It got HOT this week!

It's probably not as hot (and humid) as it's going to get, but it was icky enough for us this week!  We have been lucky with our outdoor excursions since summer officially began, but we had to make some changes this week.  Everyone rolled with it, though.  We had a wonderful week despite the heat!  Check it out...

Tuesday

Once again, we had the best time on our community outing.  There were two highlights today!  We already had plans for our monthly visit with Christina at the Art Museums of CW this afternoon, but we added a trip to see Mr. Stutt at Matthew Whaley Elementary School in the morning.  Both were stellar experiences!  Liz held the door as we entered the school building, which is over 90 years old! 

The school building is listed on both the Virginia Landmarks Register, and the National Register of Historic Places.  It's definitely one of Williamsburg's most recognizable landmarks!

There are a lot of stairs in Matthew Whaley, and our excellent host and tour guide, Mr. Stutt, took us up and down them a few times!  When he visited us last week, he invited us to come see his "new place" (since 2020), and today turned out to be a perfect day for us to visit since we were coming to town to see Christina.  Thank you, Mr. Stutt, for the fun and interesting tour of your school!  We had the best time hanging out with you!

 

Look at this huge auditorium!  These are the original chairs from when the school was built in 1929.  Mr. Stutt said they were refinished a few years ago.  He invited us to come back and sit in them in December when the school puts on a production of The Nutcracker!  We'll be there!  🩰🎄

Our tour also included stops at the gym, and a classroom, where we met a very sweet kindergarten teacher who was already working on setting up her classroom for this fall!  Teachers are so dedicated!  This picture shows us in Mr. Stutt's office.  Of course, we spotted a "lollipop tree" and he graciously allowed us to pick a tasty treat from it!

Mr. Stutt asked about our lunch plans and when we told him we were heading to the outdoors, he said it was too hot for that and we should stay and eat in the cafeteria.  He insisted!  We were thrilled to accept his offer, and lunch was a pleasant experience.  We have such good friends!  Thanks again, Mr. Stutt!  Who knew touring an elementary school on a hot summer morning could be so much fun?!  It must have been the guide!!  👏👏

After lunch we joined Christina at the Art Museums of CW, where she had planned a lesson around National Moon Day, which is tomorrow.  First, she showed us a picture of one of her favorite prints, which is of two people at the shoreline, looking at the moon.  It was painted in the 1700s, and shows that people have always been interested in the moon, planets, and stars.  The moonlight glowing on the ocean in this picture was pretty!

Next, we found objects in the museums that are related to astronomy, like telescopes.  This one was made around 1760, but the first telescopes were invented in the Netherlands in 1608 by eye "doctors" of the time.  That kind of makes sense!  (Galileo perfected telescopes with higher magnifying power shortly after that.)  Christina's lesson today was a great follow-up to our recent constellation lesson with Erika at the Mariner's Museum! 👏👏

When Christina mentioned that Williamsburg's own George Wythe (law professor of Thomas Jefferson at W&M and signer of the Declaration of Independence) had telescopes and was very interested in studying the stars, we jumped at the chance to tell her that George Wythe's murder by his heir-apparent plays a key role in our current Virginia Mystery read-aloud!  We were excited to hear his name, and associate it with telescopes and orreries.  We also learned that an "orrery" is another name for a mechanical model of the solar system!  (It also surprised us to know that in the 1700s, "they" knew so much about the solar system.)

Christina also talked to us about other places the moon showed up in the past, such as on maps.  When it appeared on clocks, the "man in the moon's" appearance indicated nighttime.  Like Erika, she talked about explorers using the night sky to navigate, and it was cool that we had our recently acquired background information from Erika so handy!

What a fun art project with Christina, today!  She led us, step-by-step, through creating a "Moonlight Masterpiece" drawing, that was inspired by the print she showed us earlier!  First, we had to mark horizon and land lines on our canvas.  Next, we put a big round sticker slightly below the horizon line, and that was our full moon...we thought!

The next step was to use a series of purple and blue colors to shade the sky around the moon.  This is Christina's coworker, Valerie, assisting Laura.  We met her for the first time today and she was a great helper during our project.  

We also had to shade in the water below the moon.  We left areas blank that would be shaded differently to represent moonlight and sand.  Our bird expert friend, and Christina's colleague Paulette, assisted us, too.  She's seen here helping Drew.  

Christina had a surprise visitor for us to meet today and it was her daughter, Cate, a rising college sophomore!  We have heard a lot about her and it was so much fun to get to know her in person.  Here, Cate is assisting Liz, Alexis, and our Kate with using a sponge paint technique to add craters to our moons.  It turns out that we peeled the big sticker off the canvas at this point to reveal the "real" moon.  The sticker only served to block the area so we wouldn't color where the moon should be!

