Saturday, April 28, 2018

Goodbye, April

It seems our recent weeks have begun on chilly and/or wet Tuesdays, and this week was no exception.  It's been a cool and rainy April, so maybe all those showers will bring a warm and sunny May! 

First on Tuesday we met the MGs at Freedom Park, where we held our session indoors at the Interpretive Center.  We discussed what we had done in the garden a couple of weeks ago, and then learned about a type of plant we will plant next time:  succulents.  Here, Linda showed Alexis and Sam a portulaca plant.  She explained that succulent plants do not require a lot of water because their thick, waxy leaves can store a lot of water.


Kacie was particularly interested in the plant called Hen and Chicks!  Linda explained that the larger part of the plant, called the hen, produces numerous baby plants, called chicks!


Laura, Devin, and Patrick looked at pictures of zinnias, a colorful annual we will plant next time.  Zinnia is also the name of Devin's dog, as his friends pointed out! 🐕


The herb we learned about was dill.  For a snack, we tried dill, sea salt, and olive oil flavored Triscuits and homemade dill pickles.  Here's Cameron's face when he tasted the slightly tart pickle!


Our craft was making a bookmark decorated with dried leaves and pansies.  These were very pretty!  


We appreciate the help of so many MGs!


Imagine our surprise when the MGs said we were going to play Bingo!  It was Veggie Bingo and lots of fun.  Our gang loves any kind of Bingo game!


Chris was the first winner!  He chose a little notepad from the prize bag!


Since it was raining, and we had a nearby appointment for yoga at 1:00, the very helpful MGs arranged for us to remain at the Interpretive Center for lunch!  Here we are on our second "picnic" of the season.  They even let us hang on to the Bingo game so we could play it again after lunch! 😁


After lunch and more Bingo, we made our way to Studio South, down the road from Freedom Park, for our monthly yoga session.  Katey wasn't able to be there today, but Kiley gave us a great workout!


Yoga makes us stronger!


And it teaches us to just "be."


What a great ending to a rainy day.

We checked all day Wednesday for the sun to come out, but we only saw clouds and some drizzly rain.  So, we stayed inside and kept busy with all kinds of things.

We tried a new movement activity.  Can you guess what we were trying to do with the pool noodles?


The object was to stand your noodle upright and on the count of 3, let go of it and run to catch your partner's before it hit the ground.


Drew and Xavier weren't too sure about this.  They didn't like it when theirs fell to the floor!


We watched a short biographical video about William Shakespeare, since his "day" is April 23rd.  We then tried to talk like him by substituting "ye" and "thou" for "you" and "they," but that didn't last long!  We learned that a number of phrases we use today came from some of his plays...like "wild goose chase," "laughing stock," and "Knock. Knock. Who's there?" (It's from Macbeth!)  After that, we could say we celebrated Shakespeare!  Rumor has it that we may revisit this on Friday...sort of!

Our Rotary volunteer was a new friend this week, Stacy.  She was a whiz on the computer and worked with our guys on current events.


We planned to celebrate Pretzel Day on Thursday so we got this crew to prepare one of our favorite side dishes, Strawberry Pretzel Salad.  It needed to set overnight in the fridge.  Here, they were breaking pretzels into small pieces for the crust.


Wednesday was Zucchini Bread Day and Liz and her mom surprised us with a homemade loaf!  It was moist and tasty.  Thanks, Mrs. K, for baking it for us!  It was a nice ending to our lunch.


Our computer lab is enjoyed by friends during Choice Time.  In the background, Chloe plays a game on her phone while Chris and Sam play pool.


We had a great yoga session with Patti on Wednesday afternoon!  This is one of our favorite positions.  It's a great back stretch called Cat and Cow.  We arch our backs like cats, and then droop them, like cows.


Reaching like this stretches our spines. 


All of these positions help to strengthen our core, too.


Here we are in various stages of down dog; we were working toward our planks!


Thursday was Pretzel Day!  We learned how they are made, how they got their different shapes, and about their nutritional value.  Much better for a crunchy, salty, snack craving than chips...but for some reason, we had plenty of leftovers! 😏


We were having pigs in a blanket for lunch on Thursday, but everyone had to prep their own!


