What an extremely warm week it was! We should be used to it by now, but it was oppressive this week. It was good that we only had one outing and it was to an air-conditioned bowling center...where we also got to catch up with a very COOL friend! The rest of the week we were in our own air-conditioned rooms, and thankfully, they were cool and comfortable. Here's a look at our Heat Wave Week!
We headed to York Lanes in Grafton to bowl with our friend, Dallas, who used to work at Williamsburg Lanes. He was transferred last Fall and we miss seeing him when we bowl in Williamsburg. Tuesday was his day off, but he insisted we meet him anyway, so he could bowl with us!
York Lanes is set up a little differently than Williamsburg, but we quickly figured out the "lay of the land" and had an awesome time!
We welcomed a new junior volunteer this week. Here, with Sam, Kate, and Devin is Kendall. She's a rising freshman at Jamestown High School and was looking for summer volunteer hours. Her dad Adam is on The Arc's board of directors, so he reached out to the AoA, and we were happy to have her help!
The lights remained dimmed while we bowled, and the music was on in the background. There are also video screens above the pins. We could see music videos, sports programming, and even Sponge Bob! It was a fun experience at York Lanes!
Watch Drew and Dallas take a turn. Dallas was a beast, getting strikes almost every time he rolled! Drew comes really close to getting one, too!
There were a lot of high-fives to be given! Here, Dallas congratulates Drew on a later turn, when Drew did get the strike!
Our camera was a little slow on the snap, but Dallas had just congratulated Devin on a strike, too! Hanging out with Dallas made our bowling day a real social event!
Waiting their turns!
Thank you to Laura's grandparents for sponsoring our pizza lunch on Tuesday! We found out that it's just as good at York Lanes as it is in Williamsburg, and we can't thank them enough for their generosity. Laura and her friends were saying "Ta-da!" so her grandparents will know how special we think pizza is!
Our awesome day continued after lunch when Dallas gave everyone a "credit card" to use in the Arcade! Wow! That was a surprise and our guys loved it! Kate and Cameron competed against each other in a laser tag game.
No surprise that Patrick and Alexis used their credits to shoot hoops!
Laura tried her hand at SkeeBall.
Watch out...Abraham is behind the wheel! 😎
It was our lucky day to get to spend it with Dallas, and we are grateful for his friendship and support! (He also treated us to the bowling games!) We had so much fun and the best part? EVERYONE was here today! (That hasn't happened in a long time!) Thank you, Dallas! You made this one of the best outings we've had in a long time! It was great to see you!!
We had to get busy on Wednesday creating some thank you notes. We're very aware of the generous support of so many in our village, and we always take pride in each and every thank you note we make. Here, Sam, Cameron, Xavier, and Patrick were working on cards for Sam and Anna, the lifeguards that kept an eye on us at Kevin's pool party last week. We thought they would like a few notes from us!
Kendall worked with Laura, and the two of them made sweet notes!
The gym was calling us on a day that was way too hot to be outside. We split into teams and grabbed the big ball for a game of kickball!
We like your technique, Kendall!
Our camera isn't great at action shots...and Chloe was definitely in action as she raced to home plate to score a run for her team!
Talk about techique! Check out Abraham's!
In the end, Team Devin won, 7-6, but everyone showed sportsmanship with handshakes and fist bumps!
Thank you, Kacie, for re-potting our Christmas cactus plants into larger pots.
After Choice Time we set up for yoga and couldn't wait for Patti to return. We haven't had a class with her in a month due to scheduling issues. We didn't mind that she had us begin in this position!
Ahh...Patti's smooth voice guided us through a gentle yoga practice that didn't overheat us. It felt good to stretch on this warm day.
Soon we were on all fours and working our way to our feet...with all kinds of stretches in between.
With everyone in attendance again on Wednesday, plus staff and volunteers, we fill up the room during yoga practice. Our mats work well as our little yoga "islands" and we never have any space issues.
Wednesday was National Emoji Day and we had learned the history of where emojis came from earlier in the day. After yoga, we enjoyed a game of Emoji Bingo.
Kevin and Kendall (and everyone, actually), take their Bingo seriously...😉
Mr. Stutt has been popping in to say "hi" a lot lately. On Thursday morning he came while we were still in the foyer waiting for everyone to arrive! In the summer, school staff works from 7:30-5:30 M-Th and has Fridays off. He said sitting behind a computer for 10 hours gets long so he needs to stretch his legs! We enjoy chatting with him!
We worked in computer lab groups to make thank you notes for Laura's grandparents, who treated us to pizza at bowling on Tuesday.
There were several tasks to be completed in the making of each group's card, so our guys had to divvy up responsiblities to get them done.
The majority of our day on Thursday was spent learning a lot of interesting facts about the Apollo space missions, including Apollo 11, which landed on the moon 50 years ago on July 20th. Our junior volunteer, Kendall, won "best-dressed" when she arrived wearing a 50th Anniversary shirt commemorating the historic event!
Laura was in a "best-dressed" league of her own when she shared with us a Space Camp suit worn by her aunt a few years back. Space Camp is located in Huntsville, Alabama. Very cool, Laura!