The final step was to place a stamp of a sailing ship on the horizon line, leaving our moon to glow in the background.  Christina helped Annmarie with this step, and behind her, Paulette was helping Drew.  

Our Moonlight Masterpieces are amazing!  As we always find out, our art work is the same, but beautifully different, at the same time.  Everyone did a great job following directions, and they were all proud of their work!  Many thanks to Christina, Paulette, Valerie, and Cate for working with us today!  Christina, you never cease to amaze us with your knowledge about all things 18th century, and the way you relate it to us is wonderful.  We LOVE our time spent with you!

Wednesday

This morning started off with a "funny" discovery.  Michelle and Alexis thought they saw a little bunny outside our window.  They went outside to check, and it turned out to be a couple of leaves in a unique arrangement! 🐇 or 🍂 ? 😀

Today marked the 53rd anniversary of the moon landing, which is why it's Moon Day!  We watched a Brain POP video and learned that President Kennedy was very eager for the United States to be the first country to put a man on the moon.  He didn't live to see it happen in 1969, but we did it with Apollo 11!  Now, we wonder if the United States will be the first to put a woman on Mars?!

We did another "moon masterpiece" today by balling up foil to be our "brush" so we could dab metallic paint on a circle to look like moon craters.  This was a simple, and fun technique, that didn't take any time at all.  Kate demonstrates with Adia looking on!

While the paint dried, we drew stars on our background paper.  Later, we cut out the moons and glued them to the "spacey" backgrounds.  In this photo, we were also holding mini MoonPie snacks, because how can we celebrate Moon Day without them?!

Today's movement activities included a game of balloon volleyball in the gym.  It was boys versus girls and it's hard to say who won...our goal was just to keep the balloons in the air!

We were looking forward to lunch because we were cooking the potatoes we grew at the Williamsburg Botanical Garden with our master gardener friends!  We cut them into small wedges and seasoned them with olive oil, salt, pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder.  Devin, Adia, and Laura popped them into the Nina to bake and...

Ta-da!  Happy National Hot Dog Day!  The roasted potatoes were quite delicious and went nicely with our hot dogs and fresh fruit.  Thank you, MASTER GARDENERS, for growing potatoes with us again this year!  A lunch like this really helps us understand the joys that come from gardening! 😉🥔

We'd like to name Liz as "Best Dressed for Hot Dog Day!"  She was sporting her patriotic t-shirt from Capt'n Franks hot dog restaurant in the Outer Banks!  She's also got on moon shaped earrings, so she was really in the spirit of our celebrations today!  So pretty, Liz!

We didn't know we would also be celebrating our custodian Diane's last day at JRES!  (We're actually sad about this...) She has accepted the position of head custodian at Clara Byrd Baker Elementary, and didn't tell us!  She said she didn't want any extra "attention," and didn't want us to "make her cry," but she should have known we would want to give her a send off.  😘  Luckily, Heike spilled the beans this morning and we were able to invite Diane, Heike, and Sevarina to lunch.  We used our moon theme to make Diane a farewell poster.  It turned out well for short notice!  We will miss Diane, and wish her nothing but success at CBB.  She'll do well because she is a good worker!

When it was time to sample the mini MoonPies, we checked the website and learned that they have been around since 1917!  The Chatanooga Bakery Company produces about 1 million of them a day!  Wow, that's a lot of MoonPies in one year!  Sam and Michelle said we should have them more often...but Lisa said we'll stick to Moon Day for this treat!  Learn more about them by clicking this link:  MoonPie History

Our day ended with an Eaton work session.  We had screws to count and bag, and small u-bracket thingies to assemble.  It was a productive way to end the day, and we enjoyed chatting and singing along to our playlist while we worked, happy that the air conditioning was working well!  (Thanks to our electrician, Jerry, who was checking on it again yesterday!)

Thursday

It wasn't surprising that we had to resort to Plan B today due to the heat and humidity, but we were disappointed to not get to spend the entire day in Yorktown, which has become one of our favorite go-to spots for picnics and games.  However, the morning we spent with Mike was a lot of fun with the topic being pirates!

We learned that pirates were always in the vicinity of the thriving Yorktown port in the late 1600s and early 1700s.  It was hard to identify which men were pirates, though, if they were wandering around town.  Their clothing didn't necessarily set them apart, nor did their speech, and most did not have eye patches!  The way to usually identify them was by what they were "selling" for a really good price!  Goods like spices, cloth, pewter (as in the plate being looked at here), and fine ceramics could be had by bartering with pirates (they often wanted food), and then no taxes had to be paid by the colonists!  We don't approve of bartering for stolen goods, by the way!

