First Week of Spring, 2023

We began the week on the first full day of spring, and it did not disappoint!  Tuesday was a little bit on the cool side, but the sun was so shiny and we had a great day outside.  From there, the temps warmed more each day, and by Friday, we were certain it was spring.  The question is, will it stick around?!  We're ready for it!  Here's a look at our week...

Tuesday

Today's plan was to visit the Army Transportation Museum at Ft. Eustis, but Carol was under the weather, so we decided to postpone.  Karryna joined us to fill in for Carol, and it was such a pretty day, we decided to just hang out at the park.  Before we left, we played a game of pool noodle volleyball with Karryna, who did really well for a first-timer!  (There was a balloon, but it was out of the camera's shot!)

We found out that Karryna had never been to Newport News Park, so we gave her the grand tour!  We showed her our favorite overlooks, and walked her all the way to the Discovery Center (from the Ranger Station) and back!  Unfortunately, the Discovery Center was closed, so we couldn't visit, but we'll bring Karryna back one day!

Adia, Liz, and Alexis spotted a hibernation box on our walk.  It is bigger than the one Krafty Karen set up at Freedom Park, but it had similar items inside that insects could nest in over the winter.  A few of the cylinder-like pieces (maybe bamboo?), were sealed off by either mud or a waxy substance.  We're going to ask Karen what she thinks could have been in them.

Lunch was enjoyed at a shelter near the Ranger Station.  Karryna grabbed this shot of Dev B and Sam, buddies who are always happy when lunch time rolls around!

There was playground time today, too.  This is one of the larger playgrounds at NN Park, and no little ones were using it, so we did!  Laura and Sweet T enjoyed going down this double slide together quite a few times.

There's just something about a swing set!  We like this one, but wish the swings were a little higher so we would have more room to pump our legs.

Kevin also enjoys sliding, and he went on these few several times.  In the background, Sam and Devin B did some climbing.  One can get a good workout on a playground!

After the playground, we took Karryna to the long bridge, and thought we would check to see if the turtles were awake from hibernation yet.  Karryna loves to take selfies, so a bunch of us said, "Cheese!"

Soon we found turtles!  Some were swimming and others were sunning, but they were awake!  Later, we learned that turtles and other reptiles don't hibernate (a mammal thing), they brumate, which means they bury themselves in the mud at the bottom of the water and go into a reptile (cold-blooded) version of hibernation.  They remain conscious during brumation, but require very little oxygen, so can remain buried under the water for a long time until the weather is warm again!  Amphibians and some insects also brumate.

Humans don't hibernate or brumate, but they sure love it when the weather starts to warm up!  Karryna snapped this shot with Kate, Kevin, and Alexis enjoying the warmth of the sunshine!

When we spotted this pretty redbud, someone suggested we take our picture and send it to Carol, since it's her favorite tree!  She loved it!  There are more colorful signs of spring showing up every day, and we love to find them.

Wednesday

Carol was still recovering today, so we welcomed Pat's mom, Sue, as a substitute.  She couldn't believe she was helping out on National Goof Off Day!  She was a great help, too...no goofing off from her! 👏 Thank you, Sue!  We appreciate you for working with us today!!

Before our day (goofy and otherwise) got started, we were surprised when Liz brought us a gift from her family, in recognition of our 7th anniversary.  It was Liz's idea to gift us a door mat for the back door!  Yay!!

This is a great gift idea, Liz!  Many thanks to you and your family for this beautiful mat that is just what we need at our back door.  We will do our best to keep it clean, even as it helps us keep from tracking in too much dirt!  We LOVE it!

Even though it was National Goof Off Day, we also had to fulfill our responsibility of volunteering at GCOC today.  We split into two groups and sent one at a time.  GCOC volunteer Peggy was thrilled to see us again, and had to get hugs and fist bumps from everyone!

Alexis, Drew, Sweet T, Michelle, Sam, Cameron, Pat, and Annmarie worked with Peggy and her husband Joel to pack bags of nonperishable food items.  After this, they also bagged toilet paper rolls.  They worked steadily for a little over an hour to get the job done!  Great Job, Team #1!

  

The group that remained at the center hung out, just goofing off, while they waited for their turn to go to GCOC.  Adia, Dev B, and Liz enjoyed a game of Jenga.

Adia, Erik, Nan, and Kevin goofed off making a pretzel and M&M treat, but Kevin must have been in the restroom when Sue snapped this picture!

After the first group returned to the center, Sue took the next group to work at GCOC.  Xavier, Adia, Erik, Kate, Liz, and Dev B were a little surprised to find out they would be packing diapers in bags!  

Kevin and Laura were also in this group.  They had to count a certain number of diapers, and also socks, and they were focused and exact in their counting!  Great job, Team #2!

After lunch, we "celebrated" Goof Off Day by watching an episode of Gilligan's Island, which had Sweet T in stitches!

Poor Gilligan, every time the castaways came close to being rescued, he would make an innocent "goof" and the rescue wouldn't happen!  What a silly show to watch on Goof Off Day!

We paused from goofing off long enough to write thoughtful thank you notes to Jorie, James, and Kim for last week's magnificient luncheon!  Michelle and Annmarie were hard at work.

We ended the day outside where the sun was behind the clouds, but it wasn't too chilly.  Liz, Alexis, Patrick, and Cameron chose to take a walk around the garden area.

