Thanks, EATON Corporation...AGAIN!!!

👏👏 The Arc of Greater Williamsburg was thrilled this week to be the recipient of a Community Support Grant from Eaton Corporation!  This is the third time we've been fortunate to receive this generous grant.  Jorie was the main go-getter, but we appreciate everyone at Eaton for being behind it for us!  We stopped by on Tuesday after bowling to pick up the check, but Jorie couldn't be there.  (We should see her Thursday.)  Instead, we chatted and posed with Beth, Kesha, Shaunta, and Andy.  Thank you, Eaton.  This means so much to The Arc!  Working with you is a privilege and we are very grateful for the many opportunities you give us to show what we can do! 👏👏

Here's a look at the rest of our week...how did it become the end of July so quickly?!

Tuesday

We were about to head out for a garden check and bowling adventure, so after our dance warm up, we also did specific exercises to warm up for bowling, like these arm circles.

We stopped to check on the garden at Freedom Park.  Miss Linda told us to pick the trombone squash while it was young, and give it a try.  We will wait for others to get bigger and more mature, so we can compare the tastes of them with the younger one.  

We also got sad news from Linda...she and her husband Ed are moving to western Massachusetts in August.  Maybe they miss the snow, but they miss their kids and grandkids for sure!  We understand why she's leaving us, but we are definitely going to miss her when we work with the MGs at the Botanical Garden.  Thank you for years of fun, interesting, and educational lessons, Linda...and most of all, for your friendship and support of the Arc of Abilities!  We wish you and Ed all the best on your relocation to Massachusetts!

We will continue to work with our many other master gardener friends this fall, and we are thankful for that!  Our partnership with this group is a big part of the AoA's program.  Thank you to ALL of our MG friends, and we hope to see you in September!

Meanwhile, at the Williamsburg Botanical Garden, the pollinator plants are in beautiful bloom!  There is a lot of salvia and lantana in this bed, and it was buzzing with bees and a few butterflies!  Sooo pretty! 

We got this shot of a hungry tiger swallowtail butterfly, which is the state insect of Virginia!

Kate led us over to check the Fairy Garden, and she spotted a new rock that had been placed there.  We also think we spotted a couple of new birdhouses!  The succulents are filling in the bed very nicely, and it's another pretty element in the WBG.

Even though we got there early, it was warm and muggy in the garden.  We decided to follow the shaded trail on our way back to the vans!

It was very comfortable and cool at the AMF Lanes when we arrived for bowling!  Dallas set us up on lanes 7-10 today, which was a change for us, but we didn't mind.

Don't we look just as chill as the temperature is inside the lanes?!  There was plenty of cheering, too!

Here, Abraham had just bowled a strike and Liz was trying to get his attention for a big high five!

Speaking of cheers, we had some today for our lunch preparers, Ernestine and Kesha!  They really hustled to get our chicken tenders and fries done...they didn't even clock in until noon, but we were eating not log after that.  Everything was hot and tasty, too!  👏👏

Our smiles tell the story.  We like pizza, but it is nice to change it up once in a while.  We really appreciate Kate's family for sponsoring lunch for us.  Your generosity made our day!  Our guys really dig chicken and fries.  😋

Over at this table they were celebrating that they got ketchup AND honey mustard dipping sauce with their chicken and fries!  Ernestine and Kesha took good care of us!

At the end of the day, it was Alexis who had our highest score today, with a whopping 148!  (Kate wasn't too far behind though...she bowled a 143!)  Devin had to admit it:  Alexis had a great game!  The best part?  He was happy for her! 😍

Wednesday

The highlight of today was definitely making homemade bagels.  The National Day Calendar reported that Monday (July 26th) was Bagelfest Day, so we decided to make our own!  We found a simple recipe, divided into teams...and wondered what we would end up with.  Alexis, Patrick, and Michelle are shown with the simple ingredients:  nonfat Greek yogurt, unbleached flour, baking powder, salt, and Everything Bagel Seasoning from Trader Joe's!