A popular item to "buy" from pirates was a cone of sugar!  Drew and Alexis thought that was too cool!  It was very hard and Mike said sugar had to be scraped off of it to be usable.

Mike also told us about the pirates' code.  They were a democratic group, and voted for everything, even who would be the captain.  The captain's orders had to be followed, but if he wasn't liked, they could vote for a new one!  All the "loot" was equally divided, there was no gambling on the boat, and no fighting on board the ship. (Take it to the shore!)  Pretty good rules for a bunch of thieves!

 It may have been hard to identify a pirate from a regular citizen, but there was one surefire way to tell a pirate ship from any other - the flag!

Our fun activity with Mike today was decorating our own pirate scarf.  Pirates would use their scarves like we use tissues, napkins, and sweatbands...that is just GROSS!  Hopefully, our guys will treat theirs more as a souvenir from a really fun lesson! 

Erik, Sam, Liz, and Laura worked on designing their scarves while wondering what could be in Mike's treasure box!  After we finished our scarves, we each got a beautiful necklace made of rubies, emeralds, or sapphires! 😉 (You can see one in the picture with Abraham below!)

Mike's friend Baxter joined us today in the role of a Yorktown merchant.  After our projects were finished, he played a tune on his "tin whistle" while some of us danced like pirates!

Our "matey" Abraham grabbed a hat and flag on the way out and hammed it up for the camera with Mike!  Thank you, Mike, for yet another delightful time at the Watermen's Museum.  We're so thankful for our partnership with you and your team!  We really look forward to our visits!

Last month when we visited the Watermen's, we saw a huge submarine passing under the Coleman Bridge.  Today, we saw a Coast Guard ship!  Wonder if it was looking for pirates?!  (We got to see the bridge swing open, too!)

We couldn't hang around Yorktown for lunch, games, walking, and a trolley ride because the heat index was something like 105 degrees!  So we returned to AFCC for the afternoon.  Mike and Baxter made us a pirate flag based on "Captain Lisa's" dislike of cats, which we hung above one of our Moonlight Masterpieces to remind us of the fabulous week we've had.  Another fact we learned from Mike is that the pirates' best weapon was FEAR.  Yes, the flag is gory, and "Captain Lisa" would not have designed it that way.  Guess she's not a "true" pirate! 🕱 

After lunch and read aloud time, we sent Nan, Alexis, and Liz to Wendy's to get Frosties.  The rest of us played a Disney song/movie trivia game that we had not played before, and it was challenging!  We have a few Disney movie experts in our group, like Laura, Kate, Michelle, and Adia, to whom we turn when we aren't sure.  Devin is another expert, and this is his reaction (still in pirate dress) to getting his answer correct after having just helped someone else get theirs correct, too.  He did a full on break dance!  We love how our gang supports each other!  

Unfortunately, even with the AC blasting in Nan's car, the Frosties had begun to melt by the time she got them back to us.  We gulped them down so quickly, and by the time Lisa said she needed a picture, this is where the cups were!  Fortunately, no one reported a brain freeze from eating so fast.  They said the Frosties were delicious and the new strawberry-flavored one was a hit!  We want to thank our anonymous donor (💘) again, for this wonderful treat!  It really hit the spot on this fun, but very warm, day!

Friday

Today was interesting, as our mini-lessons covered everything from rats and exterminators to mangoes, honey, and a pioneer in aviation!

The first lesson was to learn why there is a National Rat Catcher's Day?  It's to recognize hard-working exterminators, who often find themselves in dirty or creepy settings.  They sometimes like to be called "Pest Control Professionals!"  We learned that they work hard to keep our homes, schools, restaurants, and more free of pests that can spread illnesses and seriously interfere with our quality of life!  Then we talked about the story of the Pied Piper, who, according to legend, charmed the rats out of the village of Hamelin, Germany.  Today, that beautiful little village still has a Pied Piper who roams around each day to the delight of many tourists!

Another lesson today was for National Mango Day!  We learned that mangoes are a tropical fruit that was first cultivated in India, and they can have a woodsy, kind of pine-like taste, especially if they are not fully ripe.  We also learned that it takes about 6 years for a mango tree to produce fruit.  Most will live about 100 years, continuing to produce fruit, but a few have been known to live for up to 300 years!  

To accompany our blueberry grilled cheese sandwiches, we tried a recipe for Mango and Sweet Corn Salad.  The dressing consisted of salt, pepper, onion powder, lemon juice, olive oil, and honey, which Adia added.  The other ingredients in the salad were pineapple, tomato, cucumber, and fresh basil cut from our pizza pot!  (We would have thrown in blueberries if we had extras, but we didn't!)

