Fall Incoming!

What a surprise when we arrived at WISC for our walk on Tuesday to get out of the vans and spot trees with leaves already beginning to change color!  We're gearing up to welcome fall, and Mother Nature gave us a couple of signs that it's coming, between the leaf colors and some cooler temperatures by the end of the week.  On Friday morning, the heat kicked on at AFCC! 

Tuesday

The Arc's 2021Virtual 5k is underway, and folks are asked to walk on their own and submit pictures, so here are some pictures of our gang (minus Laura who was at the OBX this week) as we took another practice walk.  Our AoA for the 5k Team's alternative event is taking place at Veterans'  Park on Saturday, October 2nd, so we've got to make sure we're ready for the challenge! 

We were at the WISC recreation area for today's walk, and that's a great place for our gang to get in some steps.  You can design lots of different routes because there are a lot of paved areas on which to walk.  In our case, we all started off at the same time, but as different paced walkers emerged, we were able to let them split off and go for extra steps.  Here, Alexis, Kevin, Devin, Liz, and Xavier cut through an area beyond where the others were walking, giving them additional steps.

Patrick, Abraham, Drew, Sam, Michelle, and Kate headed on this straightaway and the others caught up with them at the intersection!  Annmarie and Nan had made a turn earlier.  Win-win for us all!

Nothing like a picnic with friends on a very nice day after a brisk walk!

Our day was just beginning at WISC.  After lunch, we joined Christina at the Art Museums of CW for another interesting, educational, and fun visit!  We noticed this new display in the entrance area, and Christina told us it was about archaeology, which is basically studying artifacts that are dug up so we can learn about the past.  We also learned that across the street from the new entrance to the museum, a new archaeology building would be going up soon!  It's going to be fascinating and we can't wait to visit!

Our primary lesson with Christina today was to look for objects in the museums that featured patterns.  We found many instances of patterns on our walkabout:  in the way the tall case clocks were arranged, and on wallpaper, ceramics, and textiles, as shown here.

Christina pointed out that we love patterns in our modern-day clothing, too.  Even though most of us (in our Arc shirts and solid shorts/pants) were not wearing patterns today, Sam had on plaid shorts and plaid is a type of pattern!

This is a beautiful quilt, and the pattern looks like a lot of flowery designs.  We learned that this is a "piece quilt" and it's pieced together by hundreds, if not thousands, of hexagon shaped pieces of cloth that are each about an inch or so in diameter!  It's stunning to see all the hexagon pieces up close!

The hexagon quilt inspired our lesson in the education center today.  Christina gave each of us a "blank slate" of hexagon designs, and urged us to get creative with coloring/drawing patterns.

Most of our guys went with what teachers would call an AB pattern, meaning it consists of two colors, designs, or other variables.  They then repeated the AB pattern many times.

As usual with our projects with Christina, no two were alike, and each one was perfect in its own way!  We forgot to get a group picture, but they were all colorful and pretty.  What's more, our guys really enjoyed the quiet coloring time with Christina!  Art therapy?!  xoxo

Wednesday

Our country of the week was Kenya. For lunch, we were making a Kenyan bean/corn stew called githeri.  During our dance warm up, Annmarie sauteed a big bowl of chopped onions so we could get a head start on the stew!

Later, we added canned beans and tomatoes, and frozen corn.  The magic happened when Devin and Michelle added the spices:  curry, garlic, and smoked paprika!

This crew finished up the easy to make stew, which we learned is a "trendy" dish among younger folks in Kenya!  We liked it, even though our guys wondered where the chicken was?!  This was a vegetarian dish, and the curry/garlic/paprika spices gave it a unique flavor!

It was also Elephant Appreciation Day, and we learned that African elephants are a vulnerable population.  Countries in Africa, like Kenya, have taken steps in recent decades to curb the hunting and poaching of big game animals like the elephant, rhinos, and lions, so their numbers are increasing.

Liz brought in a small elephant that had been carved out of ivory.  It belonged to her great-grandmother, so it was from many, many years ago.

To help celebrate Elephant Day, and learn about Kenya, Liz, Michelle, and Kate brought stuffed animals and dressed for the day!  We love their spirt!