Annmarie, Abraham, and Sam mixed the dry ingredients first.  Xavier observed, as he avoids gluten.  Later, we would enlist him to take the pan to the oven.  (We had a store-bought gluten free "everything" bagel for him!) 

 Nan's group of Liz, Nancy, and Devin were ready to knead their dough.  It only took a few turns and then it was ready to be rolled into "ropes."

Kevin rolled his dough into a rope as Kate and Laura looked on.  They had already made their ropes into bagels and pinched the ends together.  

Annmarie demonstrates application of the egg wash.  That would help our bagels brown, and also allow the seasoning to stick to them.  This was a perfect task for her, as she loves to paint!

After applying the egg wash, we sprinkled the "Everything but the  Bagel Sesame Seasoning Blend" on top.  We then flipped the bagels and repeated on the other side.

We were excited to pop these "babies" into the oven!  Our fingers were crossed that they would turn out well. 🤞  With only flour and yogurt for the main ingredients, we were skeptical. 

Voila!  Our bagels baked up beautifully, and were absolutely delicious!  They were "just right" chewy on the outside, and soft and fluffy on the inside.  These bagels only have about 1/2 the calories of store-bought bagels.  We highly recommend the seasoning blend from Trader Joe's, too!  (The bagel on the top right is Xavier's gluten-free one!)

We forgot to take a picture, but we added a smear of cream cheese for the bagels, along with fruit, sausage, and Nan's scrambled eggs to make our excellent lunch!  We'll be making bagels again!

We had movement in the gym earlier in the day, but after lunch, Choice Time, and listening to Lisa read to us, we needed to move a little more before our history lesson.  Our guys have some great dance moves!

We had two history lessons today.  First we learned that the Buffalo Soldiers were a black regiment formed after the Civil War that played a very important role in helping America settle the West.  July 28th is Buffalo Soldiers Day.  Click the photo below to watch a short video clip that helped us understand their very important contributions:

In our second history lesson, we learned that Amelia Earhart Day is observed on her birthdate:  July 24.  We watched a BrainPOP video about her, and after that, we played a quiz game where we answered questions about her interesting life and adventures!

We also found time today to make this cool "thank you" poster for Kate's family who treated us to chicken tenders and fries for lunch when we went bowling yesterday!

We also made a couple of cards to take to Eaton tomorrow to thank them for the Rita's Ice they treated us to the last time we went.  It was soooo refreshing!  We enjoy writing letters as a group.  We take everyone's ideas and form thoughtful messages that are definitely in our collective voices.

Thursday

Our Eaton work day went well, but there wasn't as much work as usual.  We've done a good and efficient job up to this point with unpacking, assembling doors, and gasketing.  So, we wrapped up a little early, and will take next week off.  However, Jorie said more inventory work will be starting soon!

Look at Annmarie and Laura stacking these parts and packing them (with a little help) neatly into the tub!  Laura was telling Lisa, who was taking pictures, to "Get back to work!" 😵 Thanks for the kiss, Annmarie! 😘

 

We paired Kevin and Drew for sorting today...about 8 tubs' worth!  They worked steadily, too.  So proud of our guys' work ethic! 👍👍

Nan, Alexis, Nancy, and Liz were the Gasket Gang today!  We remember when we first started this job, 5 years ago, and called it a "sticky situation."  Well, we have mastered it now!  👏👏

Patrick, Michelle, Sam, and Devin were working on the "doodads" and "thingamabobs."  There are small pieces (doodads) that need to be pulled off of large pieces, and even smaller pieces (thingamabobs) that need to be popped off after that!  These speedy workers finished off a giant bin that was over half-full when they started!  🙌🙌

Xavier and Abraham joined forces to unpack a bunch of parts, and then helped relocate some of the heavier tubs.  They put the "team" in teamwork!  👇👇👏👏

We also snagged Xavier and Abraham, as well as Annmarie and Laura, to be the Recycle Brigade.  Laura, we're sorry the photographer almost cut you out of the picture.  You were hustling right along.  But the photograper was in a hurry to "get back to work!" 😜😜

We heard Jorie was coming in for a meeting, so we gathered up the thank you cards and asked Kesha to bring Jorie and Shaunta over to "our" building...

