Arc of Abilities: Birthdays and New Experiences

Another week at the Arc of Abilities is in the books, and it was a great one! We are fortunate to have wonderful opportunities come our way often, and this week was no exception. On Tuesday, we began working with Master Gardeners at the Botanical Garden in Freedom Park. They told us about plants that are growing in their own yards and gardens this time of year, taught us about chives (we will learn about a new herb each week), worked with us to plant lettuce, strawberries, snap peas, and sunflowers, helped us harvest fresh spinach (which we got to keep), and shared a snack made with fresh chives. It was a beautiful day and we made the most of it by also eating lunch at the park and then "forest bathing" along one of the trails. Our volunteer, Pam, explained that forest bathing is a term used by the Japanese to describe the relaxing effects one gets from walking among the forest and escaping a busy day. It worked for us! Here are some photos from our Tuesday...

We welcomed Chris back from his week off to take a cruise with his family. He is so thoughtful, and brought each of his friends a souvenir! Here, some of the girls show off their key chains. Thanks, Chris!

We were excited to celebrate our friend Sam when he announced that he had won two first place and one second place ribbons at the Special Olympics swim meet over the weekend!

On Wednesday we began the day with Michael, working on our Tai Chi routine that we hope to share with the public at Veterans Park (Kidsburg) next Sunday. Hope some of our associates can join us as we help Michael show the benefits of this gentle exercise.

We welcomed another potential member of the gang on Wednesday when Sean visited, and we wasted no time in putting him to work!

Lunch on Wednesday found us celebrating National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day, and enjoying the delicious spinach we had picked at the Botanical Garden the day before!

It was a busy work week. Jorie from Eaton brought us a load of work. They are entering the busy season, and need all the help we can give them. We also needed to work on organizing some of our own supplies. And, we prepared The Arc's May mailing. Everyone gave 100% and a lot was accomplished this week!

By Thursday we were happy to celebrate two birthdays, Chloe's and Becky's! Chloe's family provided a cake (that we also enjoyed on Friday!) and it was delicious, with filling in the middle! Becky brought bubbles so we continued the celebration outside after eating cake. We love birthdays!

Check out Becky and Meghan getting their groove on to a "Happy Birthday" soundtrack playing on the television!

The highlight of Friday was another new experience for us, art class in a real studio! Thanks to a generous gift from Suzanne West at Artfully Yours on Jamestown Road, we were able to create beautiful mosaics of our initials using "found objects" and other random items. What fun to work in an environment that really fostered our creativity. Thanks, Suzanne!

There is a lot on the agenda for next week. We are celebrating Garlic Day (hmm?!), Bo and Kate's birthdays, and a return to bowling! Here's the rundown...lunch is in-house several days next week!

Tuesday: Bowling and pizza for lunch! Please wear Arc t-shirts. THANK YOU to Drew's Meemaw, Nancy Dayton, for sponsoring pizza!!

Wednesday: Dress comfortably for Tai Chi. It's Garlic Day and the gang voted to have pasta and garlic bread for lunch. We will also celebrate Bo's birthday with a sweet treat!

Thursday: We volunteer in the school and will have a side of lima beans at lunch in honor of Lima Bean Respect Day! (lunch on your own)

Friday: It's Kate's birthday and her family is treating us to meatball subs and cupcakes for lunch!

Saturday: Join us for the Zumbathon!