This week began with us excited to return to Sam's neighborhood for Pool Party Redo with Coach Teri. We had gone last week only to have the pool pump conk out when we got there. Coach Teri graciously rescheduled for Tuesday, but alas, it wasn't meant to be. Despite it not being in the weather forecast, there was a huge downpour complete with thunder and lightning as we arrived at the pool!
Our dear Nina, Sam's grandmother, had generously provided lunch for us from Chick fil-A, and Coach Teri had it all set up at the pavilion at the pool. Not to be discouraged, Teri invited us to her home where we enjoyed lunch and fellowship in her beautiful sun (rain) room!
We're very proud of our guys who made lemonade out of lemons! No one complained about being denied a dip in the pool yet again, as they understood the circumstances. It was another "real-life" lesson in disappointment, but also in finding the silver lining...which in this case was a safe and comfortable place to gather, actual lemonade to drink, and nuggets from Chick fil-A! Thank you, Nina, for providing our tasty lunch. To say our friends enjoyed it is an understatement! We are glad we got to chat with you on FaceTime so you could see our joy at hanging out with your grandson and dining on one of our favorite foods!
Coach Teri, you are a dedicated friend to the AoA and we can't thank you enough for having a Plan B when the weather turned on us. Your home is lovely, warm, and welcoming. We certainly felt the love and appreciate your hospitality very much!
Earlier on Tuesday, before we left for the pool, Meemaw had stopped by to help us put together the Arc's September mailing. Thanks for consistently helping on Tuesdays and Eaton days, Meemaw! Assembling the mailing is a regular task we undertake, and one that also reminds us of how fast time seems to fly! It seems we JUST did the August mailing...
Kevin made sure every envelope was properly sealed! Make sure you check the calendar and return your sign up sheet to Bette Faye before the deadline. There is a Baseball Clinic with the W&M men's team coming up and that's always a blast, a kickball night, and a fundraising concert that sounds interesting! And that's just for starters! ALSO, there is a 5K sign up sheet for Arc clients. Sign up via that and you can save a few bucks!
We stopped by the garden to check on another watermelon (not ready to pick) and peppers (yummy and sweet). The butterflies are still in abundance! They are as colorful as the flowers. Liz snapped this up close picture of a tiger swallowtail, which is Virginia's state insect!
It's hard to see in the photo, but these friends were watching about a dozen butterflies flitting around these pretty lantana plants.
The zinnias were stunning so we picked a bouquet to take to Coach Teri! The garden is just gorgeous right now! (After picking the zinnias, we moved to the shade and applied sunscreen to everyone. We still had no idea a storm was imminent!)
We returned to AFCC after our lovely luncheon at Coach Teri's and our gang dispersed into a few Choice Time activities. At this table, they were drawing, surfing the web, and putting together a puzzle.
Laura enjoys books and we enjoy hearing her read aloud!
Our 21st Century associates enjoy checking their phones like anyone else! Choice Time is when they are allowed to access them, so that's what this group was doing!
Sometimes a little quiet time is in order. Kevin and Drew threw the ball around in the gym for a bit, and then decided to sit about 10 feet apart from one another on the stage and just "be." We got them to smile for the camera before they split up again to enjoy more quiet time!
August 13th is National Left-Handers Day so we had fun getting all of the "righties" to try using their left hands! When he was using his left hand to pick up small game pieces and trying to balance them on a scale, Devin said, "This is hard!"
Sam didn't have any trouble bouncing a ball with his left hand!
We took turns writing our names with our non-dominant hands. Most of our guys could do it legibly, but it took them longer than usual. Laura is a natural lefty, so she had written her name with her right hand above where she is shown here writing it with her left.
In the gym, we threw balls, shot hoops, and tried the ball and scoop game with our left hands. We caught Drew going after a ball with his right hand when he missed catching it with his left!
Drew gave up on playing ball with his left hand and decided to chase Alexis and Kate around the gym instead!
Chloe looked over the thank you notes we made for Coach Teri and Nina. We were very appreciative of their efforts in planning our pool party and providing a great lunch yesterday. Chloe said the cards were "great."
Patti came for yoga and said it was Twist It Out Day!
Gentle twisting is good for helping our lymphatic system release excess fluids from our bodies. Liz and Alexis were in sync today!
It always feels good to stretch, bend, and twist during yoga. Thanks, Patti, for helping us learn to take better care of ourselves!
Our friend Bo has been away from our program for most of the summer due to family obligations and travel. When we found out his beloved dog, Nigel, passed away over the weekend, we decided to send him cheer cards.
We worked in groups and used our computers to create well-wishes and let Bo know we look forward to his return.
We miss him!
It was back to Eaton on Thursday for our second work day in two weeks. They are busy and it's coming into inventory season, so we may be busy, too! Before we got to work, we gave James an official AoA shirt! He said he was thrilled to have it because the motto on the back, "Achieve With Us," means a lot to him and he considers himself part of our team! 😍
Next, we had to listen up as James went over all of the details for what he needed us to get done.
There were a lot of parts to unpack and count. Kevin, Drew, and Laura worked together removing three pieces from each of these packs. Lisa helped them with the counting and in all, they unpacked 350 packs!
Sam and Xavier counted these lids by placing 5 on each sheet. Liz kept track of counting the 5's and they inventoried over 500 pieces.