Ready to load into The Nina...all FOUR racks at once!  We 💖our convection oven!


Here's the final product with the Strawberry Pretzel Salad.  One of our guys' favorite lunches.


Once again, we headed outside and the flying disk was chosen as a game!  


We wonder if the guys realize how much running around they do chasing that thing?


We need another one!


We finished our books about magical, mythical creatures on Thursday afternoon.


We added pages on dragons, mermaids, and unicorns.


One thing we are working on is how to use a glue stick so as to make sure the corners of a picture will stick.  We have to run the glue stick around the perimeter of the picture, not just in the center.  Sam is concentrating on doing that.


We went outside one more time since it was so pretty on Thursday.  We ended up at our quiet place, the outdoor classroom.  Some of our friends chose to sit quietly and chat or meditate...but you can see Sam and Chris getting in a quick workout!


Even though we know it's always a possibility, we are a little disappointed when we can't go to Eaton to work.  Our guys really like the satisfaction that comes from that experience.  Still, we understand that things happen and sometimes Jorie has to cancel our visit, as happened this week.  Thus, we were left with a full day on Friday and no plans, so we did something we never do...watched a movie!

When we "studied" Shakespeare earlier this week, we realized that even though we had heard of some of his great works, listening to them was a little over our heads.  So, our answer to that was to watch the movie "Gnomeo and Juliet." 


It's based loosely on the famous work by Shakespeare, but more our speed, especially when we add popcorn!


After lunch the morning rain had cleared, so we met Becky at Newport News Park.  We needed to stretch our legs after watching the movie, right?!  And stretch our legs, we did!  We walked not one, but two trails, and we think it was the longest hike we've ever taken.  Our guys were troupers!

These were some pretty tall trees.


Blue skies!  


Watching turtles who were out enjoying the beautiful day, too!


Another great ending to a great week!


We expect next week to be great as well, and according to our schedule, it's definitely going to be busy!  Here's the scoop:

Tuesday:  We will make appreciation cards for Mr. Stutt and Ms. Vallone in honor of School Principals Day. Then it's off to bowling and pizza for lunch!  The weather forecast looks great so we will also take a walk at a new venue and check out a new playground!  Wear your Arc shirts, please.

Wednesday First, we'll take a moment to honor that classic cartoon character, Bugs Bunny, since his day was Monday and some of our guys asked if we could celebrate!  Then, it's May, so we will work on our monthly calendar and see what other "celebrations" are in store for us this month.  We'll also work with our Rotary volunteer in the computer lab and have YOGA with Patti!  Lunch on your own!

Thursday:  Tomorrow is Bird Day, but we will be working at Eaton, so we will study birds today.  We're going to put a hummingbird feeder outside our window!  It's also the first Thursday of the month, so (getting back to our regular schedule), we will visit with Christina at the CW Art Museums after lunch.  Lunch on your own AND please wear Arc shirts!

Friday:  We are expecting to work at Eaton today, so our fingers are crossed that we'll be there!  The extended forecast says it will be a very warm day, so after our day's work, we will stop for a chilly treat!  Bring a bag lunch AND please wear Arc shirts!

🌞🌻😎

Yea, it's going to be a whirlwind week!  Til then, have a great weekend!

Lisa, Carol, and Nan

Saturday, April 21, 2018

Birthday Bashes Continue

As our friend Laura would say, "But first...what happened to Spring?!"  We began the week on a chilly Tuesday with the first of two birthday celebrations we would enjoy in the coming days.  (We love April for all of the birthdays! 🎂)  This time it was Bo and we celebrated him at bowling.  Here's the Birthday Boy reading Harry Potter in between turns, something he actually loves even more than bowling!  Read on, Bo!


This picture of Kacie and Chris picking up their bowling balls looks like it would be the beginning of a showdown, but our guys always play in support of each other and for fun!


Even though we had pizza last Friday to celebrate Chloe's birthday, no one minded it again for Bo's!  Thank you to his family for providing our hot and yummy lunch AND for the equally yummy cupcakes afterward!


