This week we're excited for so many reasons!  The sun came out most of the week, we celebrated a friend's birthday, and we're on the path to reopening the AoA.  Check out these pictures that tell our story for mid-August!

How can we not kick it off with a couple of cute pups?!  Liz and her mom captured this shot of Rose and Annabelle in the rearview mirror on one of their drives!

Drew and his mom, Donna, enjoy walking together on beautiful, sunny days.  This picture is a public service reminder from Drew for everyone to sign up for our 5k!  He told me to put the link in right here for your convenience!  😉  He's challenging everyone to join the fun...even though it's virtual this year.  We hope to have lots of pictures from all of our AoA families and friends to publish in a special edition 5k blog post this year!  Thanks in advance for your support!!  

This week's sunny skies found Alexis enjoying pool time with Haley.  Wow, that "little" one is growing up fast!

Alexis also enjoyed a visit from Patrick this week.  It was a perfect day in the water!

Patrick and Alexis also got their Zen on during our Zoom yoga session led by Drew's sister, Alex.  

Alex, seen here in the center, is in graduate school at the University of St. Augustine.  She's working on her doctorate in occupational therapy, and made some helpful videos for her Arc clients in Florida to use while staying safe at home.  Thanks for sharing with us, too, Alex.  We're so proud of you!

Drew takes his yoga with Alex seriously!  And is that Mom's mat beside him?!  Guess she jumped up to get the pictures.  We love to see families enjoying activities together!  

Way to go, Drew!  It feels so good, doesn't it?!

Sam and Alexis, along with Coach Teri and Lisa, met up for lunch on the patio at a Mexican restaurant.  They enjoyed catching up in the fresh air!

Sam was also outside helping Coach Teri place signs in their neighborhood for this week's food truck visit.  Coach Teri said he loves to help her with projects like this.  Sam added that he enjoys "working."  💛👏

Speaking of working, we had a little bit of Eaton work that Liz completed for us this week.  She unpacked lightbulbs, which Carol then picked up and returned to James.  James told Carol it's inventory time at Eaton.  We anticipate that upon our return to AFCC, we will have lots of Eaton work to keep us busy!  Thanks, Liz!  Your "homework" is appreciated! 

And Liz continues our tradition...after a good day of Eaton work, it's time for a Frosty!  Yum!

Sweets were on Liz's mind this week.  She also made a batch of her delicious sugar cookies to take to the beach with her family this week!  😋🍪

Patti got her thank you cards this week when she stopped by to visit Nan!  She loved them and said she was going to cry happy tears later when she read them again in the privacy of home!  Thank you, AoA Gang, for getting these beauties made and sent to Lisa, who got them to Nan, who got them to Patti!  What a team!  And thanks again, to Patti and the entire WOTM crew for the amazing golf tournament a few weeks ago!  We can't wait to see them on September 2nd to accept their generous donation!  Mark your calendars and dig out your Arc shirts!

On Thursday, we celebrated Laura's birthday by focusing on one of her favorite Disney movies, "Lady and the Tramp."  We learned trivia facts, such as the scene where Lady is given as a gift, and she's wrapped in a hatbox, came from Walt Disney's own life when he gave his wife a puppy wrapped in a hat box!  We also watched the trailer for the movie, from 1955!  Trailers were more informative back then, and less action-packed!

Laura enjoyed her birthday Zoom!  We did too, Laura!

  Thank you, Liz, for making this special delivery!  You were so thoughtful to add a balloon and some chocolate ice cream!  

Happy Birthday, Laura!  We hope your official day on Sunday is filled with more joy and surprises!

Our last picture this week is of Cameron and his pop, Brian!  We love your 5k shirt, Brian...and we LOVE Cameron in his Arc Day Support shirt!!  His mom said he got dressed on this particular morning, because he thought he was going to AoA.  Like many of us, he is hopeful to resume in-person AoA activities.  Hang on a little longer, Cameron.  We are working on it and hope to see you very soon!!

