OK, so maybe it wasn't cold enough for penguins around here this week, but it was colder than we've been used to lately! We didn't let the chill in the air stop us, and we even had fun outside for a while on Wednesday...not to mention the special event we attended on Tuesday! Our friend Cameron visited this week, too, and we got to celebrate his birthday!!! Meanwhile, Carol was missing as she traveled to warm and sunny Florida! Here's a peek at our second week of January...
Tuesday
Everyone came in excited for the afternoon adventure, but we had to dance, check last week's blog post, and make decorative polar bears on icebergs first...
We were busy and forgot to take pictures while we made them, but here's how they look on the wall along with some snowmen we added later in the week!
We stepped outside long enough to check the bird feeders. We found that the feeders we made with TP rolls were clean, so we removed them from the trees and fence. Unfortunately, we noticed our big bird feeders seemed as full as they did last week. Maybe the squirrels ate the seed on our TP rolls?? Maybe the birds are finding "fresh" food and don't need our birdseed?? The plot thickens!
It was quite chilly outside, but we paused long enough for a group picture!
Laura's parents, Tom and Lisa, joined us. They helped us get situated and then got popcorn for everyone! We had the theater to ourselves, but most of our guys wanted to sit together. Laura and Annmarie preferred to be a little closer to the screen.
We had seen the first SING movie together a few years ago, and we were curious to see if the sequel would be as good. We all enjoyed it very much! Our guys love music and this one had a lot of it. The soundtrack is great!
Here's Laura clapping along to one of the songs. Many of our guys were singing along, too! Thank you Erin, Alison, Tom, Lisa, AND Laura for giving us this awesome, and safe experience. For many of us, it was our first time in a theater in a couple of years, and we enjoyed it very, very much! Your generosity is most appreciated!
Wednesday
We had a lot to get done today, so after our dance warm up, we got busy! First thing, writitng thank you notes to Laura's family for yesterday's wonderful movie trip. Thanks again, Palmer family, it was so much fun!
January 10 is Save the Eagles Day, but we marked it today by watching an informative video and learning some cool facts. For example, there is a martial eagle, who is strong enough to break a human's arm with one kick of its leg! A fun fact we learned is that there is a town in Alaska, called Unalaska, where there are so many bald eagles that you're "bound to run into one every day!"
Speaking of Alaska, Kevin wore a t-shirt from the Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve that he picked up on a family trip to Alaska a few years ago. Great choice, Kevin!
We loved that Devin wore Eagles spirt gear today...even if it was for the Philadelphia Eagles! He also played Eagles music for us while being dance warm up DJ today! Fun, fun, fun!
Today was Curried Chicken Day and we like tasty dishes, so we made an easy version. While Drew stirred it all together, Xavier held the jar of coconut curry and can of coconut milk we used for our sauce. We also made quinoa, which made this a gluten-free dish so Xavier could enjoy it, too!
Who better than Annmarie to help Alexis make 🎵🎵 "fruit salad, yummy, yummy" 🎵🎵 for our side dish?! OK, maybe Kevin.... #thewiggles 😍
Miss Michelle was patient in waiting for us to find the camera so we could get this shot of our delicious curried chicken (w/ spinach added for a punch of iron) and quinoa lunch!
It was a refreshing 45 degrees and sunny after lunch so we kicked off our Corn Hole Winter Challenge, Game 1, on the lawn outside our room. Sam (and Devin, who missed the pic) is always willing to set up the game boards for us!
It was boys vs. girls again, and this time, the score ended in a 10-10 tie after time ran out and we had to head back inside. Lisa offered to let each team have one more shot to try and break the tie, but a lot of the friends spoke up to say, "Let's have a tie, today. We're good sports!" 💛💛💛
With Carol being out of town, we had to coordinate the assembly of the Arc's February mailing without her. Nan and this crew got it done!
Check your calendar to see if there is anything you'd like to sign up for in February. NOTE: The sign up sheet is on two pages this month, so be sure to return both. Also, the purple page is a survey regarding the newsletter that we'd like everyone to complete. Thanks!
We ended our day joyfully making birthday cards for our friend Cameron, who was in the AoA for years before moving to Staunton last summer. His grandparents still live in York County, so sometimes when the family comes to town, Cameron stops by for a visit. He'll be with us tomorrow AND we get to help him celebrate his 30th birthday!!
Thursday
Cameron came to visit today! We got to celebrate his birthday, and a few other things! It was a great day...
Ernie in the bathtub can only mean one thing: It was Rubber Ducky Day! Yes, our guys sang along and it was awesome!
Lisa brought her set of cute little rubber duckies that her great-nieces play with when visiting, and we enjoyed squeaking them while we learned that in 1992 a container of rubber duckies on a ship traveling from Hong Kong to the USA fell overboard. It was a happy coincidence that Laura wore a ducky-ish looking mask today! We loved it!
The duckies came out of the container, and floated on an epic journey over the next 15 years, with some of them traveling as far as 17,000 miles in the oceans from the Pacific to the Atlantic...via the Arctic! Here's the video clip we watched if you'd like to check it out; it's really interesting! (Click on the pic.)
We also watched a video about a lady in Washington state who holds the Guiness record for largest rubber ducky collection. We saw this last year, but it's worth watching again! (Here's the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjFG-iRuvg0) Next, we each colored a picture of a rubber ducky with a favorite theme. We had sports ducks, college ducks, and even a birthday duck!