By now the cards were being hidden behind our guys' backs.  They told Shaunta, Kesha, and Jorie to close their eyes.  (We love a surprise!) 

Shaunta, Kesha, and Jorie loved the cards, too!  We'll remember the Rita's treat for a long time!  It was so awesome!

 

Friday

We had a couple of highlights today, the first being it was Nan's birthday!!  Liz brought her a balloon!  That was very thoughtful, Liz!

Our second highlight was Cameron stopping in for a visit!  We were all happy to see him again, especially Kate who has been without a "table mate" since he moved!  Thanks for spending part of your Friday with us, Cameron!

We had a "Movie Morning" today.  We were supposed to watch a movie that Kate brought on DVD, which took place in Puerto Rico, our "country" of the week.  But we had trouble getting the DVD to play, even though we had tested it on Tuesday with no problems!  So, since the popcorn was popped, we logged into Netflix and watched a fun family flick called Yes Day.  The gang loved it...so, as is often the case at the AoA...all's well that ends well!

Tomorrow (31st) is Nan's actual birthday, and it's also National Avocado Day.  Ahhh, so NOW we know why Nan loves guacamole, which she made for our lunch today.  She was born to love it!  Sam also loves guac, so she enlisted his help as she showed us how to cut open an avocado, scoop out the flesh, and then mix it with a packet of seasoning mix for a simple, and very tasty, guacamole!

Here's our final lunch masterpiece.  We also made a rice and peas dish that's popular in Puerto Rico called "arroz con gandules" which was made with canned peas that are called "green pigeon peas."  It was a great side dish with our guac and taco salad!

EVERYONE was here today, plus Cameron, for Nan's birthday picture!!  We sang and then enjoyed cupcakes, and listened as Nan read all of her sweet cards!  

Sunday is the date for the 6th annual Women of the Moose Charity Golf Tournament, which benefits The Arc of Greater Williamsburg and the Arc of Abilities!  Liz, Patrick, Devin, and Alexis signed up to volunteer, so we made posters that they will use when greeting and thanking the golfers who visit them at their assigned holes!  Thanks for helping, guys!  It's gonna be a fun day!  (And don't forget to do a "no rain" dance!!)

Many thanks to all who ordered this year's golf tournament shirts!  Patti was so proud of the design with "The Arc of Abilities" on the back!!  We love them, too!!

Our day ended with yoga.  We got a couple of shots of our favorite pose, "telephone."  (Our foot is the phone...) 😀

Drew really loves this one!

Give us a call if you'd ever like to join us for yoga on Fridays!  We start promptly at 2:00!  😎

We're looking forward to welcoming the month of August next week.  We'll be busy with these activities:

Sunday:  🏌🏌🏌🏌 Several of us will be representing The Arc and Arc of Abilities at the Women of the Moose's 6th Annual Charity Golf Tournament at Williamsburg National!  Thank you, Patti, for your hard work dedicated to making this one of The Arc's most successful FUNdraisers each year!  We are extremely grateful for your support and friendship!!!  💙😍😎💙

Tuesday:  We're hoping for a break in the hot temps, and no rain.  Our plans are to work on our August calendar and then head over to New Quarter Park for picnic and play!  Wear your Arc shirts and bring a bagged lunch.  Friendship Day was on the 1st, and Ice Cream Sandwich Day was on the 2nd, so we'll be celebrating those, too!

