Welcome, 2021

It's a brand new year, are you used to writing 2021 yet?!  When we returned to the AFCC this week, we immediately noticed we had left up all of the holiday decorations from 2020, and we would have to get busy taking them down.  Then, we saw that our African violets, which had been left unattended for 3 weeks, were blooming beautifully!  We took that as a sign that good things are coming!  Aren't they pretty?!  

And while we're on the topic of blooms, our master gardener friends had given us a jewel orchid a while back, probably in early 2020, or late 2019.  Carol took it home so it could be kept in a temperature controlled environment, and we're happy to report that it is also blooming!  Isn't it gorgeous?!  2021 is definitely looking up!

Soon, our Tuesday / Wednesday friends began arriving.  Bring on 2021!  Here's what we were up to this week...

Tuesday

It was down with the old decorations, and as soon as we get around to making some, it will be up with the new!  We're going with a New Year's and Winter theme, so stay tuned!  Cameron and Patrick helped to take down the festive holiday decor.

On Tuesday, we Zoom with our friends at home.  Here they are, with those of us at the AFCC in the center box on the top row.  We just love to see everyone's smiling faces!

January 10th is Save the Eagles Day, so each year we talk about our national bird, and try to learn something new.  This year we learned that a bald eagle's talons are capable of exerting about 500 pounds of pressure per square inch, which means they are pretty strong!  They can swoop down over water and snatch a fish up easily! 

 For the next few weeks we will be checking this live webcam from Florida, where mama eagle Gabrielle and papa eagle Samson are eagerly awaiting the hatching of a couple of eggs!

Northeast Florida Eagle Cam

Here's a link for a super slow motion takeoff of an eagle, with a fish in its talons, from a dock in Alaska.  Becky shared this with us and it's really cool!  Thanks, Becky!

SloMo Eagle Takeoff

Kevin's mom, Debbie, shared this picture with us.  She heard a commotion in her backyard recently, and when she went to check, found a couple of vultures standing off with a bald eagle over a dead animal (not sure what).  She snapped this shot and said the eagle snatched up the "snack," flew off over the river, and apparently dropped it in the water!  Thanks for sharing, Debbie!

Liz, meet Liz!  Tracy, from Parks & Rec, stopped by to check on us today, and we got to meet her intern for this semester, Liz.  Liz attends George Mason University and is majoring in Recreational Therapy.  We know Tracy will be a great mentor!  (Our intern, Lilly, is at home in Mechanicsville this week since CNU pushed the start of classes to January 19.  We look forward to her return next week.)

It was a beautiful, sunny day, and not too cold, so we went for a mid-morning walk around the school grounds.

The birds will be happy when word gets around that we are back!  Liz and Cameron refilled the feeders after our walk.

With bare walls around us, we got busy working on our January calendar and some colorful pictures to hang.  Give us a few days and we'll have this room ready for winter!

Kevin and Carol worked in tandem to get letters and party hats ready to go on the wall.  Good job using a variety of colors, Kevin!

January 11th is National Milk Day which commemorates the day in 1878 that milk deliveries in glass bottles first began.  We compared the nutritional value of dairy milk (lactose free), soymilk, and vanilla flavored almondmilk.  We learned that regular (reduced fat) milk and soymilk were better choices, due to the high amount of added sugar in the vanilla almondmilk, but all three have comparable amounts of good nutrients.  We also learned that lactose free milk tastes just like regular milk!  That surprised a few of us.

Patrick, who admitted that he is not a milk drinker, wanted to taste the almondmilk!  He said it was "ok" but he didn't want anymore!  We're proud of him for tasting it!

After our winter break, we decided to review our COVID protocols and expectations.  We discussed our safety measures (face coverings, hand washing, social distancing, checking temps, cleaning surfaces, etc.) and also added a Mystery Doug episode that explained how masks help prevent the spread of germs and why the evidence is strong for us to continue wearing them.

We couldn't resist going outside again in the afternoon, since it was such a mild day.  Our "stars" aligned here, and we got this shot with all 7 of today's participants in it.  Can you find them all?!

Wednesday

January 13 is National Rubber Ducky Day, so we put a bunch of little duckies to use in a lesson on patterning.  Continuing a pattern isn't an easy concept for some of our guys, but they all worked enthusiastically to get the answers!