Special thanks to Laura's mom, Lisa, and Liz's dad, Greg, for sending in these extra resources. Lisa is a retired teacher and the books were used in her classrooms. Greg subscribes to the Wall Street Journal and sent us their excellent supplement on Apollo 11. We appreciate our families' interest in helping us extend the learning!
Annmarie enjoyed perusing this book about space during Choice Time! (She even turned her music off for a while!) 🤓
We included a craft activity in our Moon Day studies. Kacie is seen adding a drawing of Earth to her work depicting the moon with an astronaut planting the United States flag.
These projects are simply...out of this world cute!
We couldn't call Moon Day complete without a little treat, so Drew and Sam had the honor of passing out mini moon pies at the end of the day! We hope our guys learned a few facts about our country's space program and what it meant 50 years ago for America to be the first country to land a "man" on the moon. It was a fun learning day!
Friday was a patricularly busy day for us, and at the end of it, we realized we didn't take a lot of pictures. We'll have to summarize our day with these few!
On Tuesday, Carol took Cameron, Liz, and Kendall over to hook up with James, who had boxed up some work for us to bring back to AFCC.
On Friday morning, we got to work on gasketing Eaton parts and preparing lunch. After an hour or so of working hard, we were ready for a break.
We spent about 30 minutes in the gym, making up games and shooting hoops, then it was time for a snack! We don't usually snack, but Devin, who is from our state of the week, Pennsylvania, brought soft pretzel samples. He's very proud of the fact that Pennsylvania is known for these tasty treats, and his friends loved that he and his family thought to share them with us! Thanks, Dev and family!! They hit the spot! 🥨🥨🥨 Also, shout-out here to today's "best-dressed," Alexis in Penn State and Devin in Philadelphia Eagles!
We spent the rest of the morning learning lots of interesting facts about Pennsylvania, including why it is known as the Keystone State! We reviewed its history, worked on map skills and found cities, rivers, and mountains, and also learned a lot of cool facts about its state bird, the ruffed grouse.
While all of that was interesting, what we enjoyed most about Pennsylvania was trying our version of Philly Cheesesteak sandwiches. It took us two days to get them ready (we cooked the meat yesterday in the slow cooker), but it was worth the wait. They were yummy! We send thanks again to Devin's family for donating a Food Lion gift card for us to use toward cooking meals this summer! We used it for last week's lunch, and also got most of this week's lunch with it! We are grateful!
This is us racing to certain tables as we were voting on which movie we most wanted to watch on Tuesday. We're going to Carol's for a movie day. The finalists were Night at the Museum, The Peanuts Movie, and Finding Dory. You'll have to check next week's blog to find out which one won!
Our movie day will take place at Carol's home theater, where we can kick back and enjoy almost any movie ever made, as Carol's boys have lots to choose from! We're going to spring for lunch subs from Publix, too. Coach Teri occasionally asks us to make posters for her neighborhood events, and this earns us a bit of cash. We've been saving up for a good time to spend it, and decided that a movie and lunch day would be fun. It just so happens that we were making a few posters for Coach Teri this week, too, and here they are. We love the black background this time!
Our week ended when Kendall jumped up and said she wanted to give us this thank you card for letting her volunteer this week. She worked on it during Choice Time and it was very thoughtful! Kendall, we enjoyed having you help us this week. You showed a lot of initiative and creativity, and were great working alongside our guys. They enjoyed getting to know you. Thanks for helping, and know that you are welcome to volunteer anytime!
We hope the heat wave will let up next week, but whether it does or not, we'll be busy. Here's our agenda:
Tuesday: We consulted with Steve at The Watermen's Museum and he suggested we reschedule our visit for "What's In The Bay?" due to warm temperatures, hot sand, and a threat of storms. We will aim for a September visit. So, instead, we are going to Carol's in-home theater for Movie Madness Day! We will stop on the way to pick up subs for lunch from Publix. (No need to bring $ and you don't have to wear your Arc shirts.)
Wednesday: It's National Amelia Earhart Day, and we always enjoy learning about her many adventures. We are also going to begin a Food Drive for the Salvation Army. We will learn about the work done by the Salvation Army and work in the computer lab to design an informational flyer to bring home with details about our Food Drive. Dress to stretch for yoga with Patti, too! Lunch on your own.
Thursday: There was a delay getting our emoji tattoos from Amazon, so we will have belated Tattoo Day activities today. We'll look into what National Merry-Go-Round Day is all about. We also hope to celebrate Mr. Howard's birthday, today...if he can stop by JRES for a special treat! Lunch on your own.
Friday: Continuing our study of the states, we'll learn about the 3rd state admitted to the Union today: New Jersey. We're going lighter and healthier for lunch with "Garden State" salad which includes corn, tomatoes, and blueberries! We'll add grilled chicken for protein.
SAVE THE DATES!
There are some great events coming up:
July 26 - Jamestown Jams with The Deloreans
August 3 - Women of the Moose Golf Tournament @ Kingsmill's River Course
August 30 - Jamestown Jams with Good Shot Judy
And, our largest FUNdraiser of the year...please sign up to walk/run OR be a sponsor!
Sign up here: 5K Registration
Sponsorship Info here: 5K Sponsor Info
Thanks for continued support of The Arc of Greater Williamsburg,
Lisa, Carol, and Nan
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