn't wander far. Avalon just rested
her legs and hung out on the kitchen steps, and
Anam randomly attacked her.
After learning that we're darn grateful to live in the
modern age where chocolate is so cheap and
abundant its only limitation is that of how wide
doorways can be built (to sustain the growing
derriere of a chocolate lover), we headed off to
our next adventure. We made our way to the
theater.
Now "Theater" might be a bit of a misnomer for
where we landed. In actuality, it was a grassy
spot, with a temporary stage, contained within a
neat little picket fence. The stage was period for
what a traveling troupe would have had to work
with, but its not to be the final home of the merry
band of troubadours we met. Historians have
determined that this plot of grass was, indeed,
home to the first theater group in Colonial
America. As time and money allow, the
Williamsburg association wants to replicate the
original building. As with all things though, wants
are in direct conflict with the needs of the
association, so this isn't a quick proposition. In the
meantime, they present their shows in the manner
most of colonial America would have seen, on a
small handbuilt stage, with very little pomp or
circumstance.
The "shows" in Williamsburg are presented in "real
time". Its a difficult concept to explain. We
attended the first theatrical exhibit of the day,
there were several more to follow. You could
actually attend each of them in a day, and learn
new things each time. The day might start with
"Actors arriving", then the afternoon might be
"Lessons in being a villain". The show we went to
after the theater stop was a prelude to several
other presentations later in the day. You don't
need to see them all, they each stand very well by
themselves. However, it was fascinating to see
how things knit back together as the day/story
progresses.
I'm glad we chose the theater time we did. This
particular interlude was mainly an explanation of
the differences between modern theater, and
colonial theater, with a small scene to illustrate
their points. I took History of Theater in college,
and I still learned quite a bit. In fact, my college
class led me to questions, which our interpreters
were excellent at fielding. The gentlemen did a
stellar job of explaining who attended colonial
shows, how society's humor differed from now, and
how shows fit into colonial society. They explained
the scene they were going to present, giving us
the societal references and framework necessary
to appreciate what we were about to see. They
did such an excellent job at preparing us, the kids
understood the humor as well as the adults. We
all scored this one an A+.
Next, we returned to the Governor's Palace. I had
chosen an event called "Lady Dunmore prepares
for the ball." I thought we'd get to see her
preparing her ball gown, and the kids would learn
about period dress. I was utterly wrong - but
delightfully so. It turned out even better than I had
anticipated.
As we headed for the play in the rear of the
palace, we had to cross through the Palace
Gardens. We chose to take one of the side paths,
so the kids could walk through one of the magical
covered paths again. (see yesterday's entry) As
we neared the rear of the path, I realized there
were "characters" sitting there, waiting for the play
to begin. I hoped they wouldn't be angry that we'd
stumbled across their "backstage" area. I was
soon to find out, I had worried for nothing.
The first people we came upon were Lady
Dunmore, her servant, and the woman she was to
have tea with. (the wife of one of the Burgess',
and a woman of Virginian society) The actors all
spoke to us completely in character, introducing
themselves, and asking the children if they were
enjoying the palace gardens. The girls were
enthralled. After a few pleasantries, I tried to hurry
the kids along, so we wouldn't disturb them too
much.
We left the covering and continued on the path to
the theater, only to stumble upon Lord Dunmore
himself, deep in discussions with two of his staff.
Again, they greeted us in perfect character, asking
the children about their day, and welcoming them
graciously to their gardens. Governor Dunmore
even went so far as to instruct the children to be
sure to pick a pomegranate from the palace trees.
He told them how to find a ripe one and how to
properly pick it. He said if anyone questioned
them, they were to say that Governor Dunmore,
himself, directed them to do so, they were simply
following orders. How insanely cool is that?!