WOW!  This was very, very tasty!  The only suggestion we have is that you use very ripe mangoes, so you won't get too much of the woodsy, pine-like taste.  Not only was it delicious, but it's also a beautiful salad.  Let Lisa know if you'd like the recipe for your next summer potluck...and add some blueberries for more color!

Before lunch, we squeezed in a seated workout with one of our online faves, Donovan, and then had movement time in the gym, too.

Since we were using honey for both our blueberry grilled cheese sandwiches, and as an indgredient in our salad dressing, we watched Mystery Doug's episode on how bees make honey.  We have learned this before, but no one seemed to remember that bees swallow nectar while on the flowers and then return to the hive where they spit it out and share it with the others a few times until beautiful, golden honey is created!  😨

Carol assembled our sandwiches today by putting honey on the bread first, followed by blueberries, which are then covered with a slice of cheese (smoked provolone).  On top of that slice of cheese go thin slices of Fuji apples and another slice of cheese (Colby Jack).  We often change up the cheese when we make these...go with your favorites!

The flipping is the trickiest part of grilling these yummy sandwiches, but it's worth it to give it a try!  Our lunch today was fantastic!

Our final lesson today was about the aviation pioneer, Amelia Earhart.  We always enjoy reviewing her achievements around Amelia Earhart Day, which is July 24th, her birthday (1897).  She was the first female to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean, and that was pretty cool for a woman in 1932!  Of course, she's also remembered for her last flight in 1937, where she was attempting to become the first woman to circumnavigate the globe, but disappeared, never to be found.

Here, we were doing chair yoga with Jaime!  That usually means it's Friday afternoon!  We like a 6 minute segment of chair yoga that she posted recently.  It's like a yoga warmup, and after that we do one of her regular segments that runs 15-20 minutes.

This stretch felt good!  Our yoga ended with a "Peace Out" segment that was completely relaxing.  It was time to call it a week!

We have a pretty packed week coming up, including a number of special visitors AND Nan's birthday celebration.  We can't wait!  Check out our plans:

Tuesday:  We're in for a treat today as Patti and our WOTM friends are treating us to a movie and lunch at Movie Tavern!  We'll watch the new Minions film and enjoy lunch, too!  Wear your Arc shirts!   Thank you, Patti and our WOTM friends, for the generous donation you gave that will cover this fun adventure!  We are grateful for your support! 

Wednesday:  Today we will welcome special guests: our Executive Director Pam, State Senator Monty Mason, and a few Arc Board Members are dropping by to visit with us and see the latest happenings at the Arc of Abilities!  It will be business as usual for us, though.  😊  We've decided to do a study of the 50 states, again, as it's been a few years and we have a few new friends.  That was such a fun unit, too!  We'll start with Delaware, today.  We'll also do Eaton work and play "Words with Friends" types of games to celebrate Words with Friends Day, which we missed last week, but love to observe each year!  Lunch on your own, but peaches and cream for dessert.  The first commercial peach orchard in America was in Delaware!

Thursday:  Today is National Intern Day and we plan to celebrate this year's Arc summer intern, Ashlynn!  Not only is she a student at W&M, but she's also the president of W&M's Best Buddies!  We've invited her to hang out today and we will make her feel special by preparing a Caesar salad and fresh fruit for lunch, which will introduce Ashlynn to our life skills program.  We'll also show her how we incorporate continuing education with a lesson on the ocean habitat, vocational training with Eaton work, and our fitness/recreational component with games in the gym.  Welcome, Ashlynn!

Friday:  It's been a few weeks, but it's birthday time again!  Today we will celebrate Nan, whose birthday is Sunday.  Today is National Lasagna Day, so her birthday lunch will be our version of homemade lasagna, and side salads.  (Cupcakes, too!)  It's also a Pet Supplies Plus work day, as well as yoga day, so dress to stretch and wear your PSP shirts!

We told you we had a lot going on next week!  Can't wait to see all of our friends and make it happen!

Beyond next week, here are some dates to keep in mind!  We need the support of our beloved friends and family members to keep The Arc of GW moving forward.  Thanks for your help!

WOTM Golf Tournament - Saturday, August 6 at Royal New Kent

🏌🏌🏌 There is still time to sponsor a hole, form a team, offer to volunteer with Lisa and Carol, or make a donation outright for the WOTM's 7th Annual Golf Tournament which benefits The Arc of GW and The AoA!  Contact Lisa for more information! 🏌🏌🏌

The Arc of GW's largest FUNdraiser of the year is the 13th Annual Williamsburg Landing 5k Run/Walk for The Arc!  Registration is now open.  Click the pic for more information or to sign up.  Hope to see you there!

Happy Weekend to all of our readers,

Lisa, Carol, Nan, and the AoA Gang