Still on the Long Road

First up this week, musings from Lisa, the blog author:

Five years ago at this time, I was on a family trip in the dessert Southwest.  I took this picture from the car as we traveled down a long road toward Monument Valley, Utah.  At the time, I thought a long road was just where I wanted to be, as it was serene and beautiful out there.  

In contrast, the "long road" we are on now leaves me with mixed feelings.  Like many of you, the quarantine has been difficult, frightening, and worrisome in many ways, but in other ways, something of a blessing.  The ability for a bit of extra rest comes to mind...at least for those of us working from home.  Still, as we end the 11th week, it is very evident that we are on a long road and the return to "normal" is questionable.  Everything has changed.

We know our Arc of Abilities group will be together again, stronger than ever, in due time.  June is coming, and with the reopening phases taking place, we are hopeful it won't be long.  One thing is certain, though.  It will be the new "normal" and we will adapt with all the grace and skill with which we always do!  I know we're all looking forward to that day.

On to this week in the lives of our amazing associates and their families! 

Before our Tuesday Zoom session Alexis helped cut and tape together some visuals for our shark jokes.  Thanks for your help, Alexis! 

We celebrated Tracy's birthday on Tuesday!  She's the one in the yellow box telling us about going on a 10 mile bike ride for her birthday!  WOW, that's a long way!  We hope you have a wonderful year to come, Tracy!  Happy Birthday!

We try to have a movement or short dance session each time we Zoom.  Xavier's mom reports that he enjoys that part of our meeting!  Here, he was dancing to a fun video clip called "Dance Like This Dude."  You, go, Xavier!!

We have been so fortunate during the quarantine that Liz and her mom, Lise, have been dedicated caretakers of our garden area at AFCC.  They have kept the birdfeeders full, and recently pulled dead growth out of the planters.

This week, they planted pretty lantana flowers and surrounded them with herbs - rosemary, thyme, and parsley!  Our master gardener friends would be so proud! 👏👏

They are simply beautiful!  We will look forward to cooking with those herbs when we get back to AFCC.  Thank you, Liz and Lise, for continuing to take care of our garden.  You have done a fantastic job and we truly appreciate it!

Before leaving our garden, Liz ran into Mo from the Grove Community Garden (behind the school), and they exchanged an air hug!  Mo says she misses her Arc friends!  We miss seeing the wonderful work Mo is doing in the Community Garden.  These two inspire each other! 🥰

Remember how all the fellas were getting haircuts last week? This week, some of the girls got in on the action!  You can see Liz's shorter locks above, and here is Miss Laura after her trim.  We all know Laura counts the days until her next haircut, so we're sure she was happy with this.  Both of you girls look lovely, as always!

Here's Abraham after he completed one of the shark assignments from this week.  He was very proud of having connected the dots and colored it in.  👍 to you, Abraham!

Kate is becoming quite the chef!  This is her cracking a couple of eggs. We like your technique, Kate!

Looks like the pan was ready on the stove...not sure if she scrambled those eggs or made an omelet, but we're sure it was yummy!  😋

On the subject of cooking, we are thankful to Devin's Aunt Sam this week for the donation of a crockpot and a roaster to our kitchen supplies!  She will see her nephew using these items very soon, we hope!  Thanks so much, Aunt Sam!  

Kevin's family, like all of us, has probably been cooking at home a lot in recent weeks.  With restaurants being allowed to serve on patios now, they were happy to go to the restaurant where his sister Courtney works and enjoy outdoor dining!

Kevin, your beverage looks refreshing!

On another pretty day, Kevin helped his dad grill a special dinner for Courtney's birthday!

This was Courtney's "Golden Birthday," as she turned 25 on the 25th!  We wish her a very happy year to come!  🎂

Over the Memorial Day weekend, Sam and his folks took a road trip to North Carolina.  Sam also enjoyed outdoor dining!

  

Remember last week when we posted a picture of Liz pointing to the osprey nest at the Warhill Complex?  Well, this week she spotted either the mother or father osprey attending to the nest!  Even through the fog, we can see the osprey up there.  Exciting!

Alexis enjoyed watching her fish, Penny, during a quiet afternoon this week.  It can be mesmerizing to watch, right Alexis?!

