October, 2017 is history and we sent it out with a fun and zany Halloween Party on Tuesday. We have a lot of pictures to share...enjoy!
First up, check out these delightful costumes!
What great looks!
We love their spirit!
Only Sam and Kacie would volunteer to clean the insides out of our soon to be jack-o-lantern!
Kevin agreed to help get the gunk off the seeds, which we planned to roast later in the week.
Laura volunteered to help plot the design.
Carol agreed to do the carving!
And ta-da! A happy little fella! He's surrounded by lots of little friends that Kacie made using paper strips and pipe cleaners. 🎃
Sam had the idea that we should bob for apples...so here he is getting it done!
Wonder Woman succeeded in getting an apple. Thanks, Liz, for holding that lovely hair out of the way!
Ariel had a little help with her hair and she got one too!
Super Girl held on tightly to the sides and resisted using her hands for help!
While eventually successful, this Minion first looked at the camera as if to say, "Are you serious?"
Little Red Riding Hood's hair got wet, but she got the apple!
This cute witch had to remove her hat before she could go for her apple!
David Beckham wasn't into messing up his hair, so he didn't get any further than this! 😉
Pumpkin Girl took a few dips but finally got her prize, too!
Our gang proves you're never too old for a rousing game of Musical Chairs!
Making slime met with mixed results from our friends. Some of them couldn't wait to get their hands in it, while others weren't so sure.
Laura was all good until it got too thick for stirring, but Kacie and Chloe were all hands on!
Devin and Drew were more than happy happy to watch Liz and Lexi play with the slime.
This is our attempt at a spooky picture...kind of a fog effect...can't you tell? By this time, our happy jack-o-lantern had become a puking pumpkin, thanks to our slime!
At least everyone liked the Mummy Dogs we had for lunch!
And the dirty, slimy, wormy dessert was a hit, too! Thanks for finding the recipe, Kate!
Kacie brought individual craft kits she had assembled for each of her friends. Everyone had fun with this, including our volunteer Pam W., who joined the party. Thanks for your creative thoughtfulness, Kacie!
We ended our party day with everyone's favorite, Bingo. This time it was Disney Villians Bingo...and it was so much fun, we forgot to snap a picture. Oh well, there's always next year!
Wednesday was Spaghetti Squash Day! We got right to work preparing our squash for baking. Alexis and Kacie scraped out the seeds. In the background is school principal Mr. Stutt stopping by to say hello. We invited him to come back for spaghetti squash at lunch time. He made a face...and was a no-show later!
Drew and Laura also tried to remove seeds. Or did Drew watch Laura try to remove seeds?! 😜
Over at this table, Chris, Sam, and Cameron further removed seeds from the squash pulp so we could roast them and compare their taste to the pumpkin seeds we planned to roast.
We drizzled the squash with oil and added salt and pepper. Next, we turned them over and baked them for about 1 hour.
Once baked, we used a fork to scrape the strands of meat out of the squash. It sure looks like spaghetti! Several of our friends tasted it at this stage and gave it a thumbs up!
Once we added the "hearty meat sauce," most of us agreed it tasted even better! At about 1/5 the calories of regular pasta, this is a nutritious, and delicious, option! We also prepared traditional pasta for those who weren't feeling too adventurous, but we were proud of the eight who went for spaghetti squash spaghetti!
We worked on PowerSlide Doors for Eaton on Wednesday. Cameron and Josie inserted the window pieces while Nan and Alexis added labels and the group in the back added screws to keep the windows in place.
Josie also did some inventory.
Chloe's chore was to take down some of our Halloween decorations. Reach and stretch, Chloe!
Over at the bead tables, Drew, Devin, Patrick, Xavier, and Laura worked on sorting and organizing. They got a lot done!
Since we ran out of time on Tuesday, we had to play "Pin the Pumpkin on the Porch" on Wednesday. Patrick and Chris show us how it's done!