Right before lunch, Nan gathered Kevin, Liz, and Sam to help her fry cornbread.  This was going to be our side dish with the Kenyan githeri.  Nan simply mixes cornmeal with a bit of sugar and water, then fries up cripsy pieces of yumminess!  She learned this recipe from Gdad's mom, back in the day!

Along with fresh pineapple, the fried cornbread made a nice accompaniment to our Kenyan stew.  It was a reasonably healthy meal, too!

We were excited to hear Devin's news today.  He plays Buddy Baseball on Sunday afternoons, along with Drew and Patrick.  Last Sunday, Devin hit an "over the wall" homerun and he brought in the ball to show us!  WOW, Devin!  What an arm you must have!  Congratulations!! ⚾⚾⚾

Autumn arrived today so we talked about the autumnal equinox, which is the day when we have about 12 hours each of daylight and darkness.  The amount of daylight will be getting shorter now as fall comes on and leads to winter.  We also made a small wreath using pretty fake leaves.  We're going to be decorating one of the walls to welcome the new season!

But probably the highlight of our day was celebrating National Ice Cream Cone Day!  We felt justified in having a chocolate dipped cone to celebrate since our lunch had consisted of such a healthy stew.  Michelle, Kevin, Annmarie, and Abraham, along with their friends, patiently sat through a video that explained how cones are made, and then dug into the chilly treat!  We had popsicles for our friends who avoid dairy, so everyone was happy, and it was a great ending to our day.

Thursday

Today was such a fun day!  We celebrated National One-Hit Wonder Day and Open the Magic Day, both of which are on Saturday.  Listening to songs that everyone knew, but didn't know who the artist was because they only had the one hit, was a big hit with our guys!  You should have heard them singing!  Open the Magic Day is about the joy and magic in reading, so we spent a lot of time with books for that.  Reading is something we enjoy at the AoA, and we always love book theme days to see what our guys bring to share!

🎶📚🎶📚🎶📚

What we didn't spend much time doing today was taking pictures!  Even though Lisa kept saying to remind her to get certain shots, we got so wrapped up in the music and books that we just forgot.  So, here's what we ended up with...along with a lot of great memories!

"Don't Worry, Be Happy" was a one-hit wonder for Bobby McFerrin.  What a fun song that was!  We learned that it was the first a capella song to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart, and that Bobby McFerrin has remained in the music business...just without other "big" hits.

Our movement activity today included a game of One-Hit Wonder Musical Chairs.  We had so much fun with this, that we took a couple of short videos!  Here, the gang was listening to "Hey, Baby," a one-hit wonder by some dude from the early 60s named Bruce Chanel!  Look how serious they are as they play!

A more recent one-hit wonder was "Who Let the Dogs Out" by the Baha Men.  This is one that stays in your head for a while!

After playing to several one-hit wonder songs, we ended up with two players left, Devin and Alexis.  Our last one-hit wonder for this game was "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," which was a hit for a group called The Tokens in 1961.  Of course, all of our guys knew it as a song from the movie Lion King!

Devin, who also knew EVERY one-hit wonder we played all day, prevailed as the musical chairs winner!  That kid loves to sing, and his friends enjoyed his enthusiasm for our game!

One book Alexis brought for Open the Magic Day was a yearbook from when she was in 4th grade in 2001-2002.  She was in Becky's 4th grade class!  Everyone enjoyed seeing a picture of Becky and Alexis from "back in the day," as some said.  😂  We sure miss seeing Becky now, in the present day!  

During Choice Time, some of the guys chose to keep reading.  Devin also brought a yearbook, and Sam brought a biography of one of his favorites, Bruce Lee.  Devin showed us pictures of him and his brother, Christian, when they were "young," and we had time to read Sam's book aloud.  Alexis was still looking at her yearbook, and beside her, Drew was enjoying a computer game. Kevin was working a puzzle, and in the background, Kate was reading a chapter book at her table!  

