Our week began well with a warm and sunny day on Tuesday, but the weather sure went downhill from there. We've had rainy days before, so we didn't let it bother us, but we prefer sunshine!
It was, however, bright and sunny last Saturday, when Alexis, Devin, Patrick, Lisa, and Carol were able to help the Women of the Moose with their indoor yard and bake sale. Alexis and Devin helped man the bake sale table and greeted customers as they entered!
Devin was pulled from bake sale duty to help Patrick bring in a box of books for one of the sellers. These guys (and Alexis!) chipped in wherever needed and with happy smiles! We didn't get a picture with Patti, but she was there, along with lots of familiar faces. The WOTM (Women of the Moose) appreciated our help! As always, we appreciate their support of The Arc of GW and our AoA Day Support Program!
We went bowling on Tuesday morning and welcomed our newest volunteer, Beverly, back to help. Here she is telling Drew to open his eyes before he bowls! Just kidding!! She was actually working with him to throw his ball a little lower so it wouldn't bounce on the lane.
We are super proud of this guy, Patrick. He has always bowled by throwing the ball from up high, but now he is making a BIG change and bowling with his ball lower to the ground, in a more traditional fashion. Change is not always easy, but Patrick is determined to make it work, and his scores were pretty good today! Way to go, Patrick!
Caught Laura celebrating a spare! She is also bowling in a more traditional fashion instead of rolling the ball between her legs. It's rewarding when our guys stretch themselves out of their comfort zones.
We want to thank Patrick's mom, Sue, for sponsoring our pizza lunch today! 🍕🍕🍕 There was a little glitch in the kitchen and the pizzas came out one at a time, which made for a bit of "craziness" at lunch, so we forgot to take a picture. But, as usual, the pizza was delicious and we are grateful to Sue for the donation!
The afternoon was warm, but not too muggy, so we stopped by Freedom Park for a "stroll" (versus a "walk" 😁) on the heavily shaded asphalt path we like. (We still had to cut through some grass, so remember to check for ticks on a daily basis if we have been outside.) Here, we are returning to the vans and you can see that our "strolling" line was quite spread out!
Kacie's dad, Frank, came in Wednesday morning and surprised us with a bird feeder that is mounted to the window. He hung it for us and said to wait 24 hours before adding birdseed. This should attract a few kinds of birds to our area and maybe then the hummingbirds will come, too!
We also made some more fresh feeders out of cardboard paper rolls.
Here's good teamwork as Cameron, who is very tall, pulls down a high branch so Sam can hang a feeder.
Dave, from the Williamsburg Rotary, worked with us today in the computer lab. Liz and Kate showed him their good thinking skills as they worked on a new math program.
Our yogi, Patti, had to cancel our session because she was needed at a workshop (last minute). We look forward to her return next week! We had some extra time so we worked in small groups and studied states and capitals.
"Here it is!" said Chris, as he and Patrick figured out that Bismarck is the capital of North Dakota!
This group used the big map in the lunchroom to figure which state the shapes on their handouts matched. Drew found Texas!
We had time for Bingo so we played our new game about symbols of the U.S.A. We had a clue about the Liberty Bell, which prompted Liz to ask who made it for us. Here, Drew looks on as Becky uses her phone to ask Siri. We love technology!
Laura wore a beautiful butterfly shirt on Thursday, which fit in perfectly with a video clip we watched on why butterflies are so colorful! How did she know?! We learned several reasons why butterflies have such colorful patterns...see if your associate can recall any of them! 🤔 🤞
(Hint: three ways butterflies protect themselves from predators)
🍒🍒🍒 Thursday was also Cherry Cobbler Day so we produced the premiere episode of "Desserts with Divas" to find out how to make one! Kate, Kacie, Alexis, and Liz were given a recipe and some facts about cherries and were told to figure out what they needed to do so they could prepare a cherry cobbler as if they were four associates working on a TV show together!
After giving them some time to plan and prepare materials, we all gathered in the kitchen to see the show! They introduced themselves and welcomed their audience before going step by step through the recipe. Here, they were measuring flour. They gave us a good tip: When baking, make sure your measurements are exact!
While her co-hosts mixed other ingredients, Kate shared a personal story about how she enjoys baking with her mom, and that their specialty is Pound Cake. Later, Alexis shared that she remembered a time she was traveling with her family in Oregon, and they bought some fresh cherries, which were delicious. Kacie explained that Washington, Oregon, California, and Michigan are the top cherry producing states in America. Liz added that cherries were enjoyed in the English colonies, maybe even in Jamestown! Smart Divas!
Here, members of the live studio audience whet their appetites as Liz prepared to pop the cobbler into The Nina!
Dessert with Divas was a big hit! 👏👏👏
So was their Cherry Cobbler! 😋
On Thursday afternoon we began our painted rocks project. We collected rocks by the James River on a recent Parkway visit, and have been reading about others who paint and hide them around the community, which is what we plan to do with ours.
