Spring Break Time!

It was a somewhat quiet week as JRES was empty because the schools were on Spring Break.  Parking was easier, we could be outside whenever we wanted, and the gym was available more than usual.  Those were the perks! 😄  We missed seeing the students, working in the library, and joking around with Mr. Stutt.  Plus, the cafeteria was not available for ordering lunches.  Those were the downsides.  😕  Still, we had a fabulous week!  Here's a peek at our time together during Spring Break time.

See that big smile on Moose Patti (the one in the Duke Blue Devils shirt)?!  It was finally Tuesday, April 2nd, and she and Shelly (behind Alexis) were excited to take us for a tour of Fox Wire Alpaca Farm in Toano, courtesy of the Women of the Moose Chapter 1755!  We had also been looking forward to it, and even though the weather was cloudy, chilly, and breezy, it didn't dampen our spirits.  We had a great day! 

Our guide was the very knowledgeable and friendly Ms. T.  She explained to us that Fox Wire Farm is friendly to the environment through their practices such as not using synthetic fertilizers or pesticides.  They recycle "poop" from the animals for fertilizer!

We went inside the fodder house where barely is grown hydroponically (using only water).  It's raised as a treat for the alpacas.  Ms. T. told us that little green frogs live in here to "take care of the bugs" as another example of their environmentally friendly practices.

This is the bus Ms. T. drove us around in for our tour.  It was plenty comfy, and Patti even brought us pretzels and Twizzlers for snacking!  Thanks, Patti!  That was a nice surprise!

Abraham looks on as Liz gets "low" to visit with a minature donkey.  Ms. T. said the animals like it when we get closer to their level.

Laura enjoyed petting a miniature donkey named Betty Boop.  She had never heard of Betty Boop until today and she thought it was a funny name!  LOL!

Looks like Drew is thinking about going over...

Everyone enjoyed getting to know Stella, the miniature horse.  She had the most beautiful blue eyes!  Joining us today was Emmy, Becky's granddaugther and our junior volunteer, seen here on the left.  In between Cameron and Annmarie is Lydia, who is Shelly's niece.  Both were on Spring Break this week and we enjoyed having them hang out with us!

Our next stop was to see the Nigerian Dwarf Goats.  First, we had to help herd them to the middle of the pen, so none would escape as we came in. 

It was fun feeding them licorice treats.  Nan fed Zeus and Aries!

Patrick had a few treats and Orion appreciated them!

When Patrick ran out of treats, Orion found Annmarie!

  

The alpacas were happy to see us!  Ms. T. gave us some hay and they came running!  (Well, they didn't really run, but they came readily!)

Cameron made friends with these friendly girls!

Hard to tell who was happier, Abraham or the alpaca!

It took some persuading, but we finally got Xavier to try feeding the alpacas, and this pretty one came right to him.

Aren't they the cutest?  They will be sheared this weekend, and then they won't look so fluffy.  

Our last stop was to see the kunekune pigs. They loved having us visit and came right up to us.  Kevin petted this one very briefly!

Some of them would plop right down in hopes of being petted on their tummies.  Emmy didn't disappoint!

We were warned that they might try to untie our shoes!

After our fantastic tour of the farm, we had planned to stop by a park for lunch.  It was too chilly and the rain was about to begin, so Patti and Shelly brought us to the Moose Lodge where we enjoyed our lunch and lots of socialization in their warm and cozy dining area.  Thanks, Patti, Shelly, and all of the WOTM, for this special day.  We loved visiting the farm and eating subs and chips with you at the Lodge.  Your generosity knows no bounds and we are grateful for your friendship! P.S. The Girl Scout cookies were yummy!

This is us all smiles after our delightful time!  We'd also like to thank Becky and Pam W. for joining us and providing extra eyes and support.  We have the best village!

On Wednesday we worked on our April calendar.  Here, Laura, Alexis, and Drew were smiling and ready to go..before they encountered a slow-running computer.  Looks like #3 needs an update!

Our Rotary friend, Jeff, worked with us today.  We used the wall map to supplement the program we were using on the computer to learn about US Geography.  Devin was looking for a certain state so he could tell Liz how to spell it.

Having an "open gym" is always convenient.  Drew, Sam, and Devin had fun with the big ball and the basketballs.

We can really spread out in the huge JRES gym.  Kate, Cameron, and Abraham look far away!

Happy National Walking Day!  Since school was out and there was no traffic, we took a walk around the large JRES campus.

The weather was perfect.  Trees are starting to fill out, too!

Still walking!  We made it to the back field and were more spread out by now, but everyone kept moving and we all covered a good distance before lunch time!

During yoga with Patti, Liz was able to go into butterfly pose first, and then put her forehead on the mat and her hands behind her hips.  This was a great stretch and not as easy (?) as it looks!

Since it's pollen season, we had some friends who told Patti they were starting to have the sniffles.  She suggested this pose would open our airways and help with breathing.  Just put a pillow or two under your back to elevate your upper body.  Put the pillows vertical to your body.  Then, stretch your arms out to the sides and relax for several minutes while focusing on your breathing.  Patti used a rolled up mat because we didn't have a pillow.

All we needed were pillows!

After yoga we had a lesson on the silly "holiday" known as April Fool's Day.  We got with a partner to complete a worksheet that was just as silly!  Alexis and Drew high-fived their teamwork!