Wednesday:  Our country of the week will be Greece since the Olympics are taking place.  Our friend Liz is bringing samples of spanakopita and baklava and we'll add a Greek salad for lunch.  Thanks, Liz.  That sounds so delicious!  We'll also talk about the Coast Guard since National Coast Guard Day is pretty much the only thing going on the National Day Calendar for August 4!  (Plus, Carol's son is a Coastie and she always has cool stories to share!)

Thursday:  Today will be quirky.  We're going to observe National Oyster Day by learning about oysters, something we've never studied at the AoA.  It's also National Underwear Day, so we'll do some silly things to "celebrate" that - all G-rated!  Lunch on your own.

Friday:  We hope to end the week with some outdoor fun as we celebrate Water Balloon and Root Beer Float Day!  (Storms are in the forecast most of the week, so fingers are crossed.)  We'll prepare a breakfast casserole with fruit for lunch.  Plus, it's Friday...so dress to stretch for Yoga Club!

Enjoy the weeked!

Lisa, Carol, Nan, and the AoA Gang

It Got a Little Toasty!

 

This was us this week as we relied on fans to keep our cool for a couple of days.  The air conditioning, which was just "upgraded" while we were on Summer Break, decided to malfunction in yet a different way this week!  However, our AC Hero came to the rescue, and got it up and running...just as Mother Nature gave us a break, too!  All's well that ends well!   Here's how our week played out:

Tuesday

 

When we arrived on Tuesday morning we noticed a greasy stain on the pool table that wasn't there when we left on Friday.  Long story short, something in the part of the HVAC system that runs above our ceiling was leaking!  Jerry, the HVAC guy (and our friend, as we've gotten to know him well over the years), got to work on it right away...and we couldn't resist this picture!  Thanks, Jerry!  You work hard and are super-friendly, too!  We appreciate you!

While Jerry was assessing the AC situation, we met a new friend named Todd, who came to tune-up our computers.  He worked on them ALL day and got them updated and running more efficiently.  It had been about 2 years since they were checked.  We enjoyed getting to know Todd, and even treated him to lunch!  He was happy to sample our Chinese cooking today.  Thank you, Todd!  It was a long day watching the little things flash and spin around on the computers.  We really appreciate what you did to improve them for our benefit!

In the midst of the hectic morning, Kevin arrived and right away Abraham noticed he had on a shirt like Lisa's!!  He was in Maryland last week and while in Annapolis, visited Bitty & Beau's, a coffee shop that employs adults with disabilities.  Lisa had visited their original location in Wilmington, NC a few years ago, and wears her shirt often.  Kevin and his family visited the Annapolis location and now Kevin has a shirt and he and Lisa can be twins!!  How cool!  (Kevin's mom asked Lisa ahead of time if she was familiar with Bitty & Beau's, and that's how Lisa came to wear her shirt on the same day as Kevin! 😉)

Tuesday was National Fortune Cookie Day, so we learned about the country of China this week.  Here, Patrick is coloring in the flag of China on his facts sheet.  Some of the interesting things we learned were:  1) China has more people than any other country at over 1.2 billion; 2) China is the third largest country by area in the world, after Russia and Canada (the United States is the 4th largest!); and 3) The Great Wall of China is the largest man-made structure in the world, and was built over 2,000 years ago to keep invaders out!

Michelle shared with Nan that she had a bit of trouble on her crossword puzzle about China, but after thinking about it, she figured out the mixed up answers and was able to correct them!  Great job, Michelle!  And very good problem solving, too!

Our lunch today was sesame chicken over rice with a side of fresh sauteed veggies!  Carol and Nan did most of the cooking because Jerry was working in the vicinity of our cooking table (and Todd was in the kitchen with computers all over the place).  We have to say, Nan and Carol did a great job as this was a tasty dish!

Did we mention National Fortune Cookie Day is today and that's how we decided to make China and Chinese food our focus?  Well, before we enjoyed our fortune cookies, we learned that they aren't even Chinese!  They were first made in San Francisco, but sort of originated in Japan.  They are considered a foreign concept in China and it's rare to find them there!  Devin and Sam don't mind that they aren't really Chinese...they just like eating them and reading the fun fortunes!

