On the Go!

We kicked off September with a variety of outings.  We began with a trip to the American Revolution Museum in Yorktown on Tuesday.  Our guys enjoy history and this place is full of it.  In this display, Sam and Kacie were reading about a silver tea pot.  The museum has a vast exhibit area and covers the entire time period extensively.

We were familiar with this guy, King George III, who never even visited the colonies, and had little faith that the colonists could defeat his British forces in the war.  He found out that our patriots had a different idea!

This museum volunteer told us about the different uniforms the troops war, and that for the Americans, they were made of wool.  We had just watched a film about General Washington marching his troops from New York to Yorktown, during August and September of 1781...so we tried to imagine how uncomfortable the uniforms were.

We gathered a few models who agreed that even putting them on in the air-conditioned museum was uncomfortable this time of year!  These represent uniforms from the Americans, French, British, and Hessian troops. (Liz is wearing a hunting coat made from flax.)

We cherish our American liberties, just as Patrick Henry did! 

This was a cool interactive exhibit (the shadows were in motion) where Patrick, Chris, and Devin joined the troops.  But guys...you forgot to put on your wool uniforms!

There are several short films to watch throughout the museum, and they help to explain the things we were seeing.  In this one, we sat on benches inside of a tent, and the tent served as the screen.  The strategy to defeat the British at the Battle of Saratoga was being discussed by American generals Horatio Gates and Benedict Arnold (before he betrayed us!).  American forces won a decisive victory at Saratoga.

Lunch was a highlight for our guys!  We turned in our order when we first arrived, and when we went back later, lunch was hot and ready.  The ladies who work in the small cafe were very friendly and made sure we had everything we needed!

It's hard for our friends to imagine marching hundreds of miles, but that's what General Washington's men had to do to get from New York to Yorktown.  This interactive map helped explain the distance.  Quite amazing what the American patriots did.

Our favorite exhibit was the Siege Theater.  The film depicts the Siege at Yorktown, complete with seats that vibrated when cannons hit and smoke that enveloped us as muskets fired in rapid succession!  We enjoyed our visit to the museum, but didn't visit the outside portion (farm and encampment) because it was so warm.  We are planning to return later in the fall to finish this fascinating trip.  Besides, there was a lot to see inside!  

Meemaw lives in Gloucester so she keeps up with the openings of the Coleman Bridge.  When she brought Drew Tuesday morning, she told us there would be an opening that day at 1:00 for a large ship.  We decided to drive down to the river and check it out!

It was a fairly large ship, and we think it was headed to the Naval Weapons Station (Cheatham Annex) to load up with supplies.  The double-swing bridge was fun to watch open so the ship could pass.  We were surprised at how fast it moved and were glad the bridge swung open in time!

Down by the beautiful York River, there was a slight breeze on this very warm and muggy day.

On the way back to AFCC via the Parkway, we stopped to see the dock where the ship was parked.  We don't know much about how the Naval Weapons Station and Cheatham Annex work, but we'd like to learn more.  If anyone has a contact for either, please let us know!

We were busy with a variety of activities on Wednesday.  This group worked together on a math assignment that involved reading graphs and comparing numbers.

Nan worked with Drew on the concepts of less, more, and equal.

We prepared lunch so we could celebrate National Cheese Pizza Day!

Thanks, Chris and Sam, for making the salads!

It may have been plain cheese, but it was tasty to us!  We're good cooks!

When we got the new refrigerator earlier in the summer, we saved the giant box it came in.  We finally got around to using it for an art project when we used sidewalk chalk to draw murals.

Each group had a different theme.  Once we got used to having chalk dust all over our hands (and everywhere else), it was fun to see how our collective efforts would turn out!

This group's theme was "Under the Sea."

These friends created a fun "Birthday Party" mural.

We are so ready for "Fall" and cooler weather...

But this group makes a "Springtime Garden" look inviting!

Patti returned from her travels and warmed us up before working with us on balance during our yoga class.

Kacie concentrated and eventually raised her leg up to rest on the opposite thigh!

Partner trees!

"Ta-da!" Chris announced a Triple Tree!

Sam demonstrated a "bow" position.  With practice, he will be able to extend his leg back a little farther.

Since we were going to Eaton on Friday, we had to squeeze in a couple of fun celebrations on Thursday morning...before heading to see Christina after lunch.  Read a Book Day was actually on Thursday and Teddy Bear Day is Sunday, so we combined them and had a fun morning.

Lots of cuddly bears to go around!

We always love to see our guys reading so here are more pictures of their pleasure!

How sweet is this?!  Kacie thanked us for "letting" her read to her friend, Drew. 💚

Lexi cuddled up with her teddy bear while Liz shared a teddy bear story.

Patrick and Sam enjoyed nonfiction books.

