Welcome November!

It was a beautiful morning on the first Tuesday of November as we started the week.  The sun was shining and when we looked out the window, we saw that our master gardener friend had brought our planters and set them out over the weekend!  We planted bulbs in them a couple of weeks ago, and Linda wanted to add some pansies to the top.  Aren't they pretty out there with our mums, bird feeders, birdbath, and shell wind chime?  Such a great view!

The first thing we noticed after arriving at Jamestown Settlement was the flags from all the states.  We immediately made our way over and noticed they were in the order of the states entering the Union, and of course, we recognized the first 16!

First group shot of the day!  Look how chill we are!

Liz and Alexis were very interested in watching this Powhatan interpreter weave a small pouch out of twisted plant fibers.

This interpreter showed us how the Powhatans cooked soup using beans, corn, oysters, and game bird meat.  Then she recognized Sam and Drew as being former students from when she taught at Jamestown High School.

This interpreter explained how weapons and tools were made like tomahawks and axes. He was grinding a stone in wet sand trying to shape it into a point.  

We sent Sam and Devin ahead as scouts to find out the names of each ship, how many were onboard during the journey from England, and who the captains were.  This is the Susan Constant, which had 71 on board and was led by Captain Christopher Newport.

We climbed aboard the Susan Constant and tried to imagine 71 men living on here for about 5 months.  We realized it must have been a bit crowded between the men and all the supplies and provisions they had to bring.

We noticed a gourd birdhouse community!

Lunch in the cafe was a big hit!  We were pleased with the service and the food, and we enjoyed chatting with each other!

When we visited the fort, Laura suited up to guard the palisade!  

Before leaving, we stopped by church...  

And enjoyed a fiery sermon from Kacie!

Soon it was time to head back to AFCC, but we have much more to see.  The weather was so beautiful that we only went inside to eat and watch the orientation film.  We'll have to return to visit the indoor exhibits sometime soon.

We couldn't help but notice the logo on the side of the van when we loaded up to leave.  This is a good time to again thank JCC Parks & Rec for the use of their vans for our day trips!

We were happy to see Chuck from the Rotary on Wednesday.  It had been a while since we worked with him.  He helped us learn how to use key words for internet searching, instead of typing entire questions into the search bar!

This was us during morning movement time.  It was a little chilly outside so we put on an aerobic exercise video by a coach named Paul Eugene.  We have done shorter workouts with him before, but today we tried a longer one.  We only lasted 18 out of 27 minutes!  It was challenging, so we will revisit it during chilly days and master the entire 27 minutes by Spring!

While we caught our breath, Lisa began a new read aloud called Anne of Green Gables, which is a classic we bet a lot of our moms (and maybe dads) remember reading as a child.  This is the graphic novel version, a format we enjoyed in our recent book Ghosts.  Anne is a sometimes misunderstood orphan girl, quirky, imaginative, and very chatty all at the same time. But when she finds her new home with the older brother/sister combo of Matthew and Marilla, her life changes for the better.  Her adventures immediately caught our attention.  We're going to enjoy this one!

Our guys look forward to their Choice Time after lunch.  Xavier enjoys working puzzles and Cameron likes working with tangrams.

Kevin also likes to work puzzles, and Annmarie likes to read books.

While Devin and Sam chose to play pool during Choice Time, Kacie, Alexis, and Carol worked on preparing books from the JRES library to be discarded.

Other Choice Time activities include matching games and computer activities, which Laura and Abraham enjoy.

Wednesday was National Saxophone Day, so after we learned that a man named Adolphe Sax invented the woodwind instrument, and that there are 14 different types, we listened to several artists known for playing them.  During this clip, Kenny G was joined by his son on acoustic guitar as they played a sweet song Kenny G had written when his son was born.  It was a sentimental moment, and some of our guys said it almost made them cry. 😥

Patti wasn't able to join us for yoga, so we ended our day with our online yogi, Jaime.  She had a new routine called "Scary Skeleton Yoga" that we tried.

Even though Jaime has us getting up and down a lot, our guys enjoying following along with her and listening to the story she tells as they move.  Namaste, everyone!

On Thursday morning we helped The Arc by preparing their Annual Membership and Donation mailing.  Be looking for it in your mailbox and make sure to update your membership!

Everyone was looking forward to celebrating National Nachos Day, which was officially yesterday.  As we often do, we divided the work and began the preparations.  Patrick and Kacie cooked the beef!

Liz, Alexis, and Kate chopped tomatoes and lettuce, and Sam prepared the black beans.

While Kevin and Drew prepped the side dish, grapes, Annmarie and Devin set the table.

We didn't have enough cooking jobs today, so the rest of us colored some pictures of nachos that we decorated the kitchen with, in honor of a man named Ignacio "Nacho" Anaya, who invented nachos in 1943!  Ask your associate to tell you the story...

The best thing about having nachos for lunch, is everyone can customize their serving.  Cameron opts for cheese only, while Xavier has meat and veggies, but no cheese.  Then there's Abraham, who prefers fully loaded, including with sour cream and guacamole!

To celebrate Ohio, which was the 17th state to join the Union, we made buckeyes!  We learned that Ohioans LOVE desserts, and buckeyes, with peanut butter middles and chocolatey outsides, are one of their favorites.  Kevin helped out with the first phase of making them.  He was a whiz with the mixer!