Lisa would get us started with a pattern, then we added on to it.  Here, Sam was having no trouble with a front-back-front-back pattern.

We also watched a fun video clip about a lady named Charlotte, who holds the Guiness Book of World Records for Largest Collection of Rubber Duckies!  She has over 9,000 of them!  She lives in Seattle, and her "day job" is being a professor at Washington State University. 😜  

For a fun follow-up, we made our own collection of rubber duckies!

Our state of the week was #46, Oklahoma.  We learned that the Sonic Drive In restaurant got its start and is headquartered in Oklahoma, so we decided to make a copycat recipe of Sonic's Cherry Limeade to go with our lunch.  As seen in Sam's arms, we even used Sonic's famous "nugget" ice, which is sometimes called "popcorn" ice in Oklahoma, given its little round shapes.  Nancy and Patrick cut fresh limes for our concoction!

While not an official food of Oklahoma, we always enjoy grilled cheese sandwiches, and thought they would go well with the Cherry Limeade.  Liz and Alexis prepared 10 for our group!

Cameron and Kevin gathered the bowls, spoons, and plates we would need, and then whipped up a few packets of Lipton's chicken noodle soup.  It's an easy recipe, and one our guys could easily make for themselves at home...if they are comfortable with using a stovetop.

Besides the fresh lime, we added maraschino cherries and juice to the bottoms of our cups.  After that, we added the Sonic ice, a splash of 7-Up, and one more piece of fresh lime.  Along with our soup and grilled cheese sandwiches, it was a delicious lunch!  Shout out to Oklahoma for giving us Sonic and ALL of their tasty drink treats!

Kevin was a great assistant today!  He was called upon to pass out worksheets throughout the day.  Here, he's giving Sam a map of Oklahoma so we can work on map skills, one of our favorite activities when we study a state.

Our busy day came to a relaxing end with yoga.  Jamie led us through gentle stretches including this one, cats and cows.  We arch our backs (cats) and then release and slump our backs (cows).  Our former yoga instructor, Patti, told us this is a pose that helps aid digestion!

We should have taken a video of this pose.  We were all giggles as we rolled back and forth!

THURSDAY 

We welcomed the Thursday / Friday group back with a review of our safety protocols.  It included having them wipe down the tables, as Michelle is seen doing here.  Great technique Michelle, to use your whole hand to keep the wipe extended as you clean the table!

Our Thursday Zoom group looks great, don't they?! Who would have believed a year ago that we would be going on 10 months' worth of Zoom meetings?!?!  We are thankful for this technology that allows us to hang out virtually!

Our topic today was Colds and Flu.  We watched a BrainPOP video and aced two quizzes afterward!  

In the middle of our quizzes, Lisa got distracted when she glanced out the window and spotted the redbellied woodpecker back at our feeders!  He's bigger than he looks in this picture, and whenever he stops by, he's fun to watch.

Actually, we had a lot of birds feeding out there today.  In this picture are several small brownish birds that we think are house sparrows, as well as a single tufted titmouse.

After Zoom it was mild enough to get outside for some fresh air.  We walked around the JRES campus looking for a good spot for a group photo op.  We decided to pose in front of the rec center entrance, socially distanced and wearing our face coverings, of course!  (Note:  Our friend Abraham was absent today; we missed him!)

Once we got to the back of the school, the playground stood there, empty and dry.  It was practically inviting us to check it out!  Michelle obliged with a bar hang, while Alexis perched herself nearby.

Devin and Kate found the swings to be a fun way to spend a few minutes.

Xavier enjoyed the swings a while, and then realized the slides were lonely!  

 

Back inside, we found the fresh air had heightened our ability to focus, so we could finish our January calendar setup that the other group began on Tuesday.

We treated ourselves to a new calendar for 2021.  It's a pocket chart that has larger squares for us to fit our specific activities on.  We leave the numbers showing for the days we aren't here, and for our days, we use the computer lab to print pictures representing our topics.  We also go a new birthday chart and updated it to include our new additions, Michelle and Nancy!  We think it looks amazing!

These guys were gung-ho to "celebrate" National Milk Day, which was Monday.  Kate, Devin, and Michelle tried almondmilk AND soymilk!  Devin also tried the lactose-free dairy milk, and said it tasted like "regular" milk to him.  Almondmilk was their fave...maybe because it was vanilla flavored?!