Have a great weekend everyone,

Lisa, Carol, Nan, and the AoA Gang

Rainy Times

 

 We have had a lot of rain over the past couple of weeks!  In one way, it's good, because we are striving to stick close to home so as to do our part to help our community stop the spread of coronavirus.  In another way, it's not so good, because being outside is good and healthy for us...but all this rain forces us to stay inside! Let's hope as we head toward the second half of August, we'll see more sunshine, and hopefully without a heat wave! 😎 

This week our blog will be shorter, but still sweet.  We didn't get too many pictures, but we do want to share the ones we have!

First up, Cameron has taken advantage of the few rain-free days we've had recently.  Looks like he's about to make a big splash!

It's nice to see siblings "peacing out" as Cameron did with his sister, Kaitlyn! 

Cameron and his dad, Brian, are best buds.  Looks like they were going to take a run together.  Hey, maybe they are getting ready for the Arc's 5k!  It's coming up, and it's going VIRTUAL this year!  Check the link at the end of this post for more info!

Hmm.  Wonder what Cameron and Brian are getting all spiffed up for?!  Just another day hanging around the house?!  Or maybe a fun family date with Mom?!  Whatever the reason, these two are looking good!

Kevin and his mom helped their church deliver food to families in rural Virginia last weekend.  Good job, Kevin and Debbie!  Their family was in Maryland earlier this week and stopped by Solomon's Island for a walk.  That was a pretty day!

Oh, Nan?!?!?  Kevin says this one is a surprise just for you.  He enjoyed watching your favorite show, Jeopardy, on Friday night!  Did you watch it too, Nan?!

The Arc delivered yoga mats to clients this week who don't already have one.  If you check your eBlast messages each week, there will be some links and more info about yoga sessions that the Arc's instructor, Anita, will conduct.  Here's Kacie after one of the Arc drivers delivered a mat to her!  Of course, you could also do some yoga with Jaime (https://www.youtube.com/user/CosmicKidsYoga).  And join us on Zoom next week, with your yoga mats...we will have a surprise guest yoga instructor!!!

Alexis is happy to be back at riding lessons.  She has missed her pal, D-Man!

Alexis is helping Haley learn the importance of wearing a mask.  She's pretty good about it, for a two year old!

Hi Drew!  We missed you on Zoom this week, but you had a good reason!  The OBX was calling your name!  We hope you enjoyed family time on this pretty stretch of beach. 

Drew's mom sent this picture from the OBX to show how pretty it was on this quiet, sunny day.  It's gorgeous!

Laura and her family celebrated Frozen Custard Day last week with a trip to a local spot called Meadows.  Laura looks pretty in her Arc of Virginia Virtual Convention t-shirt, too!

Kate found a book on Amazon called New Kid which she wants Lisa to check out for a future read-aloud.  Will do, Kate!  Thanks for the suggestion!

Finally, we'd like to mention that our 5k will be a virtual event this year, due to the concerns around COVID-19.  That means it's for anyone, anywhere, and at anytime!  Well, actually it's officially between September 1 and October 3, but you get the idea!  Click this image for a direct link to the sign up page.  Form a team and invite family and friends from near and far to support us in 2020.  We would be very grateful!

  For all of the AoA gang, be sure to join us for Zoom sessions next week.  Links will be emailed on Monday:  

Tuesday and Thursday at 10 a.m. for our "regular" sessions

Wednesday at 3 p.m. for Book Club w/ Lisa (Roll With It)

Friday at 10 a.m. for Hang Out/Mystery Session!

Thanks for checking out the blog this week!

Lisa, Carol, Nan, and the AoA Gang

Welcome August, 2020

 

We said farewell to July and hello to August this week.  The year 2020 is moving along.  If we were in session at the center, some of the guys would be asking, "What happened ❓"  We often find ourselves talking about how quickly time is passing.  We are about to pass the 5 month mark since our first shutdown on March 13! 