 

Today is also National Lollipop Day which we celebrated at the end of the day with Tootsie Pops.  We asked our guys if they knew of any pop culture references to lollipops and they came up with several.  Devin mentioned the Munchkins who welcome Dorothy by presenting her with a lollipop in The Wizard of Oz.  We watched the clip and everyone sang along!

Alexis mentioned Shirley Temple, and her song "Good Ship Lollipop."  Everyone sang along to this one, too! to

When we first mentioned lollipops, everyone started singing the iconic song, "Lollipop, Lollipop."  We didn't really know who sang it so we Googled it and learned that a well-known version of it was released in 1958 by a group of girl singers called the Chordettes, who were calling their guy crush a "lollipop!"

We had fun with our lesson on lollipops in pop culture!  Here's our guys singing along to what they called "The Lollipop Song."

Wednesday

It was a great day to escape the toasty AFCC and leave Jerry to work on the air conditioning.  Upon arriving at The Mariners' Museum,  our friend Wisteria, and the team responsible for keeping Mariners' Museum Park and Noland Trail in tip-top shape, Graham, Dave, and Josh, greeted us with enthusiam and welcomed us to the Education Center!  

Graham, Dave, and Josh had a lot of cool nature objects on the table!  We were so attentive as we learned about hives, nests, trees, deer, turtles, rabbits, skunks, and more from these enthusiastic and fun guys! 

Josh showed us a hummingbird nest that was found at the park.  He pointed out the spider silk that the hummingbird used to "glue" the nest together.

This is Graham teaching us about paper wasps!  They are not aggressive unless provoked, and they build huge nests by chewing up wood and mixing it with saliva...making a nest out of what looks like paper, and is surprisingly strong.

Graham got a kick out of Abraham's enthusiasm for checking out the paper wasps' nest!  Many of us had never heard of paper wasps, but we now know they assist with pollination, and that's a good thing!

Here, Dave is explaining that some animals like to live in trees, and if a bird such as a woodpecker bores a large enough hole, other animals may move in like squirrels, mice, or owls.

We learned that Josh, Dave, and Graham are responsible for making sure the Noland Trail is maintained and safe for us to us.  Josh explained to us that it's about 5 miles long, and they are constantly checking to make sure the layers of rock, sandy soil, gravel, and natural materials that compose it are safely compacted and free of hazards.

Graham is studying to become an arborist, so he was particularly excited to explain how we can count rings to determine a tree's age.  He said there are dark rings and light rings, and each pair of rings counts as one year of the tree's life.

After our fun and engaging lesson with the park guys, we grabbed our group photo in front of the eagle, and then headed outside to the trail with Wisteria.  We were going to feed turtles!

We took a short hike on the Noland Trail to the bridge over the lake. Wisteria told us turtles shouldn't be fed bread, which can cause them to choke and isn't healthy, either.  Instead, dark, leafy greens like spinach and kale are good for them.  She said the museum staff likes to use specially prepared turtle food pellets, so that's what we fed them. 

The turtles started gathering as soon as they detected our footsteps on the bridge!

Once the pellets started hitting the water, the turtles really showed up!  They were pretty polite though.  They seemed to understand there was plenty of food for everyone!

Josh, Dave, and Graham had given each of us a pair of disposable binoculars, which Nancy used for an up close view of the turtles.

Yum!  Nancy, Michelle, and Sam agree that lunch at The Mariners' Cafe never disappoints!  Some of us had bbq sandwiches, chicken wraps, or veggie burgers.  Others chose hot dogs, because it was National Hot Dog Day!

We enjoy spreading out at a few of the cafe tables, and we always clean up after ourselves.  There are also friendly conversations taking place, such as this one between Kate, Alexis, Liz, Drew, and Devin.