During Choice Time Alexis and Kate wanted to show off new shoes (Alexis) and socks (Kate). It's hard to tell, but Kate's socks have pictures of her dog, Lucy, on them!

It was too nice of a day not to get outside again in the afternoon.  We took a nice walk, led by Xavier, who headed right back to the playground!  

Friday

Our friend Cameron has a birthday coming up next week.  He participates in the Tuesday / Wednesday group, and his friends from the Thursday / Friday group really miss spending time with him.  They were happy to make birthday cards that Cameron will get next week.

Abraham was on map duty today.  He positioned himself near the wall map, and the online map, so he could point out the location of Oklahoma, our state of the week.

We made a new friend this week!  This is Karen, who was filling in for Heike.  When she overheard us talking about Oklahoma, she popped in to tell us she was from there!  We listened intently as she told us about growing up in a state with frequent tornadoes!

One of the highlights of the week was "celebrating" National Rubber Ducky Day, and reaching "back into our childhoods" to listen to and sing along with Ernie from Sesame Street!  Remember this?  If you'd like to sing along, click on the picture for a link to the You Tube clip!

This group "played" with rubber duckies and tried to set up patterns, too!  Michelle and Abraham counted their duckies before working on the patterns.

Next, everyone got a rubber ducky coloring page so they could create their own themed ducky.  Abraham asked Xavier if he knew what kind of ducky this was.  Abraham was tickled when Xavier (correctly) said, "Batman!"

Here's another cute set of duckies!  We enjoyed this activity!

Xavier and Abraham found themselves together again when paired up to cook our chicken noodle soup!

Michelle and Devin partnered to make our grilled cheese sandwiches!

Last, but not least, Kate and Alexis worked together to make our shout out to Oklahoma, home of Sonic Drive In:  refreshing Cherry Limeade, complete with Sonic's own ice!

It was a gorgeous and very mild afternoon, so the gang voted to forego online yoga (with Jaime) for outside time at the JRES playgrounds.  We don't often get to visit the playgrounds, but with students not being at school right now, we took a turn.  Xavier enjoyed sliding!

Kate and Devin also enjoyed sliding, on a different part of the playground.  This is the "curvy" slide!

Abraham found the rock wall portion of the equipment.  We took this picture from about 5 feet up, so he had a pretty good climb!

Not to be outdone, Alexis and Devin climbed on this piece of equipment.  Up and down, up and down.  Is it as easy as it looks?!

We could have stayed out the rest of the day, but we had an important task to get to inside.  Still, we walked the "long way" back.  What a pretty afternoon!

Our day ended with us making Cheer Cards for the Arc's board president, and our friend Drew's dad, Andy.  He recently had knee replacement surgery and is recuperating at home.  We hope cards from our thoughtful guys will bring a smile to his face!  Good luck with your recovery, Andy, and many thanks for all you do for The Arc of Greater Williamsburg!

Our first week of 2021 went by quickly, and kept us busy!  Next week looks to be another busy one.  We can't wait! 

Tuesday / Thursday:  We'll have a civil rights history lesson as we mark Monday being MLK, Jr. Day and we'll celebrate National Popcorn Day with a snack and a couple of winter crafts.  We have birdhouses to paint that we will eventually place in the fairy garden at Freedom Park's Botanical Garden, as well as wooden snowmen to paint that Christina from the Art Museums gave us!  Speaking of snowmen, Tuesday's Zoom topic will be snowmen!  You'll need your Bingo card for that day!  Thursday's Zoom topic will find us being musical as we take a look at National Disc Jockey Day, and try naming tunes that are played backwards! Lunch on your own.

Wednesday / Friday:  It will be another busy day as we celebrate Cameron's birthday, which is on Saturday!  Thank you in advance to his family for sponsoring, what else...pizza for lunch!  (Cameron's favorite!)  In addition, we will study the 46th state, New Mexico, and make bird feeders to celebrate the upcoming Peanut Butter Day on the 24th.  We'll also celebrate each other with kind notes for Compliment Day, which is also on the 24th.  Plus, it's yoga day, so dress to stretch!

Enjoy the weekend!

Lisa, Carol, Nan, and the AoA Gang