This week we noticed how quiet it is at JRES when the students and teachers are out for the summer. There were no signs of Mr. Stutt or Ms. Vallone. They were probably at meetings somewhere. We didn't even see Heike that much; since summer is the peak season for cleaning the school, so she was busy. We miss all of them, but the good news this week was we got to catch up with some old friends instead! Read on to hear about our reunions with Nina and Christina, as well as our other fun from this week!
A couple of weeks ago when Devin's brother Christian came to share his love of sprinting and track with us, he brought some clothing donations from his recently cleaned out closet. Thanks, Christian! We dropped them off on the way to bowling at the Grove Christian Outreach Center's clothes closet. This is Sam running the bags up to the door. We'd like to remind everyone that we are happy to get clothing donations to GCOC if you clean out your closets and have a need to donate some gently used items!
We had some adjusting to do when we got to bowling. Ed (the manager at AMF Williamsburg) has set us up in the "system" as a league of some sort... So now we have to check for the little red arrow beside our name to see which lane we bowl on for each turn. It may tell us to bowl on the lane to the left, or it may tell us to bowl on the lane to the right! It's all designed to help with pacing the game, but it was tricky at first! We're proud to say most of our guys got the hang of it very quickly!!!
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| If you study the picture, you'll see that AN (Annmarie) is listed as a player on lane 2, but on this turn, her red arrow is telling her to bowl on lane 1. Likewise, XA (Xavier) is a player on lane 1, but for this turn, his arrow points for him to bowl on lane 2. 😏😏😏 |
By the way, our scores were awesome today with the lane shifts! Elizabeth scored today's highest game, and her personal best EVER, with a 143!
🎳👏👏🎳
In other bowling news, all the lanes were sporting brand new pins today!
Alexis and Sam stretched before trying to outscore each other. The outcome? Sam got a strike...and Alexis didn't! Luckily, it's a friendly competition. 😻😍
Kacie and Drew both failed to pick up a spare and decided a friendly hug would help with their disappointment.
Yum! It had been a month since we had bowling pizza so this was a welcome sight! Many thanks to Lexi's friend and neighbor, Teddy, for her "pizza-ship" today! Thanks, Teddy, for your support of the Arc of Abilities!
Let's do a group pic! Everyone look at the camera...and smile! (THIS is a pretty good one!)
We were probably smiling in the bowling group shot because we were about to go to Studio South for yoga with KILEY! We love her!!
Kevin got to be her co-teacher today!
Look how strong we in (kind of) Warrior I pose!
Staying strong for Warrior II!
Kacie and Sam held Boat Pose for several seconds! Not that easy...
Ahh, how calm and relaxed we were after 30 minutes with Kiley. Namaste, everyone!
We got busy on Wednesday morning in the Computer Lab. We worked with partners to make thank you cards for the WAAR group that recently supported The Arc at their Community Day.
Abraham loves the camera! His partner Kacie was in the middle of typing a thought!
Computer Lab part 2 was in the lunch room. It was our last day with a Rotary volunteer before we go on summer hiatus. Today, Dave worked with our guys on tricky crossword puzzles!
Our contribution to our lunch today was fruit cocktail salad, which Liz and Annmarie made all by themselves! Thanks, girls!
Open Gym!
These hot dogs were delicious, even if the ketchup bottle was a little hard to control...😂😂😂 We were treated to this delicious lunch by our friend (and Sam's grandmother) Nina, who came all the way from Arizona to see us! Our guys love hot dogs, Nina, so this was a big hit! Thank you very much!
Not only did we get a tasty lunch from Nina, but she also brought us "party favors" in the form of fidget spinners! You can tell by our smiles that we were excited! Thanks for these gifts, too, Nina. We were spoiled by your generosity! It was great to catch up with you!
We can be serious when the situation warrants. Becky guided us through a lesson on Flag Day. Here, we are saying the Pledge of Allegience, and we all know it!
Since Patti was unable to be with us on Wednesday, we tuned in for a yoga session with our video coach, Jaime. She has us moving up and down, and we have to work hard to keep up with her!
It's been a long time since we played kickball! We divided into teams on Thursday and had a fun game.
The gym is a great field, and we have it to ourselves...for now!
We made thank you notes to give Nina for the hot dog luncheon she brought us yesterday. Here, her grandson Sam smiles as he works on his special note to her. 😍
Our junior volunteer, Emmy, worked with Drew on a thoughtful note. Emmy helped Drew think of a nice message, and then she wrote it for him. We appreciate our helping hands!
On Thursday afternoon we headed to the Art Museums to catch up with another old friend, Christina. We had not been able to visit with her for a couple of months, so this was a treat! We settled in on the stools in the folk art museum, and she told us a great story about the artist, Malcah Zeldis.
Malcah is an American folk painter known for brightly colored compositions that often feature well-known figures. In the piece we studied today, you can see, among others, Martin Luther King, Jr., Louis Armstrong, Abraham Lincoln, and Beethoven, at the piano.
Christina also told us that Malcah Zeldis liked to paint the Statue of Liberty. For our educational project today, she guided us in drawing a simple Lady Liberty, which we then painted in our own unique and colorful ways...much like Malcah painted her subjects!