The buckeye is Ohio's state tree, and its nuts resemble a buck's eye, thus the name buckeye.  After Kevin mixed up the dough, we rolled it into small balls and stuck toothpicks in, so we would have a "handle" later when dipping them in melted chocolate.  After this step, we put them in the freezer.

After the buckeyes firmed up in the freezer, Kacie and Liz spent their Choice Time dipping them into melted chocolate.  A buckeye is similar in taste to a Reese's peanut butter cup.

Our volunteer, Becky, is from Ohio and is a huge fan of Ohio State football!  She and Patrick were our best-dressed for Ohio Day, and looked as good as our buckeye candies.  Don't you agree?!

We had fun on Friday celebrating STEM Day!  STEM is an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math, but for us, it means an opportunity for creative problem solving and collaboration.  First, we tried the egg drop challenge.  Each team packed their egg in a bag with different materials to see which ones would protect the egg from breaking when the bag was dropped.

Alexis, Abraham, and Kacie planned a design using cups that they hoped would would protect their egg.

You can tell by Kacie's reaction that the egg didn't break!

Liz, Cameron, and Annmarie placed one egg in a bag and surrounded it with puffy cereal.  They also surrounded another egg in a bag with balls of foil.  BOTH of their eggs survived the drop!

It's hard to see this team's bag against the white wall, but Drew, Xavier, and Laura put their egg in a bag and surrounded it with ice cubes.  They predicted the egg would break because the ice cubes were hard.

When we checked, they were correct!  Ice cubes are not a good substitute for bubble wrap!

Here are our "winners" and "losers" from the egg drop challenge.  Flour, cereal, cups, and foil protected the eggs, but ice, water, paper towels, and pretzel bites did not.  

In between our STEM activities, Carol and Xavier made a quick trip to Eaton to deliver some parts that Meemaw had put gaskets on for us on Tuesday.  Thanks for lending a hand, Xavier!

 We took time to salute the Marine Corps, which turns 244 on Sunday.  Throughout this video clip the Marines stressed how important teamwork is to their success.  We could relate to that!

 We also reflected on the meaning of Veterans Day, which is Monday.  We talked about the sacrifices made by our veterans to help secure the liberties we enjoy in America.  Then we put our heads together to solve a word search puzzle and further talk about the importance of Veterans Day. 

Another one of our STEM activities emphasized engineering as we attempted to construct a catapult that would successfully launch marshmallows!

We used large marshmallows to secure the wooden skewers to each other

.  We also had a spoon, rubber band, and some tape.

It was tempting not to eat the marshmallows!

Here are a few finished catapults.  They held up for testing very well, and we had a few extra marshmallows left over to eat!

Laura and Annmarie got ready to catch the mini-marshmallow Carol was about to launch!  Science is fun!

No, this is not Drew, Alexis, and Kevin saying, "Oh, no...not another STEM lesson."  It's them actually feeling their skull bones.  Our last science lesson was a Mystery Doug episode called "What If We Didn't Have a Skull?"

We learned that our skull consists of 22 bones and the only one that moves, is the mandible, or jaw bone.  We also learned that its main job is to protect our brain, but it also has 7 openings in it that allow us to take in information that we see, hear, smell, and taste!

We made these "scary" skull masks, too.  They had mandibles that opened and closed the mouth part.  Thanks for the cool lesson, Mystery Doug!  (This is the first group picture we've taken all week with everyone looking at the camera!!)

We ended our day of STEM lessons with a fun activity with Skittles.  We've heard the commercials that say, "taste the rainbow," but we wanted to see it!  Another sweet ending to another sweet week!

Next week's agenda looks busy!  Here's what we'll be doing:

Tuesday:  It's double the birthdays, double the fun today, as we celebrate Liz AND Patrick!  Both were born on Veterans Day and they enjoy celebrating their special days together with us.  We'll be bowling for their party, with pizza and birthday cupcakes for lunch, graciously provided by their moms.  Depending on the weather, we'll let Liz and Patrick pick a spot to walk/play or decide if we return to the center for inside fun.  Wear your Arc shirts!

Wednesday:  We're going to nurture our souls and focus on mindfulness today as we celebrate Chicken Soup for the Soul Day (which was yesterday).  This will tie in well with Yoga w/ Patti, so dress to stretch.  And of course, we'll have chicken soup with a side of cheese toast for lunch.

Thursday:  It's time for an Eaton Work Day.  Please wear Arc shirt and bring a bag lunch.  The weather may be a little chilly, but we'll still stop for Frosties, this time courtesy of Meemaw who gave us coupons for Halloween!  Thank you, Meemaw!

Friday:  We are celebrating the 18th state to enter the Union today:  Louisiana!  We'll learn cool facts about this once French colony, and make a version of jambalaya for lunch.  One of our favorites, Mickey Mouse, has a birthday on Monday, so we will celebrate him with fun Disney activities today, too!

Reminder:  The AoA will be in session on Monday and Tuesday, November 25 and 26 during Thanksgiving Week, and will be closed Wednesday-Friday. 🦃🦃

Looking Ahead:  The AoA will be closed for Winter Break the weeks of December 24-27 and December 31-January 3.  We will reopen on Tuesday, January 7. 🎄🎅

Happy Weekend!

Lisa, Carol, Nan, and The AoA Gang