Thank You, Volunteers!

This week we were grateful for the support of several volunteers who stepped in to help while Lisa, Nan, and Alexis were away at the beach.  We never missed a busy beat thanks to the fabulous support from Tracy, Lisa P., Greg K., and Sue N.  Check out all the fun we had with them in this blog post our gang helped write!

 Tuesday

During our dance warm up, the song "Memories," by Maroon 5 / Kidz Bop came on and Kevin sang his heart out!

At New Quarter Park, Laura and Annmarie took a break from the 5k practice walk.  It was a beautiful day for two friends to hang out.

We had a friendly corn hole competition between the boys and girls.  Liz, Michelle, and Laura watched closely as Annemarie threw her bean bag.

The boys tried their best, but today it was all girls!  They won 21-17, so it was pretty close!

After lunch, the playground was empty of little kids, so we got to burn off some extra energy!  We didn't get a picture with her today, but we are very thankful for Tracy's help!  (Luckily, she stopped by on Friday and we got a picture with her then!  Keep reading...)

Wednesday

Today was Wildlife Day!  We had plenty of wild animals to go around and everyone enjoyed learning about them with our substitute, Lisa P.

Lisa P. brought lots of animals and beautiful picture books that we were able to look at all day long!   We each got to choose an animal to keep at our table all day, too!  We also had fun puzzle and coloring pages.  

Kevin picked a clownfish because it reminded him of Nemo.  He also liked reading about the clownfish.

Devin was trying to focus on finding all the words in a word search puzzle, and Lisa P. helped him at the end.  He said he enjoyed it very much!

It was Pizza Day!  We worked in our lunch prep teams to get everything ready.  Lisa P. helped the Pizza Team! 🍕

The Salad Team washed and chopped all the healthy veggies for our delicious salads!  🥗

Kate and Liz were the S'mores Cookie Team!  They made no bake cookies that were YUM! YUM!

Healthy and tasty all at the same time!

The S'mores cookies were so good and they reminded us of real S'mores!  It was an easy recipe and we will make them again! 😋  Want to try them for yourself?  Just click on the pic and it will take you to the recipe!

Near the end of the day, Lisa P. played Wildlife Bingo with us.  It was raining outside so this was a perfect indoor activity.  After Bingo, we played music and danced!  We had a roaring good time with Lisa P. on Wildlife Day!  Thanks, Lisa, for spending the day with us!

Thursday

Liz's dad, and Arc board member, Greg K., volunteered with us at Eaton today.  The gang said he caught on quickly to all the different tasks they had to complete!  (Well, with trainers like them, who wouldn't!?)  

Here, Michelle, Abraham, Annemarie, and Laura showed Greg how we count to take inventory of various parts.  Greg may be retired, but he still has a fabulous work ethic, and we are appreciative for his help today!  We hope you enjoyed working with us, Greg!

These three amigos had emptied this huge box that was full of parts.  After they transferred the parts to smaller tubs, Devin and Sam had a little fun relaxing in the box!  Be careful, guys, or Patrick will unpack YOU!

Liz worked independently to apply gaskets to hundreds of lids!  Wow!  What a day's work!

Kevin and Xavier also counted parts for inventory.  They work well together and make a great team!

Back at the center, we had a treat to celebrate our hard work at Eaton.  There were a few leftover S'mores cookies from yesterday, and Devin had brought in extra iced cookies from his cousin's birthday party.  Treats make all the hard work worth it! 

Friday

We welcomed TWO guests on Friday, Cameron and Patrick's mom, Sue (our substitute for the day)!  It was Sports Day!  Cameron still has what it takes to kick the ball pretty far!

Devin is serious about his kicking!  It was a homerun!

After kickball, we showed Sue where we like to walk at the back of JRES.  She enjoys walking as much as we do!  We are thankful for your help today, Sue.  We always have fun playing sporty games with you!  We hope you had fun playing with us, too!

Back inside, we had lunch to prepare.  This fruity group got bananas and grapes ready for us!

Tracy, who helped on Tuesday (but we forgot to get a pic), came back today and helped with lunch prep.  Sam and Patrick cooked sausage links!

Drew, Kevin, and Cameron whipped up some tasty microwave pancakes to go with our fruit and sausage.  

Breakfast for lunch always works for us!

We celebrated Teddy Bear Day by seeing how many words (called adjectives) we could think of to describe our bears.  We also got to name them and hang out with them at our tables all day!  🧸🧸🧸

We wrapped up the week with another friendly competition.  This time it was a game of (safe) darts!  Looks like Devin and Drew were concentrating on hitting the bull's eye!

Cameron checked his and Kevin's scores.  We had fun with our new games!  They are great for playing indoors!

Finally, here's a picture of Lisa, Alexis, and Nan who want to add another heartfelt thanks to our helpers!  They enjoyed a lovely week at the OBX with lots of family, and never worried about a thing.   Tracy, Lisa P., Greg, and Sue...thank you so much for stepping in to make sure our fun and busy week went smoothly!  We love our AoA family and all the support you show us!  

Here's an update on what's up at the AoA for the week of September 14:

Tuesday:  We're reuniting with the master gardeners today as we begin our fall sessions with them at Williamsburg Botanical Garden.  Wear your Arc shirts and bring a bagged lunch.

Wednesday:  Our country of the week is Morocco!  We'll learn about this African nation and prepare couscous salad with chicken and spinach, along with tangerines, for lunch.  We'll also work on the Arc newsletter for October.

Thursday:  We're heading back to Eaton for a work day, so wear your Eaton shirts and bring a bagged lunch.   We'll stop by Wendy's (or drive-thru) to celebrate a great work day with Frosties, too!

Friday:  Talk Like a Pirate Day is Sunday, but we are celebrating ALL DAY LONG today!  Feel free to dress like a pirate or bring your pirate "stuff" to share!  Lunch today is on your own (you may order from the JRES cafeteria).  Dress to stretch for yoga, too!