The others wanted to play corn hole "just for fun." 

Thursday

We ramped up the excitement from what has been a relatively quiet week so far when we welcomed Wisteria, Erika, and Amanda from The Mariners' Museum.  We were going for a Mediterranean vibe with our decorative board today!

Wisteria, Erika, and Amanda were coming to lead us in a Mediterranean cooking experience, and we were excited to see them!

First, they gave us a review about where the Mediterranean region is, some of the countries it includes, and background information about the foods they eat.  We learned that we were going to make two kinds of pasta:  Aglio e Olio, which is pasta with garlic and oil, and Pasta Amatriciana, which has a tomato and bacon (or prosciutto) sauce.

Erika showed us a map of of Italy, and we learned that the recipes we would be preparing today came from two different regions.

Patrick, Alexis, and Sam worked with Wisteria to make the pasta amatriciana.  They also helped her prep fresh bread, and she gave them a taste!

Erika was assisted by Adia, Erik, and Kate to make the aglio e olio dish.  When they sauteed the fresh garlic, our room smelled so good!

We had some very pretty napkin rings to color that featured the Mediterranean Sea.  Laura, Annmarie, Nan, and Kevin colored them beautifully and then wrapped our silverware.  We didn't get a picture of the final product, but they were so pretty!

We found a recipe for a Mediterranean fruit dip that was made with Greek yogurt, almond butter, Nutella, and honey.  Sweet T, Drew, Xavier, Michelle, and Carol whipped it up and it was sooo delicious!  We had sliced apples and fresh pineapple with it.

While Sam cooked the bacon, Wisteria helped Pat mince fresh garlic.  The recipe didn't call for fresh garlic, but our guys suggested it, and Wisteria thought it was a great idea!!

This is Amanda on the left, teaching us how to pronounce some words in Italian.  We didn't get many pics with her because she is the museum's photographer, and she was running around all morning taking lots of pics of us!  We wanted to make sure we pointed her out, too!

Amanda took this picture of all of us before we dug into the very tasty pasta dishes!  Thank you so much, Wisteria, Erika, and Amanda, for today's delightful time spent learning, socializing, cooking, and eating together.  We had an absolutely fabulous time!

Friday

We wrapped up our week with a productive work day at Eaton!  We were missing 5 of our friends today, so the rest of us were busy!

Jorie wasn't here today, but James and Kim stopped by and we presented them with a thank you booklet so they would know how much we appreciated last week's lunch treat!  We reminded them that we had leftovers, too, and how special that was!

We met Eaton's new HR person, Elsa.  James showed her the thank you booklet and explained to Elsa what we do for Eaton.  He was very complimentary of our work ethic!!  Thank you, James!  We are proud of the work we do, and it means a lot to us that you recognize our contribution!

Today's tasks included sorting, which Patrick, Sweet T, and Xavier handled, and twisting small pieces off of the big white plates, which Erik, Laura, and Annmarie did.  All of these friends worked happily and efficiently!

On this side of the room, our other friends were busy assembling PowerSlide Doors.  Xavier and Kevin are such a great nuts and bolts team who kept up with all the doors coming their way!  If you have a good eye, you'll spot Erik working at this station as well.  He was tightening the nuts and bolts with the electric screwdriver!  

In this shot, we see the label team, Nan, Adia, and Alexis, "sticking" with their sticky job!  Behind them, Sam unpacked while Michelle, and Carol got the process started by gasketing and inserting the amber lenses.  These guys are also very efficient!

After several productive hours, it was time to call it a day.  But not before we loaded the van with some work we can do at the center.  We are honored that Eaton trusts us with the responsibility of working on some things back at our place!

 

We enjoyed a yoga session with Jaime when we got back to AFCC, and then it was time to bid another week goodbye!  Here's a look at some of the things we'll be doing next week:

Tuesday:  We postponed our trip to the Army Transportation Museum because Carol was out with illness, so we have rescheduled it for today.  If the weather is nice, we'll also visit NN Park for lunch and a good walk!  Wear Arc shirt and bring a bagged lunch.

Wednesday:  Our Executive Director Pam is going to visit today and bring a special guest for us to meet!  We'll work on Eaton, prepare library books for discarding, create a spring craft, and have a lesson on the origins of chocolate (so we can sample a chocolate bar Trader Joe's gave us).  We'll also celebrate Manatee Appreciation Day!  Lunch on your own.  The JRES Cafeteria is available and is offering Cheesy Pasta Supreme or Sub of the Day.

Thursday:  We're excited to visit our artist friend Jeff at his studio in Lanexa today.  He'll give us a tour and show us his beautiful creations, and also create art with us!  He's recovering well from his recent hip replacement surgery, and we can't wait to see how much better he feels.  💙  Weather permitting, we'll visit Little Creek Reservoir Park for lunch and a walk, because it's National Take a Walk in the Park Day!  Please bring a bagged lunch.  Arc shirts not required.  (Jeff says the project won't be messy, either!)

Friday:  We'll work on the April calendar (can you believe it?), and learn about the history of crayons to celebrate National Crayon Day.  We'll also learn about potatoes as we celebrate National Tater Day, and that will include a baked potato bar and chocolate potato cake for lunch!  We'll aim to finish our March read-aloud, and end the day with yoga, so dress to stretch!

Enjoy the weekend,

Lisa, Carol, Nan, and the AoA Gang