Chloe, Devin, and Alexis removed "amps" from box upon box. They then had to repack the opened amps into a larger box and break down the smaller white boxes that they came in so they could be recycled. When asked how many they unpacked, Alexis said, "A lot!"
Nan and Meemaw worked with Kate and Kacie to unpack light bulbs. This job takes a gentle, yet efficient, hand, and these ladies have it mastered!
Later, when most of the parts had been inventoried and put back into boxes, Sam helped stack them onto the pallet. Becky and Chloe were finishing up the counting of one last set of parts. Thank you, Becky, for your steadfast volunteering at the AoA!
We also had an Arc shirt for Jorie. She was as excited as James to get one! We met the gentleman standing beside her. He's Andy, the new plant manager. He is very pleased that Eaton and The Arc have a working relationship. He and Jorie have ideas for even more tasks we can try! We're excited!
Oh, how we love a good Frosty after a productive day's work! We're still using the gift cards Nina gave us last Christmas to purchase these after-work treats. Thank you, Nina...these are special times!
We stop by the Wendy's near Kingsmill. It has nice seating areas and our guys enjoy hanging out even after they are finished with their Frosties.
When we returned to AFCC, we had one more task to attend to before dismissal. Tomorrow is Massachusetts Day, and we are making real Boston Baked Beans for lunch. Step 1 called for us to put four cups of navy beans into a pot of water to soak overnight! It will be interesting to see how they change by tomorrow morning!
Here's what our beans looked like after soaking overnight! The next step was to simmer for a couple of hours, so we got them going right away!
Next, we hooked up the Karaoke machine for our dance warm up. Lisa suprised us by adding some new songs!
One of the new songs was from Disney Channel's movie, The Descendants, which many of our guys are crazy about. They loved having a new song from the movie!
We kicked off our study of state number 6, Massachusetts, with a shout out to today's "best-dressed" associate, Kevin! He was sporting a Red Sox shirt today!
We moved on to the next step in our homemade version of Boston Baked Beans by having Kacie and Sam prepare the sauce. Combining ingredients like molasses, ketchup, brown sugar, dry mustard, and salt and pepper made for a tasty sauce and also made our room smell delicious!
Sam also added layers of bacon and onions to our beans. We popped them into the Nina for a couple of hours.
Massachusetts Day was a big hit with these delicious beans for lunch! We added a grilled cheese sandwich and watermelon that Grandma Sarah brought...it was perfect!
This is Devin's Grandma Sarah and Grandpa Mike. They spent the afternoon with us baking Toll House Cookies and playing games (in addition to bringing watermelon for lunch)!
Toll House cookies were "invented" at the Toll House Inn in Whitman, Massachusetts in 1938, so Massachusetts Day was the best day to make them! Kate and Kacie helped get them on the pans and Grandma Sarah got them into the Nina where they baked up very nicely!
We enjoyed playing some of the games Grandma Sarah donated to us earlier this year. Kevin, Drew, Alexis, and Nan had a competitive game of Jr. Scrabble, with Kevin emerging as the winner!
Devin, Xavier, Laura, Sam, and Carol had lots of laughs playing Hedbanz!
Chloe, Devin, and Kacie tried to outplay Grandma Sarah with UNO Attack!
Somehow we forgot to take a picture of everyone enjoying Toll House Cookies and milk...probably because we were too busy eating them...but they were awesome! Ours looked something like this, but better! Thank you, Grandma Sarah and Grandpa Mike, for hanging out with us today and providing the cookies! It was a pleasure meeting both of you!
We have a special announcement to make! Our very own Patrick is an uncle! (And that means his mom and our friend, Sue, is a grandma!) Patrick has already proven to be a great uncle by introducing his new niece to Woody and the world of Disney! Congrats to both of them and to Patrick's sister Katie, and husband Aaron, on the addition of little Evie Kay to the family! She's a darling!
Next week will be here before we know it. Here's what you need to know:
Tuesday: We're bowling today! Pizza for lunch, courtesy of Drew's (and our) friend, Melinda! Thanks, Melinda! We love our pizza lunches! Wear your Arc shirts! After bowling, we will stop by the garden to check the watermelon again and take a short walk if the weather isn't too muggy.
Wednesday: Since we are always learning about gardening and the roles bees play in creating our food supply, we are going to celebrate World Honeybee Day, which was August 17. We'll review what we already know, and hopefully learn something new! We'll also have Yoga w/ Patti, so dress to stretch. Lunch on your own, too!
Thursday: We're studying our 7th state to join the Union: Maryland! We aren't going to make a main dish, but we will make crab dip for everyone to sample, along with a taste of Old Bay potato chips. Lunch on your own. We will also learn about therapy dogs today!
Friday: It's Laura's birthday today! We're hoping for a beautiful day for our final pool party of the season as we celebrate with her at her neighborhood pool in Ford's Colony! We'll swim from 10-12 and then enjoy sub sandwiches for lunch before returning to AFCC well in time for dismissal. Thank you to Laura's family for providing this fun outing for us! We love birthday parties! 🎂 🏊🌞
Have you registered for our 10th annual Williamsburg Landing 5K for The Arc yet?! Do so before the price goes up on September 1st!
Enjoy the weekend,
Lisa, Carol, and Nan
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