We roasted the seeds from our pumpkin and spaghetti squash on Thursday. Here, Sam and Kate wash and dry the dishes we used to mix butter and cinnamon for coating the seeds. Alas, we forgot to take pictures before snacking on the seeds, which were crunchy and had more of a "popcorn" taste than cinnamon. Better adjust the recipe next time!
For late October/early November, the weather was unusually warm. We enjoyed a lot of outside time this week.
We checked out the latest edition to the Community Garden - a covered walkway at the entrance.
Since it was the first Thursday of the month, we traveled to the CW Art Museums for our visit with Christina. After a walk around Bicentennial Park, we headed to the entrance and saw this. There are renovations underway as the museums undergo expansion. The current entrance to the museums is through the Public Hospital Museum building, but after expansion, the entrance will be moved to the Henry St. side. The scaffolding here is to aid with replacement of the roof on the Public Hospital, which will eventually be separate from the museums.
Christina showed us the quilt exhibit and shared interesting facts about the history of quilting and how they are made. The quilts on display are colorful and very pretty.
We spent most of our time in the Education Center where we began a project that we will finish next month. We don't want to give away too many details, as we are creating presents to give to some lucky recipients at Christmas time...but you can see we were very busy!
Sandwich Day was celebrated on Friday and everyone enjoyed either ham or PB&J. Our friend Christina from the Art Museums joined us, and brought some refreshing lemonade. Since Carol was out on Friday, and we were rushing around, we didn't get a good picture with our guest, but here's our lunch before we devoured it!😆
The warm weather was great for starting our Bocce Ball league with Ms. Teri at the helm. She came today with a plan for teaching us the basics and we got right to it. Tracy's intern, Mary Ann, also came to help. That's her in the blue shirt in the middle of this picture!
Sam shows his technique as Devin and Liz look on!
Chris gets ready to toss. In the background, Laura and Teri celebrate Laura's point!
Coach Teri helps Drew work on an underhand throw. This is not how Drew is used to throwing, so it's a big goal for him to work on during our Bocce league.
Here, Devin tries holding his throwing arm with his other hand because he needs to throw more gently.
Kacie tries to close in on the target ball.
We got pretty warm out there on Friday, so we came inside after about an hour. We plan to get back outside in the weeks to come and work on improving our aim (it takes a lot of self-control to stay within the boundaries). Bocce is definitely a game anyone can play, and it was fun!
We're looking forward to next week. Here's what's up:
Tuesday: It's Election Day, and the school is closed, but we will be in session. We are traveling to Jamestown Settlement to check out the Pocahontas exhibit and enjoy lunch in the Settlement Cafe. Please wear Arc shirts. We're asking all who wish to eat lunch in the cafe to bring a "copay" of $10. (Lunch can be brought from home, if preferred.) You can check out the menu ahead of time here: Jamestown Settlement Cafe Menu . Also, watch the forecast since rain is possible. Most of what we will do is inside, but if it's not pouring, we will walk out to the Settlement. Bring rain jackets!
Wednesday: It's STEM Day! We will spend the day having fun with SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, and MATH activities, most of which will come from our recently acquired science resource books! Lunch on your own.
Thursday: Since we missed Nachos Day which was on November 6th, the gang voted to celebrate it today. So celebrate it, we shall! Nachos for lunch!
Friday: BIG Celebrations at the AoA today! Both Patrick and Liz have birthdays on November 11th, so it's all about them today. November 11th is also National Sundae Day, so with thanks to their families, it's hot dogs, chips, and ice cream sundaes for lunch! And on a more solemn note, we will also take time to recognize Veterans Day, which is also on November 11th.
T-shirt orders have been submitted and with any luck, they will be ready for pick up in time to send home by Friday. 🤞
We are striving to encourage our friends to take extra care in washing hands, sneezing "properly," and using tissues as we approach cold and flu season. Several report they have had flu shots, too! Yay!
Don't forget to set your clocks back an hour this weekend! Enjoy that little gift of time!
Lisa, Carol, and Nan
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