We all started out with these materials. But what we ended with, was truly special!
We like to call our guys "Arc-tists" and they bring it!
"Statue of Liberty Art" is when she isn't always green! Great job to all of our guys, and to Christina for inspiring us to stretch our thinking!
On Friday we were missing Carol as she spent time with family following the loss of her Uncle Paul in Richmond. She also lost a family friend recently, so we thought she would like some "Thinking of You" cards. Please keep Carol and her family in your thoughts during this sad time. 💙
While Carol was out, Patrick's mom Sue volunteered to help us on Friday. We appreciated that! Since it was Seashell Day, we tried our hand at making wind chimes using shells. This was kind of challenging...but with Sue's help and lots of patience, we made a couple of them!
We also had some pictures of pretty shells that we could color if making the wind chimes got the better of us.
When we were done, they looked lovely hanging outside our window, and they made a beautiful sound, too!
June 21st is the Summer Solstice AND and Selfie Day! Here are a few selfies we took during outside time on Friday, when the weather was perfect for the longest day of the year!
Three amigas!
Even Sue got in on the selfie fun!
Later in the day we had to pack up supplies because we have to move to the library next week. We had some trash, so we called on Devin to take it to the dumpster. He's got experience doing this for us, and he didn't complain, even though he knew the stench was going to be yucky! Kacie was kind enough to help him!
We'll operate out of the JRES library next week, and here we are with all the "stuff" we think we might need! Let's hope we use half of it! 😉
Yes, next week is going to be topsy-turvy for us, as we will be relocated to the JRES library Tuesday-Thursday while the floors in the Rec Center and gym are being deep-cleaned. What about Friday, you ask? We won't have access to the Rec Center or the school, so we will be meeting at the Interpretive Center at Freedom Park. We'll have limited space in each location, so that means limited activities, but we have plans!
Drop off and pick up Tuesday-Thursday will be at the front of JRES in the traffic circle. On Friday, we will meet our friends coming from Kingsmill, Newport News and York County, or riding WATA, at JRES and transport them to Freedom Park. Please be at JRES between 8:30 - 8:45 to catch a ride! We will be back at JRES by 2:45 on Friday afternoon. We apologize for the inconvenience, but we support our Rec and school friends as they work to keep the joint looking great for us all the rest of the year!
Luckily, we will be on the road a couple of days next week, so we won't be cooped up in the library too long. Here are our plans:
Tuesday: We will go to Freedom Park and the Botanical Garden for our last session with the master gardeners until September. Wear Arc shirts and bring a bag lunch. The weather forecast looks hot and steamy, so we will probably return to the school after lunch.
Wednesday: We'll be in the library all day, but have plans to create cards for some special people and work on a Fourth of July craft. We'll have our new board games on hand, computers, puzzles, Bingo, and of course...dancing! Bring a bag lunch. No microwave available.
Thursday: It's time for our second Pool Party of the season! We're going to Devin's neighborhood pool for fun with our friends! Thanks to his parents, for inviting and arranging this for us! We're looking forward to visiting you in your new neighborhood!! For lunch, we will prepare ham or turkey subs, chips, and fruit before we leave. Dev's parents will provide water and desssert! Sounds like a fun day! Wear your suit and bring a towel and sunscreen.
Friday: We will be at Freedom Park in the Interpretive Center today from 9-3, with educational activities, games, a movie, and hopefully some time outside to check the garden and take a hike. Bring a bag lunch. No microwave available.
REMINDER: The AoA will be closed July 2-5!
LAST CHANCE: 👕👕👕 Our t-shirt webstore is open through Sunday, June 23! If anyone would like to order shirts, check out this link. 👕👕👕
SAVE THE DATES!
We have some big fundraising events on the horizon. We are seeking sponsors for both the WOTM Golf Tournament at Kingsmill and the Williamsburg Landing 5K for The Arc. There are multiple levels of sponsorships available for each event, so please let Lisa or Pam McGregor know if you are interested! Thank YOU!
🏌🏌 Also, families: We need as many associates as possible to volunteer at the WOTM golf tournament on August 3rd. Please check your calendars and pencil it in if you can! 🏌🏌
And speaking of our WOTM friends, the first FUNdraiser they ever held for us was their July 4th picnic in 2016. They have been designating donations collected from that annual event to the AoA ever since. This year's picnic will be on Sunday, July 7th from 12-5. Great food, games, dancing, and live music from Sammy Lee! Associates are free and it's only $10 for everyone else. That's at the end of our "summer break" week, but hopefully lots of us can come out and thank our WOTM friends for their generous support and love!
June 29 - Aktion Club Car Wash (C&F Bank on Longhill Rd)
June 28 - Jamestown Jams - The Tight Slacks (Today's Music)!
July 7 - Women of the Moose "July 4th" Picnic
July 26 - Jamestown Jams
August 3 - Women of Moose Golf Tournament at Kingsmill
August 30 Jamestown Jams
October 5 - 10th Annual Williamsburg Landing 5k for The Arc
Enjoy the weekend,
Lisa, Carol, and Nan
Lisa, Carol, and Nan
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