 

We want to give shoutouts to others who shared great and magical books today, too.  Annmarie had a very cool step-by-step cookbook with easy to follow pictures and yummy recipes!  Abraham brought a fun story that we read aloud about a dragon who was too nice to be ferocious!  Drew brought a story about Pete the Cat, and a Halloween joke book that we want him to bring back for our party!  Liz shared a website on her iPad that has stories you can read and then take a quiz!  She enjoys doing that.  Patrick brought one of his many prized books about baseball, and we learned about his favorite player, Chipper Jones!  We truly enjoyed our celebration of Open the Magic Day, and we heartily encourage anyone to grab a book and read, be read to, or read to someone!  💓📚🔮

Friday

Another one of our favorite days to celebrate each year is Johnny Appleseed Day, which occurs on his birthday, September 26th.  There are so many fun things to do that involve apples, so here we go!  (And we have pictures today!!)

We made apple-themed bookmarks!  This was a fun and easy craft for our guys that the master gardeners ran short of time to do with us when we last saw them.  Krafty Karen, who assembled all of the darling "kits" for us, told us to bring them back to AFCC and make them when we had time.  Today was the perfect day!

Pat was so proud of his bookmark!

Thank you, Karen, for putting all the bits and pieces of this bookmark craft into individual kits for us.  Assembly was easy, and that's always a victory with us! We enjoyed making them, and talking about what a fun and "Krafty" person you are! 🍎🍏🍎🍏 (Can you tell that Alexis already has hers marking a page in her book?!)

Check out this gorgeous blue sky!  We went outside and actually enjoyed the weather for the first time in a while.  It was cool and not muggy...and plenty of sunshine.  Kevin practiced his shot!

We have game and equipment options when we go outside, but today, most of the gang just wanted to walk and talk.  

Sam gave Xavier a high-five when they crossed paths!

We tried a new "one-pot wonder" recipe today.  It consisted of sauteed chicken, bacon, sweet potatoes, onion, green beans, and APPLES!  Alexis, Patrick, Drew, and Sam cooked it, and when they added in the cinnamon and thyme, our room smelled so good!  It was a dish that made us of think of fall, since it was colorful and hearty, and a couple of the guys asked for the recipe!

Devin, Abraham, and Kate helped Nan make her delicious sweet tea (a rare treat for us), and they also made decorative napkin rings for our place settings!  We should have gotten a close up of the napkin rings, which were colored with pretty apples!

Our side dish was cinnamon apple bites, made with crescent roll dough.  Kevin, Liz, Xavier, and Michelle helped create these, but for Xavier, they made a gluten-free bagel half, topped with the apple/cinnamon mixture.  Everyone loved these!

Jaime even got in on the apple fun with us!  She has a yoga routine about an ant who hides inside of an apple and ends up on a journey to becoming an astronaut.........you had to be here! 🐜🍎

We stretch tall and try to maintain our balance in tree pose.

This is rocket pose, which is similar to tree pose, but the feet are spread apart.

Yoga is always a relaxing way to end our busy time together.  We will be very busy next week, so we're sure to look forward to next Friday's yoga session!  Here's what we'll be up to as October comes around the corner:

Tuesday:  We are returning to the Botanical Garden today for another session with the master gardeners.  We're excited to take a Tree Walk with them today!  Back at the center, we'll work on adding decorations to our "Welcome Fall" wall.  Please wear Arc shirts and bring a bagged lunch.

Wednesday:  National Dumpling Day was a couple of days ago, so we are going to learn about the country of Korea, where dumplings are recognized as a signature dish.  We'll have mandu (Korean style dumplings) for lunch along with rice and steamed veggies.  

We'll also begin preparations for a couple of special events this week:  Custodians Day (Friday) and the AoA for the 5k Fun Event (Saturday).

Thursday:  Today we will continue making preparations for our special events, and we will celebrate National Manufacturing Day (Oct. 1) by delivering some homemade goodies to Eaton!  We'll have lunch on your own (can order Pizza or Deli Sandwich from cafeteria).  After lunch we will take a walk at New Quarter Park and then stop by Eaton for the special delivery.

Friday:  Today we are celebrating Custodial Workers Recognition Day, which is Saturday.  We'll prepare Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad for lunch, and invite Heike, Sevarina, and Diane to join us!  It's also yoga time, so dress to stretch!