It was a good week, though, for both The Arc of GW and some of our AoA friends.  Well, except for that day we had a little storm named Isaias pass through!  Here are a few pictures and updates that came in during the first week of August:

On Wednesday, the James City Police Department sponsored the #ChooseToInclude Run, which benefited the Arc of GW!  Last week we featured Alexis, Patrick, and Drew sporting t-shirts in support of the run.  This week, we feature Pam accepting a generous donation from Officers Josh Drury (left) and Brandon Frantz (right) who spearheaded the event.  Thanks so much, JCC Police Department!

Most of us were lucky when Tropical Storm Isaias came to visit overnight Monday and into Tuesday morning.  A few families reported power outages and scattered branches in their yards, and a couple of them had trees fall.  This is at Carol's farm property (where she used to live) on the Chickahominy River.   

This is the tree that came down in Kevin's yard.  Looks like it was close to his pool.  We miss our visit to your pool this year, Kevin!                                                  

It was a pretty day to be cleaning up, and getting excercise, too.  Once the storm cleared the area around mid-morning, the sun came out and all seemed back to normal.  Kevin and all of us are glad Isaias didn't cause more trouble!

Kevin's family was one that lost power, and internet.  He went over to his sister Courtney's apartment so he could Zoom with us on Wednesday!

Cameron's family lost power for a couple of days too, and it was HOT.  His mom made his day when she took him to Wendy's for a vanilla Frosty!

Thanks for sharing your outing with us, Cameron, even though Mom kept making you pose for pictures!  We know you would rather be eating your Frosty!  

During our Zoom on Thursday, we played a game of virtual catch.  In this picture, it was Kacie's turn to catch.  It was kind of weird, but also fun...and funny...to play virtual catch!

Kate was sporting a new haircut this week!  It looks very nice, Kate!

Remember a few weeks ago when our master gardener friends sent us some garlic from the Botanical Garden at Freedom Park?  Since we haven't been in session at AFCC, Lisa has kept the garlic at her house.  She shared some with her nephew, John, who used it to cook her a yummy tomato/white bean/spinach rice dish with grilled chicken!  It was seasoned with rosemary, thyme, and oregano, and was delicious!  We need to try this recipe one of these days when we get back to cooking at the center!

Eaton sent a bit of work this week.  Alexis put on her Eaton shirt and got to work putting gaskets on these parts!

Over at her house, Liz also worked on applying gaskets.  Thanks, girls.  We appreciate your work and so does Eaton!

This was a few weeks ago, but Devin finally got to take his new bowling ball to AMF Lanes to get holes drilled so he could use it to play.  Remember when he had a birthday back in April, and he showed us the pretty new ball he got, in the color of the Philadelphia Eagles?! 🎳

How is the new ball working for you, Devin?  We hope you got a lot of strikes!

There is always something fun going on in Sam's neighborhood.  This week, he helped Coach Teri place signs for "Food Truck Friday" all around so folks would know where to go.  He said the truck this week was "Dominion Dogs," and he was looking forward to checking out their grub! 🌭🌭🌭

Here's a picture of one of the AoA's good friends, Kevin's sister, Courtney.  She had surgery for a bone spur on her ankle, and that was the 5th surgery on her leg over the past few years!  We sure hope things are going well with your recovery, Courtney!  What a giant cast!  You're a trouper!  We hear Kevin helped take care of you...he's the best! 

Finally this week, we have a shot of Alexis with Sevarina and Heike.  She and Lisa made a trip to AFCC to get some supplies, and got to catch up with our favorite custodians.  They said they MISS us so much!  It's quiet and boring in the building, but we bet things are super clean!  Keep up the good work, Sevarina and Heike.  We MISS you, too!

We hope everyone continues to be safe and well. Enjoy the weekend!

Lisa, Carol, Nan, and the AoA Gang