We left our encounters to find our seats, neatly
tucked under large trees, on a peaceful grassy
knoll. The story that unfolded before us was of a
tea party being held by Lady Dunmore. While
remaining in character (and griping about how silly
his mistress was) the servant described to the
audience what the women were like, and how they
treated him. He invited children up on stage to
help him prepare for the tea, showing them proper
period manners and dances. As he "rambled" on
about the ladies (with a good bit of humor), he did
an amazing job of painting the picture for you,
about how so much of what we think the men
accomplished, was done with the help of the
women they kept company with. This tea was a
perfect example of how women could help/hurt the
causes they chose to.
As the children returned to their seats, the ladies
entered and took theirs. As an audience, we
learned not only from what the ladies said, we
learned a lot by how they treated the slave. He
was a high ranking slave in the Governor's Palace,
probably brought there from Europe, yet they still
saw him as little more than furniture. The tea
conversation was fascinating. The Virginia
socialite was so keen to gather interesting court
gossip, that she was easily played for information
by the cunning Governor's wife. It had never
occurred to me before that the
wives/daughters/slaves of the founding fathers
would have had such an impact on their intrigue
and accomplishments. But the fact is, they were
men who lived in families. They were real
people...so duh...they were affected/helped/hurt
by the people around them. Interesting history
lesson.
After the women left, the Governor's top aides
took the stage. As I said earlier, the shows in
Williamsburg are all cumulative. The story we
were watching, fed into later venues, and they all
led up to that evening's events in Revolutionary
City. RC is a time of day when part of Colonial
Williamsburg is closed down, and it becomes an
all-encompassing re-enactment of certain
historical events. We were there on a "Collapse of
the Royal Government" day (check it out at this
link Williamsburg - Revolutionary City )
Therefore, our little events were about things that
led up to the Governor's decision to close the
House of Burgesses.
When the Governor's aides came to the stage,
they were discussing the news of the Boston Tea
Party, and the fact that the Burgesses had
declared a day of prayer in support of it. With
humor, and great dialogue, they filled in the
historical information, while worrying about how the
Governor would react. Once the Governor
entered, you learned that they had worried for
exactly the right reasons.
I'm not sure how much the children understood of
the intrigue of the women, or the "frustration" of
the men - but I think they at least grasped some of
the historical cultural connotations. I was
fascinated by the elements of history I'd never
stopped to consider. Of course the governor had
advisors and aides. Its just, when you learn about
the building blocks of our democracy, you really
don't take the time to worry about the thoughts or
actions of the mortar that held it together. I found
this part of the day endlessly thought-provoking.
After the show, we spent even more time goofing
around in the Palace Gardens. Of course we had
to go pick our pomegranate. After all, the
Governor had decreed it. We also took lots of silly
pictures, and enjoyed soaking up carefree time in
beautiful surroundings. Time well spent? Well, in
historical terms, probably not. In family
terms...worth every single second.
After the Palace, we headed to our first house tour
of the visit, the George Wythe house. George
Wythe was a legal scholar, teacher, and mentor to
Thomas Jefferson. I had more of my
wow-what-conversations-took-place-here
moments. Meanwhile, the kids' favorite part was
the 4-seater outhouse. This is where I really
began to figure out that history by osmosis isn't all
its cracked up to be.
From the Wythe house, we crossed the green to
the Everard house. Avalon and Anam chose to sit
this one out - the tour was crowded and the stairs
were too much for Avalon, she was already tiring
out from her garden play. The Everard house is a
good example of a middle class house of the day.
In fact, its the house the American Girl doll
"Felicity's" house is based on. The upstairs
bedroom is the bedroom "Felicity" supposedly
lives in. I knew NONE of this, but a wise tour guide
saw Ambrosia and guessed her age. She filled me
in, so that I could take the grinning picture you see
of Ambrosia, just in case she were to ever get a
Felicity doll. Nicely done, dear interpreter. I
appreciate the heads up.
From the Everard house, we headed to the Geddy
family house. The Geddy house includes a
residence, shop and working foundry behind the
house. Again, Avalon and Nick opted out of the
house tour - too many stairs, too many people.
Besides Avalon had to go potty, and that was a
Tibetan death trek requiring much time, and nearly
Herculean powers to get her wheelchair across
cobblestones and over obstacles.