Lisa, Carol, Nan, and the AoA Gang

Reunited with the Master Gardeners

This week we were super-excited to be reunited with our master gardener friends at the Williamsburg Botanical Garden!  We have kept in touch with them throughout the pandemic, and we had safe, outside visits here and there with Linda and Karen, and we even had a whole group "just because we've missed you" visit with them earlier in the summer.  But this week marks the return of our regular sessions.  It was wonderful to be reunited with them, most of whom we had not seen in almost 2 years, as our last regular session was in October 2019.  Here's a look at our master gardener reunion, and the rest of our activities from this week!

Tuesday

Our lesson with the master gardeners was mainly about apples, but, as always, they had lots more to share with us.  Karen told us about two broccoli plants she had recently planted in one of the beds.  We've never grown broccoli before, but Karen says it takes a while.   Maybe by the end of October we will be able to harvest some!

Pat taught us a few things about basil that we didn't know.  We remembered that basil and tomato are "best friends," but we didn't know that basil doesn't care for cold weather at all!  We also didn't know that you can grow basil from cuttings!  We're going to try that at the center with two kinds of basil.  Here, Pat was telling us that some people prefer to grow plants from seeds, and that basil seeds are really tiny!

The MGs took turns telling us about different varieties of apples, and we took a taste test!  The four apples we tried were Granny Smith, Golden Delicious, Gala, and Fuji.  All of our guys voted for ALL of the apples as being tasty, but we did note that the Granny Smith was quite sour compared to the others!

It was rather warm and muggy, so we didn't do any work in the garden today.  We took a walk around and checked a few things out, like the broccoli Karen planted along with some carrots and radishes.  We noticed birds nibbling at the sunflower heads trying to get the seeds.  Liz picked a couple of peppers, and on the other side of the trellis, Alexis picked us another trombone squash!

Can you spot the caterpillars nibbling on this parsley plant?  They are hungry little guys!  Before we knew it, we were hungry too, and our time with the MGs had come to an end.  "Krafty" Karen gave us kits to make adorable apple bookmarks, and we will do that back at AFCC next week.  Thanks, MGs, for a fun, informative, and tasty morning! It was great to be reunited with you again, and we look forward to our next session in a couple of weeks!

We stayed at the park long enough to eat our lunch at the picnic tables behind the Interpretive Center, but we decided to cancel our 5k practice walk.  We were all very warm and sweaty...

After we returned to AFCC we worked on last week's blog.  With Lisa away, it didn't get written, so we all worked on it together this afternoon using the pictures we took last week.  Lisa was planning to send it out by Wednesday!  We had fun telling her about what we did while she was gone, and helping her write the narrative!

When Debbie arrived to pick up Kevin, we had Drew present her with a door prize she won for having registered for our virtual 5k!  It was a gift certificate to Carrabba's!  Thanks for registering, Debbie, and congratulations!  We hope you and Kevin will be joining us at Veterans' Park on October 2nd to celebrate The Arc of Greater Williamsburg with a fun walk!

Speaking of this year's 5k, it's not too late to sign up and join us on October 2nd.  We'll be at Veterans' Park for a fun walk (not 5k!), good times with friends, goodie bags/t-shirts, and treats!  And just this week, we partnered with the trainers from GYMGUYZ who will join us and lead the walk, plus some other fun activities!  Kristin and the GYMGUYZ team have been conducting Fitness Nights for The Arc and a few of our AoA guys have attended the sessions.  They say the GYMGUYZ rock, and we can't wait to see them on October 2nd!  Here's the link to register so you won't miss the fun:

Wednesday

We put our computer lab to use today as we celebrated National Online Learning Day.  Working in pairs, we played games of skill and luck, and had a fun and engaging time doing it!

We were having such a good time, we decided to film a short video, too!  Happy Online Learning Day, and thanks to the JCC Rotary Club, who gifted us with our computers back in 2017.  They are still serving us well!

