This week found us getting our history on again, hosting visitors in a big way, and celebrating another birthday! It was a typical busy and action-packed week. Here's a look!
On Tuesday, we headed to the American Revolution Museum in Yorktown for a second visit. This time we wanted to visit the Continental Army Encampment and the Revolutionary-era Farm, which are both located on the outside. We were lucky that the rainy weather held off long enough for us to have a great visit.
First, we met Jamie, who explained how the soldiers used muskets. We learned that it took them 15-20 seconds to load the ammunition, and the lead ball would travel about 100 yards...but it was very hard to hit a target with this weapon. Actually, Jamie told us that the soldiers didn't particularly want to kill the enemy, just scare them enough to force them to retreat. That's where the bayonets on the end of the muskets came in handy!
Next, we checked out the tents in which the soldiers would sleep. We were shocked to find out that six men were assigned to each tent. It seemed way too crowded for these six friends!
Dev and Sam found an officer's tent to be much more comfortable, with a bed and no "roomies."
We learned that soldiers usually had to cook their own food. Some of their staples included beans, rice, salted meat, and "hard tack" (biscuits). We were surprised to find out that they often had fresh fruits and vegetables while at camp, and those who were camped near rivers or the coast had seafood, too!
When we chatted with the camp surgeon we saw some scary-looking instruments and found out that there was no anesthesia in the 1700s. The soldiers would be given a stick to bite down on during painful procedures.
At this exhibit, we saw things that soldiers would be issued upon enlistment, including a cup, bowl, and silverware, some tools for cleaning their muskets, a deck of playing cards, and a small blanket. They had two sacks for carrying everything. They were also paid $20 as a signing bonus...which was the equivalent of three months' wages.
At the farm area, we saw what a house would have looked like during the 18th century, and we visited the kitchen, which was a separate building from the main house. Here, the "mother" of the family was busy making a pumpkin pudding in her pot over the fire.
We learned that it was common in colonial times to pickle lots of foods as a way to preserve them. This included fruit rinds, certain vegetables, eggs, and sometimes meat. We got to sniff a jar of apple cider vinegar that would have been used in the pickling process. It was pungent!
There is a nice picnic area at the museum. We obviously like to spread out when there is this much more space than we are used to back at AFCC! 😀
After lunch we rode over to the Yorktown Battlefield Visitor Center. We saw a short film that reminded us about the details of the Siege of Yorktown in 1781, and also checked out a few exhibits. There is actually a section of one of George Washington's tents here!
We headed outside to take a walk around the battlefield, but found out it had started to rain. So we grabbed this group picture and headed back to the center. Guess we'll have to visit the battlefield some other time! 😉 We enjoyed having Becky meet us for this adventure, and her granddaughter, Emmy, too. There was no school so Emmy was excited to get her history on with us!
Last week we were given a very cool gift: a karaoke machine complete with disco lights! When we returned to AFCC after our Yorktown trip, we tried it out. There is a learning curve, but we will master it! Thank you to Dev's family for this awesome gift! We will have a lot of fun times as our guys LOVE singing and dancing!
On Wednesday, we began the day by setting up a scientific observation. There are these things called water beads that are very hard and tiny. When placed in water and left to soak, they grow much larger as they absorb the water. We were planning to use them for a project later in the day. This is what they looked like when we first placed them in water. We checked them frequently over the course of a few hours, and had discussions about the process of hydration. We also made notes of our observations on how they changed. (More on that later.)
Next, we collected leaves from outside which we used to create what became "abstract art." 😀
It was a simple project that involved painting with watercolors around the leaves, but our friends worked hard at making their creations. Kacie extended her work all the way to the edges of the paper.
Cameron and Xavier had a large palette of colors from which to choose to create their art.
It was a bit tricky holding the leaves in place, so Dev and Laura came up with their own ideas!
We thought the finished art was beautiful!