We'll end this week with a splash!  Devin joined his sister Hailey and they drenched their dad who was on the nearby swing!  So. Much. Fun!!!

Until next week, have a safe and enjoyable weekend!

Lisa, Carol, Nan, and the AoA Gang

Something Fishy Going On

This week we had some fun times!  From celebrating a birthday to surprise guests to adopting fish to Zooming with Moose Patti, it was a great week that brought a lot of smiles!

First up, on Tuesday, we celebrated Xavier's 25th birthday!  On Monday, Lisa and Alexis delivered this lovely stack of cards that his friends sent.  Monday was his actual birthday!  

During our Tuesday Zoom session, we played a video clip from Xavier's favorite channel, Cartoon Network, sang "Happy Birthday" to him, and smiled as he and his mom read his cards.  Look at the joy on his and his mom's faces in this screenshot from the Zoom! 

Speaking of joyful faces, if you look above Xavier and his mom, you'll see Meemaw and Alex, and up with Drew, you'll see Alex's friend, Scott.  They surprised us by Zooming in for Xavier's birthday!  We miss seeing Meemaw when she volunteers with us at AFCC.  It was so kind of Alex, who is on break from her studies in Florida, to go to Meemaw's and help her Zoom with us!   

Xavier, we hope you enjoyed your birthday in quarantine, and we hope the year to come will bring you lots of happiness!

On Wednesday, the fun times continued!  The rainy weather couldn't dampen the spirits of Devin, his sister Hailey, and dad, Scott, as they delivered betta fish to several of our friends.  Devin's parents own Pet Supplies Plus in Chesapeake, and they provided very pretty betta fish that some of our families chose to adopt!  

Carol was the first recipient.  Devin, Hailey, and Scott dropped off a red betta, which her Carol's boys named Flo!

Kacie and her mom, Stacey, drove up to Lexi's house from Newport News to adopt their betta.  Devin lined several of them up inside the van and let the girls pick.   

Kacie chose a pretty pink one which she named Nai'a, which means "dolphin" in Hawaiian.  Kacie put Nai'a in her room, and enjoys having her to talk to!

There was a royal blue betta that Alexis picked because, well, it reminded her of the Duke Blue Devils.  🏀  Since it's a girl betta, she named her Penny instead of Duke.

At Annmarie's house, Devin and Hailey gave her one, too.  We're not sure what color Annmarie's fish is, or what she named it, but we're sure she is enjoying her new pet!  Maybe a picture of hers next week?!

At Laura's house, Devin and Hailey set everything on the steps.  Laura's grandparents remain vulnerable to exposure, so being super safe was the name of the game.  Hailey's job was to give everyone the bowl and starter kit supplies, which you can see here.  Hailey was a good helper!

Laura watched from her window!  She couldn't wait to see her special delivery!

Laura would like everyone to meet Nemo!  What a pretty pinkish-orangish color!  Your betta looks right at home, Laura!

Sam had really been looking forward to getting his betta.   He was the first one to pick a name:  Bruce Lee!  It was super-exciting for him to get a beautiful red betta from his friend, Devin.

Here's Bruce Lee swimming in her new home.  We hear Sam and Bruce Lee enjoy watching tv together!  Thank you, Devin, and family, for this fun and unique gift!  They will bring us lots of joy!!

We had a special guest during Thursday's Zoom, Moose Patti!!  Here she is in the "yellow" box on our screen.  She was being our guest game show host as we played a trivia game about American symbols as part of our Memorial Day lesson.  It was great to catch up with Patti!  She said she and her husband have spent a lot of their quarantine time fishing, and she has also played a few rounds of golf.

And speaking of golf, Patti also told us that she and our other friends from WOTM are busy planning for the 5th Annual Women of the Moose Golf Tournament, of which the AoA is one of the beneficiaries! Here's the info.  We have also sent it to everyone in an email attachment!

On Thursday afternoon, we had the opportunity to watch Mystery Doug LIVE.  His guest was Jessica Meir, an astronaut who recently returned from the International Space Station.  (She had prerecorded segments where she answered questions from the ISS.) Back in October, she and Christina Koch undertook the first all female space walk ever!  Jessica may one day (soon) be the first woman to walk on the moon!  She was a very interesting guest.