After our online learning time, we formed lunch prep groups and got to work.  One thing we needed to get ready was a couscous salad that needed to chill for a while before lunch.  When the fire drill alarm sounded around 10:30, we had to exit the building from both the kitchen and the main room, as we were working in both areas.

Everyone exited in a quick and orderly manner, and we also remembered to turn our burners off. 👍 We think this is the first time we've had a fire drill when we were not all in the same room!

Once lunch was chilling in the fridge, we had our lesson about the country of Morocco.  We learned that it is about the size of California, over 34 million people live there, their favorite drink is mint tea sweetened with sugar, and couscous is a staple food.  We also learned that a lot of large mammals, like elephants and lions, no longer roam Morocco, but in their desert region there lives a small rodent called a jerboa.  Even animal expert Michelle had never heard of this kangaroo/rabbit/rat looking animal that hops!

Our couscous salad was delicious!  We also had tangerines, which got their name because long ago they were shipped from the Port of Tangiers in Morocco.  Our veggie side dish was the trombone squash we picked at the garden yesterday.  Nan cooked it for us, adding onion to it, and it was also delicious!

For our friend Xavier, we modified the salad and used gluten-free pasta instead of couscous.  Instead of a breadstick, he had a toasted piece of gluten-free pita bread.  Yummy in, and to, his tummy! 😋

It's time to sign up for The Arc's October events!  We got the mailing ready to drop at the post office today, but our guys brought their sign up sheets home in their hands.  Check the calendar, and see what's happening in October!

Those who weren't working on the mailing were working on making "bracelets" out of strips of construction paper, as Annmarie is doing here.  We then attached the "bracelets" to one another to make pumpkin shapes.

This was a challenging activity, as gluing the paper so as to make a ring is a difficult concept for many of our guys.  We persevered, though.  Our one and only final product turned out nicely!

Thursday

In what has become a consistent part of our routine, we headed to Eaton to work today.  We had 14 in attendance, which is everyone PLUS Cameron who hung out with us again.  It's always great to welcome him back for a visit!  We needed everyone we had too, as we were busy!  We grabbed the camera early on and took a few pictures.  But after these, we were too busy for photo ops!

Alexis, Michelle, and Liz were on light bulb duty for most of the day!  As usual, they handled with care!

 

Kevin, Abraham, Drew, Xavier, and Patrick unloaded not one, but TWO big tubs of parts.  Each of these pieces was transferred to smaller tubs, and then sent on their way to James!

Nan, Kate, and Cameron worked on yet another new task for us!  They placed large labels on the interior sides of these doors, that we think will end up on a pedestal eventually.  

At this table, Sam, Annmarie, Devin, and Laura were counting screws and small metal plates that we were bagging up in different numbers for various Eaton customers.  One customer was Cape Hatteras National Seashore, which most of these guys have visited!  

💙💙💙 Overheard at lunch today in the Eaton break room:  "I've been doing a good job today."  Followed by a chorus of "Me, too!" "Me, too!" "Me, too" 💙💙💙

Thanks, Eaton Corporation, for the opportunity you provide for the Arc of Abilities members to enjoy the satisfaction that comes from a good day's work!  It means the world to our guys.

Speaking of being thankful, grateful, and blessed, we are all of those and more when we get to enjoy Frosties from Wendy's!  It's been a while since we were able to make a stop, but thanks to Sam's grandmother and our dear friend, Nina, (and Covid shutdowns, too) we STILL have funds left on the gift cards she gave us for Christmas in 2019!  She wanted us to enjoy Frosties, and we have!  Our stop today was the first time in almost two years that we were able to have our Frosties onsite!

Before wrapping up the day, we wrote a letter to Nina, thanking her for the enduring gift of Frosties.  Michelle made sure everyone signed it, especially Nina's favorite AoA dude, Sam !

Nina is celebrating her 86th birthday this weekend, and even though she's far away in Arizona, she's always near in our hearts.  We miss you, Nina!  Happy, Happy Birthday to YOU! 🥳🥳🥳

Friday

Today was all about pirates!  We spent all day participating in a lot of pirate-themed activities, and even made eye patches to wear.  (We learned that pirates wore eye patches as a way to train their eyes to see better at night!)  We found out that limiting our vision to one eye made moving about and seeing things very challenging.

