Galesburg Heritage days 2013

Over the weekend we were finally able to hit our 2nd event of the year! Our schedule has been so crazy we've been skipping out on a lot this year....and when your like me and live for the few days of the year you get to see your dearest friends....sadness overcomes me...Needless I was over joyed to finally be able to hit one!!!

The traditional - Galesburg Unmentionables shot. I'm thinking this one should go on the wall.. lol ;)

 

I don't think I've ever been to an event with more beautiful weather!!!! Moderate temperatures, a bit of breeze and NO rain. For this time of year that's unusual...normally the heat would be stifling. So wonderful and such a breath of fresh air from our last round of events.

Much time was spent in dream land...

Or just lounging around in general.... 

We got to see the fabulous Meister family. That's always a fun! I'm constantly in awe of the new wardrobes Ms. Sarah has created each time I see them!

Beautiful little Miss Anne.

Big sis' last hurrah as a single lady...its gunna be sad not having her around at events anymore...nostalgic much? (yess.. :( )  In other news I think my hats suits her very well, no?!?!

Yours truly... I brilliantly forgot sun screen and somehow we ended up with a slat bonnet missing every single slat...all that to say...I got a horrid sunburn. Hopefully I won't be making that mistake again anytime soon.

 

 Lil sis was, infact, there...just didn't make it into any pictures... o.O

 

Dat hat!!! This, people, is how its done!

Looks like a bit of skepticism going around..wonder what that could have been about. lol

I always have a favorite event picture...Without a doubt...its this one....

 

The day had its slow moments, but the highlight for me was getting to spend time with my bestfriend who I hadn't seen for almost a whole year. Thus I accomplished what I went for - so in the end its all a win!!

 

The rest of our pictures are here. 

 

And that's a wrap folks!

 

Love,

Brooke 

Galesburg Heritage Days 2012

 On Sunday we went to one of our favorite events Galesburg Heritage Days. This was our 3rd year there! We hadn't been sure if we were going to be able to make it this year since we all had a wedding to attend that same weekend, but thankfully it worked out that we could go up on Sunday!!! Hurrah! Due to the busy-ness of the weekend...only 4 of us girls were able to attend, along with my parents and little brother.
 We got up at the crack of dawn and readied ourselves. We ended up arriving around 9:30.

We started the day off by giving the confederates forces some fabulous coffee cake Michelle had made for them. 

Here you see her serving it. And before y'all start speculating about her being among the guys without an escort...she had one. lol Plus me, Megan, and Sarah kept a close guard. ;)

We then watched them do a bunch of drilling and quickly exited the field when they fired an unexpected volley. I'm afraid it frightened poor, Sarah dear, quite alot... lol

Over looking his soldiers! 

(I really like how that picture turned out. :D)

Next we spent some time sewing and socializing with some of the folks. And I took some measurements on a client for a new project that I'm really excited about and can't wait to show you! ;)

Here I'm working on a pinafore that I started quite awhile back...okay like a LONG time ago. lol My goal: get it done this year. *blush*

Then it was time for a few photos...

Left to right:

Megan, me, Michelle, and Sarah. 

Megan got a new gown for the weekend. Its not finished yet, but once we get it done I'll be sure to share some pictures. :) It was our first time doing a silk 1860s dress so it was quite an experience. :) 

This has to be one of my favorite pictures from the entire day!  

The charming Sarah.

 Don't you just love her hair?!?! Her and Megan both got bobs this week...I was a bit concerned about pulling off period correct hairstyles, but they both did wonderful and looked *very* beautiful!

Me and my fabulous big sister!

We were trying to practice our pose for a future wet plate image. Still needs a bit of work, but we are getting there. ;) 

Yours truly.

I wore my hair up for the first time in like forever. I was quite pleased with how it held up. I wish I had a good picture of the back. It looked kinda cool if I may say so myself. ;p 

The 'twins' traditional photo.

Aren't they just the most gorgeous ladies ever?!

After that we visited with this lovely lady, Emily, whom we had meet last year at Minooka. It was such a wonderful surprise to see her there!

With her is her 15 month old son Liam. He was like the cutest little thing I'd ever seen!

Her husband was also portraying a confederate soldier that day. We really enjoyed talking with them and they are like the most darling little family of all times. Very sweet people and I hope we'll be able to spend more time with them this year. 

Michelle and Emily looking SUPER lady like.

While Megan, Sarah, and I were a bit more unruly and went off to watch the action..lol 

And now for a few shots of the battle...

I may be a bit biased, but I thought these gentlemen looked pretty great. :D 

A Federal artillery man. 

Megan did a GREAT job capturing this. Tho I have to admit I'm not really sure what's going on in this picture. I see Federals and Confederates in the same spot and the apparent canon fire coming from the federal side. lol Confusing, but none the less a pretty sweet picture. :) 

Michelle and Liam.

