We came in on Tuesday ready to welcome the first day of Spring, but it was rainy and very chilly. Luckily, we had a birthday to celebrate and that always warms our hearts! Our dedicated volunteer, Meemaw, was the recipient of our celebration this morning. Happy Birthday Blessings, to you, Meemaw! We wish you a wonderful year to come and we thank you for all you do to help us out at the AoA! (Can you see her, tucked behind her handsome grandson, Drew?!)
We had another heartwarming surprise this morning. Sam's family sent us a disco ball as a gift for our 2nd anniversary! Thank you Collins Family! It's a perfect gift for us!
What a surprise the disco ball was, and what fun we will have with it! Check it out on our first dance with it...
This is even better (if a little grainy):
After all that fun dancing with our new disco ball, we headed to the bowling center where Kate, Devin, Patrick, and Alexis were brave enough to bowl without bumpers! They had lower scores than they would have liked, but we applaud them for trying something challenging! We hope to get more of our guys to bowl without bumpers next time. 😏
Over on another lane, Chris happily pointed out to Laura that she beat him! He's a good sport!
Representing all of us who enjoy pizza for lunch are Patrick, Chloe, Sam, and Chris! Pizza this week was courtesy of Patrick's dad, and we thank him for providing the "lunch that never gets old" for this bunch!
We stopped by the Williamsburg Fire Department after bowling for a tour of their facility. We were welcomed by very friendly firefighters, paramedics, and inspectors. We were fascinated by how much equipment can be stored on the trucks, and how easily it can be accessed. Here, Adam explains that the truck holds about 750 gallons of water and that as it runs low, the truck is connected to a fire hydrant for a refill.
This is Steve teaching us about all the gear the firefighters put on before entering a burning structure. Our gang was interested and attentive throughout the tour!
Our guys thanked the team at the station with handshakes and kind words.
We enjoyed visiting this station very much!
Our friend Jeff from the Williamsburg Rotary came back this week to work with us in the computer lab on Wednesday. This time he helped some of our guys use Microsoft Word to create and format a document. Kacie and Alexis were excited to learn how to insert a picture into their writing! Jeff looked on like a proud instructor! (Which he was!)
When Chris and Patrick worked with Jeff, they used a math program. "Instructor" Jeff made sure they could prove their work before they selected an answer on the program!
We had missed the "official" Panda Day on March 16, so we celebrated it today by learning about these cute animals who are no longer endangered, but still "vulnerable" in their native habitat in China. After our education work, we got crafty. Here, Xavier and Cameron use forks instead of brushes to paint panda fur!
After the paint dried, we added ears and facial features. Happy Panda Day!
We got all set up for yoga a little early, so we were going to watch a video clip about how rainbows are formed while we waited. But much to our delight, Mr. Stutt stopped by at that exact same moment, and decided to lead us in some warm ups! Turns out, he was a PE teacher before he was a principal. Always something fun when he stops by!
Patti arrived as it was snowing lightly outside. She told us we would be doing "snowball yoga" so we were intrigued. Once again, she told us a story as we moved into our positions, and it kept our attention. Here, we were pulling our knees up to our chests and trying to roll into a snowball, before "throwing" our snowball selves ("splat") back to our mats. It's quite relaxing, actually!
We had such a great day on Thursday. First, everyone had a hand in preparing our healthy and delicious lunch. After partying last week, we decided to go lighter this week and made a whole-grain pasta salad loaded with vegetables and topped with a dressing made with Greek yogurt. We also celebrated California Strawberry Day with a side of fresh strawberries that Lisa picked up at Harris Teeter...on sale and delicious! (Go get yourself some!)
Chris prepared pink lemonade.
Liz, Kacie, and Alexis cut peppers...green, red, and yellow. They also cut the caps off the strawberries.
Sam, Bo, and Kate cut tomatoes and cucumbers.
Laura seasoned the chicken and then "massaged" it in the plastic bag before placing it on the baking pan and putting it in the oven.
Drew, Devin, and Xavier measured the yogurt and other ingredients before working together to mix it up with a whisk.