In the midst of our celebration of Bo's birthday, we found out our dear friend at the bowling center, Dicey, would be leaving for a new job opportunity.  We are going to miss her friendship very much.  She's just one member of the team that takes great care of us.  We certainly wish her well!  Can you spot her right in the middle of the gang?  💙💚💜


After bowling we headed to the Rec Center for a post pizza party walk.  When we arrived, we found out the cracks in the paved trail were being repaired and the path was closed.  So we decided to walk around the soccer fields instead. 


It was hard to get all of the guys in one shot since they walk at different paces.  The large field was actually a good fit for that aspect of our walking program.


And yes, we were wearing jackets...on April 17th!


Sam and Drew say starting the day with a dance always brings smiles to their faces!  Happy Wednesday!


Our friend Steve, from the Willamsburg Rotary, visited and worked in the computer lab with some of our friends.  Here, Kate and Patrick try to figure out a tricky question about fractions.


Eaton needs more Power Slide Doors so this group got the job done.  Carol, does Meemaw know you're using her power tool?! 🤣


We took time for a brisk (it was another chilly day) walk before lunch.  After hiking to the outdoor classroom, we climbed on the benches and struck yoga poses for this picture!  Namaste, everyone!


National Rubber Eraser Day is "celebrated" each year on Tax Day, which was April 17th this year.  We were a day late, but still enjoyed the challenge of using giant, neon erasers to find hidden words within a series of letters.  Any letter that didn't belong in the word had to be erased.


Chris and Kevin worked well together and quickly found the hidden word, "bowling."


Kate worked on her own since we had an odd number of participants today.  She was proud to find all the hidden words!


We thank Laura's mom, Lisa, who is about to retire from teaching and is cleaning out her room, for the donation of erasers!  


Our yogi Patti was much better this week and as soon as she arrived, we shared a video of our very own Kevin doing a plank at his workout session!  She was so excited to see him practicing this, and we are super proud of him!


With Kevin as inspiration, we worked our way toward the plank position, first by going into 3-legged dog!


We're getting there!!!!


Kacie, Kate, and Chloe can even do reverse planks!  WOW!


Thursday's library team consisted of Chloe, Bo, and Alexis.  Good work, guys!


We spent some time outside on yet another chilly April morning, but the sun was shining!  Sam and Kacie meandered through the community garden and stopped for a photo by the tulip bed.


Patrick and Alexis worked with Kate on her football throwing skills.


Speaking of Kate, we celebrated her upcoming birthday (Sunday) on Thursday by also celebrating Garlic Day.  Her favorite meal is spaghetti and garlic bread, so that's what we had.  Her mom added cupcakes and it was a delicious party luncheon!  


Shortly after lunch, we scooted over to CW to visit with Christina at the Art Museums.  We had time for a walk around Bicentennial Park where we stopped for a picture under this pretty dogwood tree!


We continued our study of magical, mythical creatures with Christina.  Here, we added a few pictures to our books with her ink stamp set.


Today Christina told us about dragons and unicorns.  We learned that in ancient Asia, dragons were a sign of good fortune but in Europe they were regarded as not so nice.  We also learned that unicorns were elusive, but if they could be caught, their horns could be ground into powder that would cure most anything.  In CW, the unicorn can be seen on the sign of the Apothecary's shop, as it represented medicine in years past.


After the lesson, we searched for magical, mythical creatures throughout portions of the galleries.  Christina pointed out a phoenix on the inside of a dish.


Kacie and Alexis found griffins painted on this chair.  It's fun to look at items in the museum with an eye toward finding details that Christina has taught us about!  Thanks, Christina, for enlightening us in your special way!


When we returned to the school, we were surprised to head to the back of the building where a Navy helicopter was parked!  Mr. Stutt told us the school had been working a long time to bring this for a visit.


When we arrived, it was almost time for the helicopter to return to Norfolk (a ten minute trip), where it is attached to the carrier George H.W. Bush, which is currently in port.  But our guys had a few minutes to chat with the pilots and the rest of the crew.


We learned that this helicopter was involved in the real life rescue of Captain Phillips, about whom a movie was made.


We also learned that the pilot today was this lady!


We had to stay behind the fence to watch the helicopter depart.  It was a little loud and quite windy.  Cameron decided to join Xavier, who was a little further back. 