Can you tell she loves babies?!?! lol

It was a splendid day. One of the better times we've had... :) And nice way to put an end to our season for awhile. We probably won't be able to go to anymore reenactments till October. Which is really sad, but I'm hoping to revamp my wardrobe in the meantime... :) The rest of our pictures can be seen here.

In other news...Michelle and I started GED prep classes at a community college today. That's a new experience for us. So we could definitely use some good wishes for us in that venture. ;) Hoping to graduate later on this year!

More soon!

Love,

Brooke

Galesburg Heritage Days Part 3.

 We've come to the last part of the journey thru the reenactment. So please enjoy the final huzzah! :)
 These were taken by my darling sister Michelle...

Michelle's favorite part of reenacting...she gets to see all the guns together. :D haha

We had the pleasure of meeting Laura and her children. She's a lovely lady and I do hope we can see her again soon.

Thru out the day we sewed on out repro scrap quilt. We can't wait to see what it looks like finished. It should be interesting with all the different fabrics.

Sewing, what I do best.

Waiting for instruction on sewing.

Michelle's graceful hands...

A perfect back view of my new sheer and hat. As well as Megan's new esemble.

For tradition. (We took one just like this last year)

A quiet moment in the camp.

Preparing for battle.

Marching off to war.

Waiting in anticipation.

Christian

Riding into the action.

Looking for...???? :D

Moving a cannon.

A stately commander.

In the heart of the battle.

*Note to Michelle-horrible background.* Okay back to our regularly scheduled program. :P

The doctor and his assistant. Peter and David.

Walking in harmony.

The fallen...

A group of artillery weapons. Notice Tom, doing what he does best. ;)

Showing 2 dimensions

The dead.

Coming to a close.

And the end, of the battle that is. ;)

The love of a mother and son.

Our dear friend Sarah Jane was also in attendance with her family. We had a lovely time visiting with her as always. She's such a wonderful lady and I'm very blessed to know her.

Abigail and Sarah shopping.

Friends...

A humorous picture of our group with 2 soldiers. Notice the phone and Chris yelling into his pal's ear. lol

Trying to be normal, but that's only a setting on a washing machine so it clearly isn't working. :P

Looking...

Michelle looking beyond compare.

Showing the detail of her new esemble.

Beaming for the camera and looking like a freak. lol

A wonderful image of Megan. This was the first time she wore this outfit. She made pretty much all her underclothes and helped on the dress.

Laughing at another one of Tom's jokes.

Sarah looking grand in her new dress made by Michelle.

Beautiful....

Showing her colors.

Lovely Lauren.

An awesome shot of us with our "adopted" Grandpa by Christian Jebb. lololol

Chris

Michelle can't be creative right now and think of a caption for this one (its policy to think one up for each other) so I suppose we'll leave this as lame....

Awaiting the dance.

The little sister.

A nice romantic gaze. ♥ :)

Sarah posing for yet another shot.

Just for the record they are drinking English lemonade in cool colored bottles.

My cousins at their best. Just teasing we still love ya. :)

Gasping for air. haha

Your guess is as good as mine!

A cover for the movie Hats, Hoops, and Happy days. lol :P

Heading out for dinner...

The stampede approaches.....

The hottest car I've seen in along time!

Sarah crooning over the it....

A view from our table at Steak & Shake! (If ya can't tell its a guy pushing a lawn mower)

Dad's reaction to thee above.

Abigail debating what to order.

Another tradition...

"I wanna be in the picture to!"

Looking happy before this... ↓

.....happened. While eating it started pouring to our dismay. Thankfully it let up in time for the dance. We were afraid it was going to be a re-run of Jacksonville being flooded out.

How'd that happen?!?!?!!?

The twins...not by birth... :D

Back to the park we went...

Passing time till the dance.

The ever graceful Lauren and Emily.

Lined up to dance! Photo credit: Tom.

During the middle of the dance there was night cannon firing.

(the last 3 are also courtesy of Tom.)

Overall, tho small its a wonderful event. The location is fantastic and beautiful. The rendezvous side is much larger the the civil war side. But we find smaller events make it easier to visit with people one on one. The battle was not the best we'd seen. Not because of lack of good intention, but due to the small amount of soldiers. There wasn't many ladies there either. The dance could use some improvements in our opinion. It was still very fun tho! :) They had a very nice variety of attractions for sure. The park is very scenic and makes for wonderful photos. And it has wonderful paths all throughout. The night cannon fire is really awesome to as you can see from the photos above. And the people were really friendly which is always a plus. :D In the end we recommend you go if you have the opportunity! And I suppose this will be the end of our small review. We do hope you've enjoyed a peek into our weekend experiences. We'd love to hear what you think! :)

Love,

Brooke and Michelle