Other goings on this week included Mr. Happy, aka, Abraham, taking a walk at Freedom Park!  This was on Friday when the rainy weather we had all week finally gave way to some sunshine.  

Liz recently walked in Freedom Park, too.  Down the path that leads to the bridge, she saw beautiful rhododendron bushes!

On her walk at the WISC Complex, she spotted an osprey nest on top of a light pole.  Last week, she saw an osprey fly into it!  WOW!

Back at home, Liz, aka, The AoA Baker, made cupcakes for her Aunt Anne's birthday!  Cupcakes are one of Liz's specialities!

Kate spent some time outside driving around in her family's golf cart.  She said her dog, Lucy, was her copilot!  

Here's an close up of Kate's cute copilot!  Aww!

Speaking of cute...who's this handsome fella?!  Drew got a haircut!

Looking good and we know it felt great to finally get the trim, right Drew?!

Drew also had some riding buddies this week!  His beloved sister Alex and her friend Scott came to visit from Florida, where both are in grad school. They also joined us on Zoom this week.  Nice to see you, Alex and Scott!

Drew wasn't the only one to get a haircut this week, Patrick and his buddy Zoe also got one!  You two look awesome, Patrick, and we bet it feels good to you and Zoe, too!

Look who else snagged a haircut this week!  Looking good on you, too, Sam!

Apparently, the guys are getting all the hair appointments, as we hear Kevin got a haircut this week, too!  In this picture, he had just hung his gourd birdhouse we made last year with the master gardeners.  Let us know if some birdies move in, Kevin!

Kevin enjoyed working a Toy Story puzzle while spending time in the Outer Banks with his family.

While at the beach house, Kevin also helped his dad with a bench repair.  Good job, Kevin!

Over at Lexi's house, she continues to spend time with Haley.  They grew crystals on a unicorn sculpture, and then painted it with multiple colors.

On another day, Haley helped Lexi with some Eaton work.  She is pretty good at sorting!

Patrick had a helper when doing his Eaton work, too!  It's Zoe!  (Or is it Kona?!)

Eaton trusted us with a new at-home task this week:  unpacking lightbulbs.  Liz is used to doing this job when we go to Eaton, and she handled it well at her home, too!

Sam helped Mr. Mason load several boxes of Eaton work he completed this week.  James didn't have anything to send us for the upcoming week, but we know he will keep us as busy as he can.

Scott continues to offer Zoom-ercise on Thursday afternoons.  Here's a screenshot of him and Kevin doing some warm-up moves.

Later in the session, Scott had the participants on the floor.  Lexi kept up with the excercises!  Good job, Lexi and Kevin!  

Here are the African violets Kacie's mom, Stacey, gave us last year.  We brought them from AFCC to Carol's house when the quarantine started.  They are doing very well under Carol's care!

On Friday, Alexis and Nan went to the Arc office to prepare the care package bags that will soon be delivered to Arc clients.  We can't tell you what all the goodies are inside the bags, but you will like them!  Thanks Alexis and Nan, for getting these ready for our friends!

Here's a picture of Kacie and the mini-cake she decorated after receiving it from Sam a few weeks ago.  Her family saved it for Mother's Day, and they put an apricot jam filling inside!  It's looks beautiful and we're sure it tasted delicious!

We'll end this week with a birthday shout out to Tracy, our Arc Board member and JCC Parks & Recreation Inclusion Coordinator!  Tracy is a big supporter of the AoA and we appreciate all she does to keep us going at AFCC, using the vans, and having lots of great experiences.  We hope her birthday is special!  She couldn't make it to Zoom this week, but hopefully will be able to stop by on Tuesday so we can give her belated wishes!

As we send this blog update out, it is a couple of days until Memorial Day.  We hope all of our AoA families and friends enjoy a safe weekend.  We discussed Memorial Day during our Thursday Zoom session, and we understand the meaning of this American holiday.  We are thankful for those who sacrificed so much for the freedoms we enjoy each day in our country!

Lisa, Carol, Nan, and the AoA Gang