Before lunch we made krispie cereal treats in the shape of bears.  Here, Kate adds eyes and a nose to hers.

Cute, and a perfect little treat!

We already knew that President Theodore Roosevelt famously refused to shoot a bear, which endeared him to Americans in 1902.  Kate brought this book and in reading it, we also learned how he inspired the creation of toy teddy bears.  Great story!  Thanks, Kate!

After an early lunch, we loaded up the vans and made our way to the Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg.  Christina joined in on Read a Book Day by sharing a story about a boy named Little Red.  It was a new take on the story of Little Red Riding Hood.  Afterward, we went through the museum and saw items that could be connected to the story.

Here, Kate listened as Alexis and Christina discussed a display of baskets, one of which was made from bottle caps.

The highlight of our museum visit was when Christina took us to this area, which we had not visited before.  It's an exhibit that tells a story about a dog who hooks up with his friend for a visit to a farm. The story is based on pieces from the museum. While our guys colored pictures from the story, Christina read the book that is depicted in the exhibit...and revealed to us that she and our other museum friend, Jan, are the authors!

How exciting to find out we know a published author, and on Read a Book Day no less!  Thanks, Christina!  That was fun!

It was Fun Friday at Eaton!   There were plenty of things to count since it's inventory season.  Devin, Kevin, and Drew had to empty phone jack parts out of bags and make sure there were 10 in each box before starting a new one.

Xavier was on runner duty.  He took boxes of trash to the outer room and returned with full boxes of things to count.

Patrick and Laura teamed up to count a big bin of white things (?) and Lexi, Chloe, and Liz unpacked hundreds of light bulbs.

Kate helped Xavier move a large box of parts across the room so the contents inside could be counted.

Bo, Chris, Sam and Meemaw were promoted to the warehouse today!  (Well, that's what we told them!!)  James set them up in his work area where the parts kept coming and they kept counting!

They were very proud of having counted thousands of pieces today, and we were proud of them for representing us so well in another part of the facility!

In fact, we were proud of this entire team, Becky, Meemaw, and Nan included!  (We missed Cameron, today.)  They were focused and hard-working until 2 p.m.  Everyone left Eaton in an upbeat mood, the result of a productive day of work! THANK YOU, EATON CORPORATION!

We worked hard and played hard this week, so a restful weekend is in order!  Meanwhile, when planning for next week, here's what you need to know:

Tuesday:  We have a double outing today!  First, we begin our Fall sessions with the Master Gardeners so we will travel to the garden at Freedom Park.  After lunch, we'll visit Studio South for our monthly yoga session with Katey.  So, please wear Arc shirts and comfy pants/shorts AND bring a bag lunch!

Wednesday:  Tuesday was Patriot Day (September 11) so today we will reflect on what it means to be a patriot.  It's also National Day of Encouragement so we will strive to be positive and uplifting in our interactions with each other.  Plus, we're beginning a new project today:  flower arranging!  More information in next week's blog, but this project will bring our Executive Director Pam to work with us...and it has a lovely outcome!  Sounds like a great day to have Yoga w/ Patti, too, so dress to stretch. We're also expecting a visit from a dear, old friend today!  Lunch on your own!

Thursday: Today promises to be a fun change-up...  It's Kids Take Over the Kitchen Day and our guys will be in charge of lunch almost entirely on their own!  We spent Friday afternoon planning the menu, so lunch will be chicken enchilada casserole, ants on a log, and peanut butter brownies!  Sounds delicious!  We will also work on some Eaton projects we brought back to AFCC as well as some projects for the library at JRES.  We're also painting rocks today!

Friday:  It's Virginia Day so we will focus our lessons and activities on our great state!  Can anyone say "salt dough map?"  Fun and messy!  We'll also end our week with our favorite game, Bingo.  Lunch on your own.

Finally, we have a couple of announcements:  

Beginning September 18th, we are welcoming TWO new associates!  Dev and Annmarie will join us and bring our total number of associates to 17, which fills our space to capacity.  We look forward to becoming friends with them and their families!

Also, since we have new friends coming on board, we're going to open the Arc T-Shirt Shop for about 10 days.  The link is live through September 17, so make sure you get your orders in before the deadline.  We have been wearing our shirts a lot lately, so we recommend everyone has at least two each of the short and long sleeve tees.  Of course, there are also sweatshirts and hoodies available...for those of you who get chilly! 😜  All orders must be paid in full by credit card at the time of order, and all orders will be picked up by Lisa and sent home via the associates.  So disregard any shipment information.  Let us know if you have any questions.  Here's the link:

Arc of Abilities T-Shirts

And of course, registration for the quickly approaching 5K remains open!  Here's the link for that:

Register for the 5K


Have a great weekend,
Lisa, Carol, and Nan