The Great Outdoors

When the sun shines as much as it did this week, we get outside.  We made sure to use our sunscreen and we took extra tissues for our many allergy snifflers...fun times!    Here's a look at our week:

We began our Spring Session with the master gardeners on Tuesday morning at Freedom Park.  It was still a little chilly, but the sun came out and that made it tolerable.  We were glad we didn't have to move the class inside!  It was great to see familiar master gardener faces, but we met some new friends, too, and we appreciate them coming on board.  This is a fabulous group of people who prepare fantastic lessons and experiences for us!

Joanne showed us a bird house made from a gourd and explained that we would be planting gourds today, harvesting them in the fall, letting them dry out, and making our own bird houses a year from now!  Wow!  Long range plans...but we like that!

Everyone dispersed to take a tour of what was going on in the garden now and what needed to be done today.

Potatoes were planted, led by Barbara, one of the new faces.

Crimson Clover was pulled up from this bed.  We had planted it back in the fall and Linda reminded us that it served as both a ground cover during the winter and as a source for returning nutrients to the soil.

Kacie and Joanne planted gourd seeds.

Linda and Sam planted carrot seeds.

Liz and Devin planted lettuce plants in the garlic bed.  If the weather stays warm and the plants grow well, we may be able to pick some of the lettuce on our next visit in two weeks!

We enjoyed our first picnic of the season.  The sunshine was warm on our backs.

Since it was a little chilly, we decided to stay in the sunshine instead of walk our usual trail through the trees.  We had a nice history lesson as we visited the Free Black Settlement instead.

We could barely fit five of our friends in this picture, yet during the early 1800s, a freed slave family with "several" children, lived in a house like this.  It's 288 square feet.

We drove back to AFCC via the Jamestown Parkway.  It was too pretty of a day not to pull over and walk on the sand.  It was low tide and many rocks were visible, so we collected some.  We plan to paint them.  (And then hide them somewhere in town for others to find!)

This fallen tree called for us to pose for a group photo.  Looks like a postcard, doesn't it?!

We worked on Power Slide doors for Eaton on Wednesday morning.  It was a rush job and they were coming at 11 to pick them up!  (They missed us not being there last Friday.)  We had about 70 doors on hand at the AFCC so we cranked them out and were too busy to take pictures!  🙀

At the same time, our friend Chuck, from the Williamsburg Rotary, was back to volunteer in the computer lab.  He helped us navigate a student news website.  Alexis and Patrick were thinking about current events!

Our yogi, Patti, was struggling with allergies and unfortunately had to cancel our session, so the highlight of Wednesday turned out to be National Pet Day! 🐶🐱🐐 Our friends brought pictures and stories about their beloved animals.  What we thought would take about thirty minutes to share, stretched into over an hour of friendly conversation.  At times we digressed to look up information about some of the pets, and that led us to other interesting information, such as the official state dogs in the U.S. and weird pets the presidents have had over the years!  

Kevin shared a photo of his dog, Bailey, and also told us about his cat, Noel.

Kate showed a picture of Lucy, while reading her notes about her sweet puppy, a Havanese, which we learned is the national dog of Cuba.

Devin was delighted to show a picture of his dog, Zinnia, while Carol read some facts about her.  Sam wanted a closer look.

When it was Sam's turn to tell us about his dogs, Bella and Rusty, Devin also wanted a closer look!

We projected a picture of Liz's dogs, Brittany, Annabelle, and Rose, on the screen.  She then gave us interesting facts about each one.

Patrick brought a cute stuffed pup to share (it speaks!), and also told us about his real-life labradoodle, Zoe.

The staff even shared.  Nan told us about her granddog, Kaida.  Becky shared a story about her late, beloved dachshund, Murphy.  And Carol shared pictures of her many pets including cats, a dog, and a goat!  This was a fun afternoon as our friends loved sharing and learning about each others' pets.

This all-ladies crew worked on preparing The Arc's May mailing on Thursday morning.  Each associate brought theirs home so be sure to check the calendar and sign up for lots of fun activities!  Of note to all family members and friends is that Friday, May 25th is this year's kick-off for the Jamestown Jams Concert Series, with "Motown Night."  This is a fun family event that takes place at Jamestown Beach Event Park.  Bring a picnic or buy from the food truck on site.  Proceeds from beer sales benefit The Arc!