After lunch, we wandered through a couple of museum exhibits.  The ship modelmaker was working today, so we chatted with him about the model he's making.  He said it's of the Cutty Sark, which was one of the fastest tea clippers ever built.  It brought tea from China to England back in the day!

In the Ahoy Toy exhibit, the guys checked out works of literature related to the sea, such as Robinson Crusoe and Peter Pan.

We ended our visit at the International Small Craft exhibit, where we posed by this boat on the outside of the building.  We read that the family who owned it it used to cruise the Chesapeake Bay in the 1930s.  That reminded us of Kevin's trip last week!  His family spent the week cruising the Chesapeake Bay in their boat!  (That's Kevin with his hands up showing us a boat like his!)

Thursday

We had to begin today with a huge cheer for Jerry, our HVAC guy!  He got the AC up and running (after what he called a "major situation" that would impact us by "making it very warm in here") in two days and 1 hour - by our estimation.  It was cool and very comfy in here by 10 this morning!  Way to go, Jerry!  We appreciate you for sticking with this and getting it done! 👏👏

Since we had recently attended a magic show, we decided to check out a Mystery Doug episode on how magicians trick people.  He explained it pretty clearly - they use distraction!  However, while a magician distracts the audience, he or she has to be extremely focused.  It's hard to distract others, yet remain focused at the same time! There were several great examples shown of magicians using their hands, other objects, or talking to us as means of distractions that allow them to perform the magic!  It was a very interesting episode!

At the end of the Mystery Doug episode, we did a hands-on activity where we tried to master a trick called "The Gold Finder."  It involved flipping this card with arrows on each side, making it seem as if you're taking steps forward to find gold as you follow the arrows.  As you distract the audience with a story, you change the orientation of the arrows, which then sends you (or your unsuspecting audience) in a forward/backward/forward/backward direction, so that the gold will never be found!  We had fun with it, but it requires a lot of distraction and focus at the same time!  We need more practice!

The weather "magically" improved for today and it was less humid outside!  We went for a walk and to see where JRES will be installing a "learning cottage," also known as a trailer!  It will be just behind the school, off the blacktop area where we shoot hoops.  Heike said the trailer is coming tomorrow, and we noticed that the basketball hoops had been taken down so that trucks can get through for the delivery.  We'll be on the lookout for the trailer arrival tomorrow!

Two of our sunniest friends, Liz and Nancy, spotted a couple of sunflowers peeking over the garden fence!  It was very nice outside today!

Tuesday, July 20th was Moon Day, also known as the date in 1969 when Apollo 11 landed the first humans on the moon.  Part of our lesson included discussing the fact that in the past few weeks, a couple of quite wealthy private citizens have ventured to the edge of space, and that one day, they hope to take "regular" folks like us on space rides.  We watched a video clip of Amazon founder (and the richest man in the world!) Jeff Bezos' trip that was taken on Tuesday, and learned that he took the oldest and youngest people ever to go in space!

We also watched segments about Apollo 11 and Neil Armstrong.  Everyone was told to pay attention, because later we would take turns sharing facts we learned.  Here, Laura is telling us that astronauts are people who can go to the moon, and that the moon is kind of far away!  Yay, Laura!  In the background is Tracy, who stopped by say "hi" and make sure our AC was working well!  Thanks for always looking out for us, Tracy!

Patrick shared that one of the astronauts who walked on the moon in 1969 was Buzz Aldrin, and he is the only surviving member of that 3-man crew!  Good job, Patrick!

Here are some happy faces as we played Bingo at the end of the day!  

Xavier got a Bingo before Sam did, but not long after this play, Sam had also gotten a Bingo!  We always play until everyone wins!!

Friday

It was still cool from the repaired AC when we arrived this morning!  Good thing, because we had a lot to get done and it started with getting our groove on during the dance warm up!  We were using National Day of the Cowboy (July 24) as our main theme today,  and our guys brought it!