As it turns out, little Miss Avalon had to do more
than just potty. On the way back to meet us, she
promptly "puked" (her words) "in the rocks by the
road. Daddy covered it up with leaves!" She had
been complaining of tummy issues all day, but we
had chalked it up to forgetting her Dulcolax the
night before. Now, we started to worry a bit that
the constipation was going to require more
intervention if it was making her sick...but then
again, Avalon just does things like this sometimes.
After added to the landscaping, Avalon said she
was feeling a little better, so we decided to press
on with our day, and see if she might improve. We
checked out the Geddy foundry and played in the
yard a bit. The other kids tried their hands at
period toys, but Avalon wasn't terribly interested in
playing, so we didn't stay long. We left to take a
break again on the greenspace in the center of
town. Its really so lovely there at this time of year.
We hoped that slowing down for a while would
perk Avalon up. Eventually, it was time to head to
Revolutionary City.
On our way across "town" to the part of
Williamsburg where they do Revolutionary City -
we had to stop and take the "in-the-stocks"
pictures. Poor Avalon, she was feeling so awful,
she missed out on the silliness. I feel terrible
looking at the pictures. I'm sure it looks like we
were insensitive jerk-holes. But honestly, she
often does this, gets very tired, very easily. The
wheelchair has been her lifesaver. When she
poops out, she just hops in, and we take her
where we need to go, often while she dozes off. I
know it looks horrific, but this happens more often
than not, so we really had no reason to think this
was out of the normal.
Like I said before, tonight's Revolutionary City
presentation was about the collapse of the royal
government. As RC begins, the streets and
sidewalks become flooded with costumed
interpreters who are speaking and interacting as
they would have during the events in question. A
rider on a horse gallops down the street
announcing the impending arrival of the Governor
at the Capitol. The rider is soon followed by a
carriage bearing the Governor and other key
players. They are greeted on the steps of the
Capitol by Patrick Henry, and other historical
figures. As the Governor and Henry give
speeches, the characters/people in the street act
as they might have back then - gossiping among
themselves, or shouting out opinions. Our favorite
was a very loud, very opinionated slave that had
the other slaves turning themselves inside out to
shut her up. The kids said she reminded them of
me. I told them I took that as a compliment!
As thought provoking and educational as the
entire ordeal was...it was utterly, completely lost on
the kids. I'm talking
supersonic-space-shuttles-buzzing-above-their
noggins it was so far over their heads. Another
lesson learned...you can dress up history, give it a
cool building to stand in front of, and even bring it
in on fast horses...but you absolutely, positively,
can not cram it into a kid's head by osmosis.
Nope. Doesn't work. Been there, done that, have
the T-shirt that says, "Failed!" to prove it.
On that note, I'm sure it won't be hard to
understand why only Aurora and I took the
"Capitol tour". In all honesty, she really only
wanted to go on the tour to see if she could
capture anything spooky with her camera. Ask her
if she learned anything about colonial government.
Go ahead, ask her. I'm pretty sure she'd answer
that a "Burgess" was a type of colonial purse...
No doubt, the day had completely derailed by now.
With a tired, bedraggled Avalon, and a
bored-beyond-repair remaining brood, it was
LOOONG past time to head back to the condo.
Besides, we had dinner to share, and games to
play with Marnita and Kevin. At least we knew the
kids would LOVE that!
| Avalon does this often - she just finds places to plop down. She's learned to self-protect when she's tired, or in pain. Don't be sad - she's not! |
| Bein' goofy... |
| Actors from the play stage |
| Anam usually likes joining her - or sitting on her, dealer's choice. |
| Avalon's chariot - all decked out for Williamsburg |
| Formal ladies with their teacher |
| My - what a lovely bouquet... |
| On stage - as part of a play! |
| Posing in a 4-hole outhouse. |
| This one wasn't |
| The bedroom that inspired the American Girl doll, Felicity. |
| These two were still having lots of fun |
| Dad couldn't resist tickling the captives. |
| Learning a proper ball dance |
| Our "friends" - playing their parts |