Drew was excited that our indoor movement this morning was "Joke Fitness." He loves a good joke! During this workout, we had to exercise while we waited for the narrator to reveal the answer to the joke.
Our guys did a great job, and even laughed at the corny jokes!!
Everyone got to decorate their own cupcake for Cameron's party. Cameron put a lot of colorful sprinkles on his! 🧁
Cameron, Xavier, and Kate are friends from waaaay back! They went to school together at York High. Here, they are reunited at Cameron's birthday board. We would all like to thank Cameron's family for treating us to pizza for lunch today! Cameron loves pepperoni pizza, and so do his friends! We appreciate his family's continued support, and love, for the AoA! Happy 30th birthday, Cameron!!
We ended Cameron's birthday celebration with a rousing game of Birthday Bingo! Everyone was a winner, too. 😊 Happy Birthday, again, Cameron! We hope you enjoyed your day with us as much as we enjoyed seeing you! You make 30 look good!!!
Friday
Today was interesting! Some friends were absent, Sam was getting picked up at 11, and a group went to work at Pet Supplies Plus (PSP), but we carried on with our fractured groups and got a lot done! We'd like to thank Laura's mom, Lisa P., for coming in for a few hours to help Nan while Lisa took a group to PSP! She was such a good sport and agreed to work with us to make homemade bagels for National Bagel Day! We appreciate her help!!!
Here's part of the crew that stayed at the center to bake bagels (it also included Laura and Kate). We asked everyone to wear their PSP shirts in support of our new work experience, and we think Annmarie, Xavier, Kevin, and Drew look pretty sharp in them!
It was National Hat Day, too, so we played a version of musical chairs where everyone had to grab a hat when the music stopped!
Even though it was a group of only 6, it was a fun game!
Nan and Lisa P. worked with this group to make a beautiful tray of homemade bagels. Unfortunately, they forgot to snap pictures during the preparations, but that's ok. The main thing was creating these masterpieces so we would have lunch, and they aced that! The bagels were the perfect accompaniment to our bean soup, which we actually cooked yesterday and only reheated today. Thanks, Friends! Lunch was delicious! 😋
These bagels are easily made with flour and Greek yogurt as the main ingredients. No yeast, and no resting, rising, or boiling needed. We highly recommend them! (The plain one was store bought as it's gluten-free for Xavier.) Click on the picture for a link to the recipe. 🙌
Meanwhile, we began our vocational work at PSP today with a group of 4. Here's a pallet that was loaded with product which needed to be unpacked and sorted. We took this picture after we had been working for a while!
Today's group consisted of Sam, Patrick, Alexis, and Michelle. They easily tackled our tasks, and it was evident that our skills and work ethic from our years at Eaton were being transferred to PSP!
Patrick and Sam put large bags of dog and cat food on this cart, called a u-cart. Smaller items were being sorted into shopping carts, so other PSP employees could roll them to the appropriate aisle and place them on the shelves. We'll probaby be doing that job soon!
Alexis and Michelle were filling this cart with cat food. Lisa spoke with Scott, PSP owner and Devin's dad, on Friday afternoon and told him we had a great experience! He and Roxanne are all about including more of us each visit as time goes on. They are very open to our suggestions as to what our guys could try, and the possibilities are endless! Thanks, Scott and Roxanne. We're so happy to be on your team!
Later in the day, we found these gals looking for a photo op! Happy National Hat Day!
We brought the week to a close with a great yoga session with Jaime. Everyone got into the movements as Jaime told a story about a penguin who wanted to fly!
After the penguin story, we listened to one of Jaime's "Zen Den" segments. This is when she talks us through strategies that help us with mindfulness. Today, we got some good advice from her, including "The Power of YET." Simply put, when we have doubts about our abilities, instead of saying we can't, we should say "we can't...yet." (Because we aren't going to give up trying!) Thanks, Jaime!
With that, our chilly and busy week was done. Next week will be here before we know it, and here are our plans:
Tuesday: We are going bowling today! We'll be masked up, and have the end lanes to ourselves, with just a few other bowlers on the other end lanes, and will wash our hands frequently. We feel comfortable with this outing. We'll also have pizza and fruit for lunch! After bowling, we will stop by Freedom Park for a brisk walk to check the garden. Is the broccoli ready to harvest?! We'll find out! Don't forget to bring your bowling balls and wear Arc shirts and jackets!
Wednesday: It's been a while since we studied a country, so today we will take a virtual visit to Sweden. We'll make Swedish meatballs with mashed potatoes and lingonberry preserves (traditionally served in Sweden). We'll also celebrate National Popcorn Day while enjoying a short video about animals that includes a segment on polar bears. Then we'll make some birthday cards for a couple of special friends of the AoA.
Thursday: It's Disc Jockey Day, so we will be all about the music today! We'll also complete the math lessons we missed last week and try to catch up on our read aloud story. Since tomorrow is an Eaton day, we'll have yoga this afternoon, so dress to stretch. Lunch on your own; JRES Cafeteria is available for Domino's Pizza or Sub of the Day!
Friday: We'll travel to Eaton for a work day. Please wear your Eaton shirts and bring a bagged lunch!
Enjoy the weekend! Stay safe and warm!
Lisa, Carol, Nan, and the AoA Gang
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