Meanwhile, down in the cafeteria, we welcomed the Williamsburg Rotary Club back to work with our friends using the computers they donated to our program last year. They had taken a hiatus from working with us over the summer, when we were so busy with pool parties and such. Here, Jeff and Alexis worked through math problems on place value, measurement, and geometry!! Glad to have these volunteers back on our schedule!
We found out Patti had to attend a class, so we did yoga with Jaime at cosmickids.com instead. Today, it was the story of Disney's Moana that she set to a great yoga workout! It was also Stress Awareness Day, so yoga was perfect for part 1 of our plans.
Liz and Alexis demonstrate "rock the baby" pose.
These are our water beads later in the day after they were hydrated. Much bigger, softer, and more fun to handle! Now we were ready for part 2 of Stress Awareness Day!
We made "stress bottles" or "sensory bottles" or "magic bottles," depending on whom you asked!
We drank some water out of our bottles, and replaced it with vegetable glycerin or clear liquid soap, so as to change the density of the liquid. Then we added some water beads, sequins, and glitter. Sam is seen carefully putting the hydrated water beads, which were slippery, into his bottle. We had a lot of water beads left over, so we will enjoy "playing" with them in the future!
Once we glued the lids on tightly, the bottles were ready to be flipped upside down and back again, so we could watch the items inside slowly float around. Hence, a way to chill if feeling stressed...
Even though the bottles weren't as spectacular as we hoped they'd be, our friends enjoyed flipping them, and understood the concept of using distraction to help settle our minds. 😊
Thursday was a big day for us. The Greater Williamsburg LEAD Team was coming to visit. This is a group of 30 (yes, 30!) community leaders who take part in a months-long leadership academy designed to educate them regional issues such as education, public safety, workforce development, and more. (LEAD Greater Williamsburg) The topic for their November class was "A Bridge to Lifelong Learning" and they met at JRES where they heard from representatives from CDR, Head Start, and The Arc of Greater Williamsburg (including our executive director, Pam!). They got to tour our Arc of Abilities, and see us in action participating in Life Skills, Continuing Education, and Vocational activities.
We hoped they would like our welcome sign!
Here, we are having a little "pow-wow" session before the guests arrived. Everyone had to chip in and do their part, and boy did our guys step up to the plate! The best part? Their interactions with the LEAD Team members was just as natural and genuine as could be! We are SO PROUD OF THEM!
Unfortunately, Lisa, Carol, Nan, and Becky were busy at various demo stations with our associates, and things happened in such a whirlwind that we could not get around with the camera for a lot of pictures. We are sorry not to have photos of ALL of our AMAZING associates doing their AMAZING thing. 😔 Please try to imagine the set up as we spread out from the kitchen to the main room to the hallway to show our visitors what we do in a typical day.
Kacie was the host for the Life Skills demo that took place in the kitchen. She referred to her notes, and added additional information as she saw fit, to explain the way we reinforce life skills in our program.
We were cooking Mexican Chicken and Rice for lunch. In this picture, Drew and Devin showed one of the LEAD Team members how we chop onions! In the background, you can see Dev who worked on making side salads with Becky. We had a few unexpected absences today, so we had to scramble to cover all of the stations...but our team did such a great job!
Kevin sauteed onions, while Kacie explained that cooking is one of our favorite life skills to practice!
In the main room, Alexis was the host for the vocational demonstration. She explained the variety of skills we work on that support vocational training and development. Also in this picture, you can see a couple of LEAD Team members picking up a treat. Sam and Kate (out of range in the photo) put together snacks of trail mix for them! On the other side of the room, we had Chris, Xavier, and Cameron demonstrating Eaton work. Out in the hallway, (and again, we wish we had gotten photos), Liz was the host for our continuing education station. She, along with Nan, Laura, and Annmarie demonstrated how we use computers, worksheets, and other resources to hone our guys' critical thinking skills!
The LEAD Team enjoyed visiting with us and we were excited to show them what we do. When the visit was over, Chris and Drew offered to help Mr. Howard stack chairs! Thanks, fellas!