First, we planned a design and drew it on index cards. This helped us plan colors and spacing. Chris designed a W&M inspired rock while Sam went with chocolate pie and Drew decided on pizza!
Patrick and Kevin chose different shades of blue for their background colors.
Bo also designed a W&M rock, and here, he applied green for the background.
On Friday, we will add the finishing details. Alexis and Liz both created football themes for their rocks!
We noticed that our paper tube peanut butter bird feeders had been disappearing from the trees and bushes where we hung them. Well, first thing Friday morning, Kate spotted one of the culprits we suspected had been stealing them. This squirrel looked on as one of his buddies pulled one from the bush and took off with it, before we could get a picture, of course!
When we can't go outside again due to rainy weather, we make up games. In this one, we attached balloons to pool noodles with string and tried to hit the balloons with paper balls.
See all the paper balls on the floor? We really tried to hit those balloons! It got us up and moving around...and we were laughing by the time it ended!
It was birthday time again as we celebrated Xavier turning 23! He's the "baby" of our group. We had a smaller than usual group today so everyone could fit into his birthday picture. But what they were really trying to do was get close to the treats...
These were some delicious gluten free cupcakes! Thanks to Xavier's mom for providing a delicious party in a box!
After lunch we finished our rock painting. We needed to add details. Here, Sam is painting whipped cream on his chocolate pie rock!
After practicing on the paper plate, Carol helped Laura paint dots on her butterfly.
Cameron loves popcorn so that's what is painted on his rock. He has such a steady hand, he had no trouble using the gel pen to write the word "popcorn" on the rock.
These are most of our rocks before being taken outside to be sprayed with a sealant. The others were still a little wet and were in another box. Next week we will take a picture of all of our masterpieces before we head out to hide them in the community. We were excited about our first round of rock painting, and definitely plan to do it again.
Our gang LOVES Disney movie trivia, so instead of the online version we usually play, we played a new version today. It was a good, old-fashioned board game that we modified to make work for our teams.
After correctly answering five questions about the pictures on the cards, the teams got to try for a bonus question. They answered the questions fast and furiously. It's hard to stump the AoA Disney Experts!
What a fun way to end a rainy week! We're hoping for a return to sunshine next week, and here's what we have planned:
Tuesday: The forecast is calling for storms...but we are headed to the garden at Freedom Park where our MG friends will introduce us to a couple of beekeepers! 🐝 🍯🐝 🍯🐝 This will be inside at the Interpretive Center, but hopefully we will be able to also check on our plants in the garden and harvest some more spinach! Bring a bag lunch AND wear Arc shirts. We will also stop by Studio South after lunch for a yoga session with Katey and Kiley! Ommm! 🙏
Wednesday: It's Lucky Penny Day and Strawberries and Cream Day, so we will have activities centered around both of those themes. Dress for yoga as we expect our yogi Patti to be back! Lunch on your own (strawberries/cream for dessert)!
Thursday: We are tentatively planning to work at Eaton today, so please bring a bag lunch AND wear Arc shirts. The weather forecast is promising, so if we don't go to Eaton we will head to NN Park to check out the Discovery Center, which was rained out last week. But the main thing about today is it's Devin's birthday, so there WILL BE A FROSTY RUN one way or the other! 🎈🎉
Friday: We haven't had a cook-off in a while so today we will divide into teams to make Tater Tots Casserole for lunch. We will study the history of Memorial Day and make a keepsake craft to take home. It's also National Don't Fry Day (Friday before Memorial Day), so we will educate ourselves on the dangers of overexposure to the sun! 🌞
REMINDERS!
Plan ahead! We will be going to Kingsmill on Tuesday, May 29th for our first pool outing of the season. Get your swimsuits ready! 🏊 You can bring a lunch or you can bring $10, which will cover the cost of lunch from the snack bar at the pool. Let's hope for great weather because this pool has a lazy river! Thanks to Kate's family for sponsoring this wet and wild adventure!
Coming up next Friday, May 25th, is the first JAMESTOWN JAMS series of the summer! Check it out...MOTOWN NIGHT!!! The Arc of GW earns profits from beer sales!
The Zumbathon fundraiser is May 28th (Memorial Day) from 10:00-11:30 at Iron Bound Gym in New Town! If you can't make it, donations in support of The Arc of Greater Williamsburg are welcomed and appreciated!
Save the date: Saturday, August 4th - The Women of the Moose are sponsoring a golf tournament at the Kingsmill River Course that will benefit The Arc!! This has potential to be a HUGE fundraiser for us, so please consider signing up or being a sponsor. ALSO, we will need some of our AoA associates to volunteer on that day. More details coming in an email next week (since it didn't come this week)!!!
🏃🏃🏃 AND, not to be MISSED, our 9th Annual Williamsburg Landing 5K for The Arc is on October 6 this year. This is our biggest and most important fundraiser, so please save the date and plan to run/walk and/or sponsor. All the info you need can be found at this link, and we are live for registration, too! 🏃🏃🏃
HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND,
Lisa, Carol, and Nan
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