Liz and Abraham worked to crack the code for the silly message.  He found a missing letter.

These friends relocated to the foyer and did their work at the tables.  Everyone was tricked because the message had to be read backwards.  We gave them clues and they finally caught on! 

First thing on Thursday morning, Sam's dad, Tim, stopped by to give us an overview of what to expect when we go to Yorktown next week for an Army Rescue Dive demonstration.  Tim set it up for us and we are looking forward to seeing the divers in training for swift water rescue.  Tim showed us pictures of divers and equipment, and told us about many different tasks the divers perform.  Thanks for taking the time to give us this information, Tim.  We feel more prepared for our adventure on Wednesday!

Lisa and Carol needed to clean out our big closet, so for everyone else it was gym time with our #1 friends (according to Laura!)! 

So much room to run around in, and get a little bit loud!

Corn Hole with our AoA set!

Look who stopped by for a visit after lunch...Lexi's cousin, Haley, who just turned 1.  We've all heard so much about her that we think she's earned a picture in the blog.  Her usual big smile was missing since she's not really used to this many "friends" at one time.  😍 

Our educational lesson on Thursday was about how rainbows are made.  We watched a Mystery Doug episode and found out that the colors of the rainbow are inside the white light that comes from the sun!  If we used a prism (thank you to Laura's mom for sending us one) to separate the white light, we could see the rainbow colors.  So, we went outside and "found" a rainbow on the sidewalk!

Later, we watched a fun video song Laura's mom suggested. She used to teach 5th graders all about rainbows and light.  The song helps teach the colors of the rainbow by introducing us to Roy G. Biv...which our guys had never heard of!  They thought it was a catchy tune, though! 😂

We also did some Spring cleaning on Thursday.  Heike had gotten off earlier in the day, so we decided to take the trash and recycling out that we accumulated during our cleaning.  

Devin had the yucky job of holding open the dumpster lid.  Here, he's yelling, "Hurry up!" because it was kind of smelly there!  You're a good sport, Devin!

It was rainy for most of the day on Friday, and four of our friends were absent, making it a little less active than most days.  There were also a bunch of Parks & Rec kids in the gym all day, so we couldn't get in there to play games.  So, we decided to make it a laid-back kind of day.  We didn't even take any pictures before lunch, even though we were busy dancing and preparing thank you notes for Patti and the WOTM who treated us to the visit to the alpaca farm.  

We also listened to a few chapters of our new read-aloud about the Titanic, to help prepare us for our visit to the Mariners' Museum in a couple of weeks where we will see their exhibit about the doomed ship.  For lunch, we baked frozen pizzas in The Nina and added some fresh veggies and a mandarin orange Jello salad for sides.  It was a pleasant morning.

Here are the only three pictures we took all day:

We transplanted our cosmos to these larger planters and set them outside in our "garden" area!  We hope they will continue to grow and bloom into beautiful pink and white blossoms in a few weeks.

During Choice Time we had the quiet side of the room with Kevin, Cameron, and Xavier working on puzzles and Liz, Alexis, and Patrick checking their phones.

And then we had a noiser side, with Devin and Sam playing pool and Abraham, Laura, and Drew playing computer games.  Chloe was reading so she probably should have been on the other side! 

After Choice Time we finished a crafty project we started last week and went outside for a while during a break from the rain.  The sun actually came out for a few minutes, too!

Near the end of the day, we got more pictures, only these came in text messages on Lisa's phone.  We were thrilled to see that our friend Devin T. has arrived in his new home in Arizona.  He looks very happy, and Arizona looks warm and sunny!  We miss you, Devin! 

Our handsome friend sporting his new for Arizona shades!

We hope there will be more sunshine in Virginia next week.  We have lots of fun plans!

Tuesday:  First and foremost, we're celebrating Sam's birthday today! 🎂  We're having a pizza party in the park for lunch because we will be at Freedom Park for the start of our Spring sessions with the master gardeners.  We'll also go to Studio South for a yoga session with Kiley.  Dress in comfy pants or shorts, and wear your Arc shirts!

Wednesday:  We are lucky to be traveling to the Yorktown Pier today to see Army Divers in training for swift water rescues.  Sam's dad, Tim, set this up for us and it sounds exciting!  The weather forecast looks partly sunny (5 days out...), so please bring a bag lunch for a picnic in Yorktown.  Also, please wear Arc shirts again!

Thursday:  Today is Barber Shop Quartet Day so we will have musical and historical fun learning about this art form.  It's also Cheese Fondue Day!  Lunch on your own, but we will have a side of cheese fondue to sample!  We're also expecting to begin a special job for our friend Jorie, from Eaton.  She has enlisted our help in stuffing 1,000 Easter eggs with candy!  (We're doing it at AFCC.) 🐰

Friday:  We're ending the week with TWO more birthday celebrations for Chloe and Becky!  We'll enjoy burritos and Mexican rice for lunch, homemade by Chloe's family...and birthday cake for dessert, courtesy of Becky!  We will also finish our book about the Titanic and do an additional mini-lesson about it, in preparation for next week's trip to the Mariners' Museum.  We'll also prepare The Arc's May newsletter for mailing.  We'll be busy!

Have a great weekend,

Lisa, Carol, and Nan