After the chicken baked, Kevin and Patrick tore it into bite-sized pieces.
This is how it looked when plated! Tasty!
After our healthy lunch, we proceeded to celebrate Goof Off Day. Earlier, we had "loafed" around listening to music and having an extra session of Choice Time before lunch. Now, we had fun trying to master a trick involving a folded dollar bill and two paper clips. The object was to attach the paper clips to either side of the folded bill so that when the bill was unfolded, the clips would pop off and be attached to one another. Many tried, including Kate.
After numerous attempts, Kacie did it!
Next, we moved on to filling plastic bags with water so we could stick sharp pencils through them without bursting the bag and getting water on our friends. Drew was very nervous when we held the bag over him! He got a little wet, but only because Alexis reached up and squeezed the bag. She was just "goofing off," though!
Kacie gave it a try over Sam's head...but he played it safe using the bowl for insurance! You can see by the look on her face that the pencil went through and didn't burst the bag.
While Xavier protected his head, Chris and Kate stuck pencils through and again, no leak!
We couldn't convince Kevin to not use the bowl as Laura gave it a jab. 😁 But not a drop of water leaked out!
Devin was brave enough...to let Lisa do the poking!
We tried to explain the science behind polymers and plastic, but in the end, decided we would rather just consider it a fun way to goof off!
Things got a little more serious on Friday when we headed for a work day at Eaton. Four of our associates were absent, but we still got a lot done. Here are a few pics from our work day!
Alexis and Kevin worked on a new job. These are aluminum plates that have a plastic film covering which needed to be removed.
We met Vicky, another worked from Eaton. Here she worked with Kacie and Liz to unpack parts.
This was a busy, busy group! Laura, Chris, Patrick, and Sam separated and sorted these parts in record time!
Bo concentrated on removing small parts from plastic bags. He had to make sure he didn't accidentally toss the small parts as sometimes they got stuck in the bag.
Drew worked on counting these parts, which he then passed to...
Xavier, who packed them in boxes!
Caught these two mugging for the camera!
This is everyone waving from the break room where we celebrated Chips and Dip Day at lunch!
We hope to see some Spring like weather next week. We have plans to get outdoors! Here's what's coming up:
Tuesday: We will be at the center in the morning working on Easter/Spring decorations. After lunch, we will head to Studio South for another yoga and mindfulness session with Kate's cousin, Katey! Lunch on your own. Wear Arc shirts and comfy pants!
Wednesday: It's Something on a Stick Day so we are going to make chicken teriyaki kabobs, steamed veggies, and rice for lunch! We will also work with our Rotary volunteer in the computer lab and enjoy yoga with Patti! And, we welcome our volunteer Becky back! She's been on vacay in Florida for a couple of weeks!😎
Thursday: A new day to observe, National Vietnam War Veterans Day, was just signed into law last year. We will touch briefly on the war and Veterans' issues, and then learn about the country of Vietnam during our education time. If the weather is nice, we will visit Veterans Park to see the monument and also check how well our Bocce Ball skills have held! Lunch on your own.
Friday: Jorie has to travel to Atlanta so we will not go to Eaton today. We will have an Easter party and if the weather cooperates, we'll head back to New Quarter Park to celebrate Walk in the Park Day. Lunch on your own...but an Easter treat for dessert!
REMINDERS:
-The week of April 3-6 is Spring Break for WJCC Schools. We will be open but there will be no lunches from the cafeteria that week! We will bowl and have pizza on Tuesday, and cook something on Thursday, but Wednesday and Friday you will need to bring lunch!
-The screeening of Life Animated is Sunday, April 15 at 2 p.m. at the Kimball Theater. Please join us in this opportunity to increase our awareness of Autism. Tickets are $5 for Arc clients and $10 for everyone else. You can preorder here:
-The Arc's annual 5K at Williamsburg Landing is on October 6! We hope to have lots of you on Team AoA! Save the date!!!
Enjoy the weekend,
Lisa, Carol, and Nan
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