Thursday was National Grilled Cheese Day.  Did you celebrate?  We did!  Not only did we make traditional grilled cheese sandwiches, but we also baked fries in The Nina.  Lunch was good!

Our friend at the CW Art Museums, Christina, was sick on Thursday and had to reschedule our visit to next week.  So we made of change of plans and ended up at New Quarter Park for a fantastic afternoon of play, hiking, and relaxation.  The weather was sunny and mild, in other words, perfect! 🌞😎 We had the park to ourselves, too.  Enjoy our photos!

What a fun afternoon!  We are so appreciative of JCC Parks & Rec for allowing us the use of their vans and to Tracy Newsom for making sure our reservations are made.  On behalf of all of us, Chris salutes them!

You can't tell from our working faces, but we were excited about Friday.  Not because it was Friday the 13th, but because both Chloe and Becky have birthdays on that day and we knew a party was coming!

So we worked hard during the morning on many tasks.  Patrick, Laura, and Bo removed the film covering from aluminum plates.  Eaton has thousands of them.

Devin, Kevin, and Drew had a large bin of parts to sort and it looks like they were getting it done while enjoying the music in the background!

We set up the Power Slide Door assembly line in the outside room.  Chris, Chloe, Nan, Kacie, and Sam were undaunted by all the boxes of doors stacked in the corner!

Kate and Alexis handled
 the delicate task of unpacking light bulbs!

Here's a close up of birthday girl Chloe "sticking" with it at the label table!

 Meemaw got the electric screwdriver and she and Xavier joined Chris on zipping through the Power Slide Doors.

When lunchtime finally arrived we turned the Eaton break room into birthday central so we could celebrate Becky and Chloe.  Many thanks to Chloe's family for treating us to pizza from Domino's for lunch...and some of the tastiest cupcakes we've ever had!

That's a busy week in the books and we have another one to look forward to next week.  Here are the details:

SUNDAY - APRIL 15 - Join us if you can for a special showing of the documentary film, "Life Animated" at the Kimball Theater.  Box office opens at 1:00 and the film is at 2:00.  If you subscribe to the Virginia Gazette, read more about it in Saturday's paper on page A2.  The Arc is hoping to raise awareness about living with Autism and all developmental disabilities by co-sponsoring this film.  Hope to see you there!

Tuesday:  Our month of many birthdays continues as we celebrate Bo today!!  Bowling and pizza and cupcakes for lunch.  Thanks to Bo's family for this special treat!  Wear your Arc shirts and bring your best singing voice!  We will also take a walk after bowling! 🏃

Wednesday:  We will "celebrate" Rubber Eraser Day, which was on April 15 (aka, Tax Day!). Laura's mom, who is a teacher, gave us a bagful of colorful erasers so we will see what we can come up with in way of a celebration...call it a challenge!  It's also YOGA with Patti Day!  We hope she feels better this week.  Wear comfy clothing!  Lunch on your own.

Thursday:  It's birthday time, again!  Kate's birthday is on Sunday so we will celebrate her today.  It's National Garlic Day and since Kate loves pasta, we will prepare spaghetti for lunch! 🍝  Our friend Christina is better so we will also visit the CW Art Museums after lunch to continue our lesson on magical and mythical creatures.  Wear Arc shirts!

Friday:  We're staying at AFCC today but will work on Eaton tasks.  We'll also be using our cooking skills as we mark Lima Bean Appreciation Day and Pineapple Upside Down Cake Day.  Lunch on your own, but lima beans on the side and cake for dessert.

Plan ahead:  The AoA will be closed the week of July 3-6.  We hope you will enjoy the July 4th holiday with your families!

Saturday, October 6:  Just a friendly reminder that our 5K is less than 6 months away!   We will need sponsors AND we hope to have a great AoA team to participate.  Save the date!! 

Thanks all for this week.  Enjoy the gorgeous weekend!

Lisa, Carol, and Nan