Here's how our Mexican Chicken and Rice turned out for lunch! Isn't it beautiful? This one was a big hit, too!
Thanks, Dev and Becky for making these beautiful side salads. Becky, we have an extra shout out for you: We can't thank you enough for helping us today. We could not have given our visitors such a great overview of the AoA without your help...and we most definitely couldn't have finished lunch on time! 💜
On Friday, we went to Eaton for a work day. It's been a few weeks and we've missed working there. On the way, we stopped at Grove Christian Outreach to drop off another clothing donation sent in by Dev's family. Thanks for keeping our clothing drive in mind. It's an ongoing project and we're happy to drop off your donations of new or gently used clothing!
Our guys worked on several tasks at Eaton today, including this new one. Eaton had several boxes of old papers that they want to recycle. We removed sheets from page protectors, took paper clips off small stacks, and tore off corners that had been stapled. Drew, Chris, Devin, Kevin, and Kate organized this new task. In the background, Alexis and Kacie were carefully unpacking light bulbs.
Laura and Annmarie worked well together inserting screws on each end of a small plastic part. They enjoy this job. It's like a puzzle!
Xavier is a whiz at packing lids neatly into the big tubs.
Meemaw and Birthday Girl Liz applied sticky gaskets to plastic parts. Dev and Sam removed parts from plastic bags, being careful to remove what Eaton wants to keep and then discard the rest.
This is us with our tummies full after celebrating Liz's birthday with delicious subs from Subway and tasty cupcakes, too! We set up a birthday board in the Eaton break room and had a wonderful celebration. Thanks, Mrs. Kline, for catering such a yummy treat on a rainy day! We're so glad Liz had a birthday!!
Finally, we have to give a shout out to Kate and Alexis who proudly displayed their art work on Friday night at Colonial Folk Art Gallery! They participate in The Arc's Open Art Studio at Colonial Folk Art and the gallery had a Holiday Open House to showcase the work of the "Arc-tists." Great job, Kate and Alexis! We are proud of you!
What a fun week with so much to be excited about! Let's see what's up for next week...
Tuesday: It's Bowling Day! Time to celebrate another birthday and this time it's Patrick!! He loves bowling so this is a perfect day for him! We'll have pizza for lunch, courtesy of Patrick's mom. Thank you, Ms. Sue! After bowling, if the weather permits, we'll check on the garden and take a walk at Freedom Park. Please wear Arc shirts!
Wednesday: It's National Pickle Day...you don't want to miss this! The day will include pickle samples and science. You also don't want to miss our lesson on Veterans Day, which was observed on Monday. Sam's parents sent us some super cool "supplies" that will make our lesson so much fun...be here! Plus, Patti should be back for yoga, so dress appropriately. Lunch on your own.
Thursday: Today is Bundt Pan Day, so we will repeat a popular recipe we made last year and prepare Bundt Pan Breakfast Casserole for lunch. We will also work on the weaving project we began last week with Christina at the CW Art Museums.
Friday: We will celebrate National Button Day with a fun craft and some games today. It's also Take a Hike Day, so if the weather is good, we will visit New Quarter Park for an afternoon hike! Lunch on your own.
SAVE THE DATES: For our families, please note our schedule for the upcoming holiday season:
Thanksgiving: 🦃 The AoA will be open on Monday and Tuesday, November 19-20. We will be closed Wednesday-Friday, November 21-23 and will reopen on Tuesday, November 27. 🦃
Winter Break: 🎄 The AoA will be closed beginning Thursday, December 20 and will reopen on Wednesday, January 2. 🎄
ONE MORE THING! We urge all of our associates to get a flu shot if they haven't already. We were very lucky last year that only one of us contracted a mild case of the flu. We're hoping for another healthy winter season!
👏👏 Thank you to all of our families and friends for your enduring support of the Arc of Abilities and The Arc of Greater Williamsburg. We are so grateful for each and every one of you! 👏👏
Have a great weekend,
Lisa, Carol, and Nan
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