Here's the takeoff!  This was exciting for our guys.  We are grateful to Mr. Stutt and Mr. Howard for inviting (including) us and making sure we didn't forget!  



Thursday was a lot of fun, but Friday was, too!  It began with this bunch of bakers, Sam, Chris, and Kacie, volunteering to prepare pineapple upside down cupcakes.  It was Pineapple Upside Down Cake Day, so we decided to modify the recipe to cupcakes so as to better control our portions, since we have been "celebrating" with a few sweet treats lately. 😊  First, we learned how Dole grows and harvests pineapples by watching a video.  It was interesting to find out that it takes over a year (up to 18 months) for pineapples to grow and ripen!  We also learned that it is a crop that does not do well with automation, so it is planted, cared for, and harvested almost entirely by hand.  (The workers plant, by hand, 5,000-6,000 plants a day...14 acres a week!  WOW!)

From this...


...to this!  Fresh out of The Nina, and they were delicious!


We made sure we got plenty of physical activity today.  Before lunch we grabbed our giant disk (which we haven't played with in over a year until Alexis dug it out today) and headed to the field.  It was just windy enough to get some pretty good lift as we tossed it about and, surprisingly (to staff), chased it all over the place!  


Most of our guys participated and we should have videotaped it to show them running!  🏃🏃🏃


Here, Devin got the disk and took off like a flash.  Alexis didn't catch him before he threw it!


It was so much fun!  Next week we may try Freeze Tag!


During Choice Time, Becky and Carol assembled some kites!  We would soon head outside again to run around and take advantage of the windy day.


Before flying kites, we had to do some educational work.  We had been asked by an acquaintance of Lisa's to write thank you notes to service members for her to add to a care package she was putting together.  Everyone was happy to contribute.  Devin and Sam drafted kind notes, and then colored an extra thank you page to include with it.


Kacie, Kate, and Alexis were proud (rightly so!) of their work.  It's hard to tell in the picture, but the flag page is the one on which they wrote their notes.


It was a sunny afternoon, and not as chilly as we thought, but still windy enough for us to get the kites up!  Here, Chris looks on as Sam lets the string get longer on their kite.


Becky and Kate persevered...and finally got this kite up high!


Devin held on to this one with intense focus.  Afterward, he was giddy with excitement!


Look how high Cameron's flew!


Do you see Kacie's?


Drew was amazed that the string he was holding had a kite flying in the wind above his head!  Everyone had a chance and most of them succeeded in getting at least a short flight.  This was a fun way to end the week, and they asked if we could do it again.  Of course!


And with that, we realized this third week of April had flown by! 😎 Here's what's up for next week:

Tuesday:  It's a day for peace, love, flowers, and deep breathing!!  First, we will garden with the MGs (master gardeners) at Freedom Park, so wear Arc shirts and bring a bag lunch.  After lunch, we will take a short walk and then head over to Studio South for a mindfulness/yoga session with Kylie.  As of the publication of this update, the weather forecast is calling for rain, but we can hope it changes.  If it's raining, we will see if we can eat lunch inside of the Interpretive Center.

Wednesday:  It's one of those awesome weeks when we get yoga twice!  Patti comes today so dress to stretch!  We will also make birthday cards for Jorie (Yay!  Another April birthday!) And, since it's only a couple of days after Talk Like Shakespeare Day, we will have some fun learning about the best-selling fiction author of all time!  Lunch on your own.

Thursday:  We have a bit of Eaton work to finish at the center before going to their site tomorrow, so we will work on that in the morning.  In the afternoon, we will work on the books we started with Christina at the CW Art Museums, by adding more pictures and summaries of the magical, mythical creatures we learned about last week.  It's also close enough to one of our guys' all time favorite food holidays: Pigs in a Blanket Day, which was Tuesday,  so of course we are having pigs in a blanket for lunch. 

Friday:  We will spend today at Eaton working on a variety of tasks.  While there, we will celebrate Jorie's birthday!  Bring a bag lunch, and include some nutritious fruit or veggies!  We will add a birthday cookie for dessert. 

Reminder to plan ahead:  The AoA will be closed the week of July 3-6!  

Hope everyone enjoys the weekend,
Lisa, Carol, and Nan