Our DJ today was Liz, and she and her friends thought of a lot of songs they thought would be good for Cowboy Day.  They all loved it when Nancy asked for a George Strait song, and then took herself to the "front row" to enjoy it! 💙 

Near the end of our dance warm up, we noticed the "learning cottage" being delivered to JRES!

It came in two sections, and they were huge!  We went outside to see if the trucks could make the turn to get them onto the blacktop.  They did!

We chatted with a couple of the guys involved with the transport and learned that the learning cottage made the trip here from Georgia, and it took all day yesterday and part of today!  (They stayed overnight in Emporia.)  It will be next week before the two halves are placed in their final spots and put together to make what will be two classrooms.  We wonder if we'll get to see that step?

While we waited for the truck to make the turn onto the blacktop, we snapped some pics of our cowboys and cowgirl!  Drew, Devin, Kate, and Sam brought us lots of smiles as they dressed for Cowboy Day!  Aren't they awesome?!  (We only had 10 in attendance today, so we missed a few others who may have dressed as well.)

Devin decided Drew might look good in his cowboy hat.  Drew took wearing it very seriously!

We also took advantage of Words with Friends Day happening this week by enjoying the camaraderie (word of the day) of friends while we played some word games.  Nan ran a lively session of Hangman which Liz, Nancy, and Kevin thoroughly enjoyed!

We made words and played our own version of Scrabble with Carol.  It was challenging at times to make up words with the letters we chose!

During Lisa's group, we had to match words to a series of pattern boxes that matched the shape of the letters.  This one was tough for most of our guys, but they helped each other!  

After lunch, we did a bit of cleaning in the storage closet that's outside of our room!  Yes...it was overdue for a purge!

We listened to the next chapter in our read aloud, learning that our main character, Nat, snuck away from wheelchair racing practice to try out for the Wicked show.  What will happen when her parents find out...and what if she gets a part?!  Tune in next week! 

We ended our week with a magic-themed yoga session with Jaime.  There was plenty of room to spread out this week, and all of our participants were as relaxed as wet noodles after the session!

We're already looking forward to next week!  Here's what we'll be doing for the last week of July:

Tuesday:  It's going to be a day of delight as we go bowling and get treated to a special lunch of chicken tenders and fries!  We'd like to thank Kate's family for sponsoring lunch for us today.  We appreciate their generosity and look forward to this awesome treat!  Wear your Arc shirt and bring your bowling ball!

Wednesday:  We're trying something new today!  In observance of National Bagelfest Day (which was July 26), we're going to learn how to make bagels!  Side note:   July 26 is also All or Nothing Day, so why not?!  We'll have bagels, eggs, and fruit for lunch.  We'll also learn about Amelia Earhart (a favorite lesson of ours) since we ran short of time on Amelia Earhart Day (24th).  We'll play a game to test our knowledge of what we learn!

Thursday:  We heard James is back from vacation and has our room loaded up with work to get done, so we'll be at Eaton today!  Please wear your Eaton shirt and bring a bag lunch.

Friday:  It's birthday time!  It's been a while but it's Nan's day today!  It's also National Avocado Day and she (and we) loves guacamole, so she's going to teach us how to make it!  We're going to learn about the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico and prepare arroz con gandules (rice/peas) for lunch along with a small taco salad and chips/guac on the side.  It's Friday, so dress to stretch for yoga, too!  ***We'll also welcome Cameron back for a visit with us today!***

ONE WEEK AWAY!  🏌🏌🏌

Here's the info for the Women of the Moose's Charity Golf Tournament for The Arc and The Arc of Abilities!  Call Lisa or Patti with any questions or if you want to join us.  We still need associates to volunteer.  😎  Thanks for your support!

REGISTRATION is open for the 5k on Saturday, October 2nd!  Arc clients can participate at the reduced rate of $20 and info was included in the August calendar that should have been received in the mail!  Registration is also live from our website; click here to sign up:  Arc 5k Registration

We look forward to seeing you in 2021!

Enjoy the weekend,

Lisa, Carol, Nan, and the AoA Gang