  
During our morning dance warm up, DJ Liz played a lot of pirate themed songs, including one from the Disney movie Descendents 2.  Morning dance time is fun! 

One of our pirate activities involved working with partners to hunt for treasure.  Our "treasure" was pirate words which were hidden around the room in places like the pool table pocket!  With their eye patches on, and Laura carrying the Jolly Roger she brought from home, she and Patrick found almost all 20 treasure words before time ran out!

We found a fun pirate-themed video workout for today's movement activity.  It involved stretching, cardio, core, upper, and lower body exercises!

Sorry the photo is blurry, but our pirates were on the move!  Did real pirates exercise?!  We doubt it, be we suppose all the work they did on the ships was a pretty good workout!

Lisa, Alexis, and Nan found this book while in the Outer Banks last week, and they thought we'd like it for Pirate Day.  It's a short "chapter" book and we were able to read the whole book in one day.  It was a cute story about puppy pirates who "do the right thing" and travel into the "Grrr-muda Triangle" to rescue kitten pirates!

Michelle brought her soundtrack CD from the movie, Pirates of the Caribbean:  The Curse of the Black Pearl."  It provided great background music for us throughout the day!  Behind Michelle on the screen is Jaime, from Cosmic Kids Yoga.  When we took this picture, we were about to wrap up our week with Jaime's version of pirate yoga.

We deviated from Pirate Day activities to do one extra-special thing today, and that was make a card for Moose Patti.  September 17 is National Professional House Cleaners Day, and Patti is our very favorite professional house cleaner (her day job)!!!  Lisa and Alexis were going to stick it on her front door on the way home.  We hope Patti was surprised to find it!  💜💜💜  And with this good deed, we ended another fun week!

Late Breaking News:  Patti was thrilled to find the card stuck to her front door when she got home from work!  She sent Lisa this picture along with a message saying she's still smiling, ear to ear!

Here's a look at our upcoming plans:

Tuesday:  We are looking forward to a pleasant couple of outings today.  First, we will head to the WISC for a 5k practice walk followed by lunch at the picnic area.  After that, we will head over to the Art Museums of CW for a lesson with Christina!  The weather forecast looks iffy, but we will think positively!  Please wear your Arc shirts and bring a bagged lunch.

Wednesday:  We are staying on the continent of Africa this week as we study the country of Kenya.  Today is Elephant Appreciation Day, and part of our lesson will include learning about Kenya's efforts to save these magnificent animals by stopping poaching.  For lunch, we will prepare a traditional Kenyan dish called githeri.  Composed of beans, corn, potatoes, and onion, it's similar to what we call succotash.  Today is also National Ice Cream Cone Day, so there may be a mini-treat to go along with our vegetarian lunch!

Thursday:  Today we will have fun with music and books, so bring your favorite song requests and/or books.  We're celebrating One Hit Wonder Day (songs that still get stuck in our heads) and Open the Magic Day (read alouds and picture books).  Lunch on your own (or order from JRES cafeteria - pizza or sub).  

Friday:  We'll celebrate Johnny Appleseed Day (Sept. 26th), as it's one theme we enjoy year after year.  There will be lots of apple related activities, and we'll try a new recipe for lunch:  a hearty chicken/apple/sweet potato combo.  Plus, we'll bake mini-apple pie bites for dessert.  It's also yoga day, so dress to stretch! 

Saturday, October 2nd:  Our scaled back "AoA for the 5k" event, in lieu of The Arc's 5k which had to go vitural again this year, is just two weeks away!  If you haven't registered for the 5k or Fun Mile yet, please click over to this link and sign up:   https://runsignup.com/Race/VA/Williamsburg/WilliamsburgLanding5kforTheArc?remMeAttempt=

We're planning a fun morning at Veterans' Park and hope to see you   there! 

NEWS FLASH:  Our friends from GYMGUYZ will be joining us to help make our "alternate" 5k activity even more fun!  You won't want to miss this!  Sign up today!

Enjoy the weekend,

Lisa, Carol, Nan, and the AoA Gang