!
As usual, we had many fun and engaging experiences this week, including a great history lesson at the Yorktown Battlefield and, for 1/2 of the group, a fabulous tour of Trader Joe's grocery store. We had a surprise visit from Krafty Karen, stuffed hundreds of eggs with candy, and enjoyed a movie day. But the highlight of our week was definitely celebrating Drew's birthday on Thursday! What a party! Check that out, and everything else we did this week, by scrolling through this week's blog post.
Tuesday
We found ourselves at the Yorktown Battlefield Visitor Center today, where we wondered if we would learn something new about our nation's history, especially as it relates to the Revolutionary War. Right away we learned that the replica of the ship at the visitor center is the HMS Charon, which was British, and that the French sent a "hot shot" cannonball into it, causing it to go down in the York River! We wandered through a replica of part of the Charon, but didn't get pics of us.
In the next gallery, Sam, Dev B, Michelle, Patrick, and Dev T noticed American and French officer uniforms on display. Our guys did remember that it was the French who helped General Washington secure the victory at the Siege of Yorktown!
The visitor center at the battlefield has many nice displays. At this one, Sam, Nan, Liz, and Adia were able to read about the formation the British took as they marched between American and French forces at the surrender on October 19, 1781.
There are several interactive exhibits, too. Here, Laura was checking a map that depicted the trail Washington's troops walked from New York to Yorktown during the (surely) hot summer of 1781!
There is a very informative short film, too. When it was over, Dev B was heard saying, "It is amazing how we won that war." 😎💡👏
We learned, oddly enough, that George Washington was 6'2" tall, and then we posed for a photo with him!
We didn't make it down to the riverside today. Instead, we enjoyed lunch on the picnic tables at the visitor center. After eating, Lisa almost finished our read-aloud...one short chapter to go and we'll hear it tomorrow. We're sticking pretty close to our goal of reading one book a month! (Of course, it's only been two months...)
Instead of playing corn hole, we took the ranger's advice from the visitor center who told us to drive around and check out the battlefield tour. We made several stops and got lots of steps while we learned more interesting facts. This is the Yorktown National Cemetery, and the men buried here are actually casualties from the Civil War!
This is a picture of the Moore House in Yorktown. It is where negotiations for the surrender took place. We learned that General Washington refused to let Cornwallis surrender with military honors! We also learned that some of the British soldiers violently threw their weapons down, while others "openly wept." They were not happy to have lost the war! Note: This is a photo from the National Park Service website because ours didn't turn out very well. We had a good time visiting Yorktown Battlefield on this glorious last day of February!
Wednesday
This morning we found ourselves with 1/2 of our gang heading to Trader Joe's for a tour, and the other half remaining at the center to update the March calendar. Kevin usually has the job of resetting the numbers, but he was on the TJ's tour, so Michelle and Drew substituted for him, and did a great job!
Abraham proudly points to the St. Patrick's Day and rainbow colors he was using on this picture that would soon grace our walls!
was going through some of the eggs we will stuff on Friday. Many had come apart, and they put them back together, which will save us time on Friday. Sweet T helped too, but he was helping Nan with a "trash task" when we snapped this photo.
Meanwhile, our other friends were enjoying a tour of Trader Joe's. Once they hooked up with Patty (shown) and Caitlyn, they began their adventure by playing a game called "The Rainbow of Foods We Eat." They learned about the nutritional value of fresh fruits and veggies.
They got to visit inside the refrigerator! Devin B was surprised to learn that the shelves in the store can be stocked from within the fridge!
Caitlyn and Patty demonstrated how they compact boxes that products come in so cardboard is not wasted.
Once boxes are compacted, they are ready to be recycled.
There is an "artist" area where an employee creates the colorful displays in Trader Joe's. When they aren't being used, they are hung up in this room.
After all the fun things the gang learned on the tour, they really enjoyed having an ice cream snack!
Yummy mini-cones for a treat and there was even a gluten-free cupcake for Xavier!
Lisa finished our read-aloud, Full of Beans, before lunch. It was a fun, and educational story that we enjoyed very much. After lunch, we watched a movie recommended by Kate called Kit Kittredge, which, like our book, was also set during the Great Depression. Laura has the book version, which had lots of great history and pictures related to the time period, and they helped us visualize things better. The movie kept our attention and we loved that it was both part comedy and part drama. We appreciate both of these girls for sharing!
Look who was at the suet feeder today! A big woodpecker that is called a red-bellied woodpecker, even though he has a red head! Weird!! This one is a male because he has a red crown and nape. Females lack the red crown!
Our first March birthday was celebrated today as we enjoyed a fun party for Drew! But first, we sent him with the PSP Crew to work so we could surprise him when he got back. Here's a video of his friends who stayed at the center getting decorations ready for his party...they were hard at work as they sang along to songs on Spotify!
While party preparations were underway at the center, Drew and the rest of the PSP Crew were working hard to stock shelves at the store! Here, he and Liz put products on the shelf that will help control "animal odors" in the yard! 😯
Erik and Adia took care of stocking some products on the well-care aisle.
This week's featured pet toys doubled as a birthday shoutout for Drew! While he holds a stuffed cake, the others "toast" him with bubbly beverage stuffies! Our friends love celebrating each other so much! 💙
When the PSP Crew got back, Carol delayed Drew at the van for a moment so the rest could get inside. We turned out the lights and here is the moment we surprised Drew!
One of the biggest surprises of all was that Drew's friend, Zollie, joined us. He works for Parks and Rec and he and Drew go back to 2009! In this group hug, Sweet T was making sure Zollie knew it was Drew's birthday! 🥳
Another big surprise was the delicious lunch provided for us by Drew's parents. We were thrilled to have nuggets and fries from Chick fil-A, which is one of Drew's all time favorite meals! The fresh fruit, sweet tea, and pink lemonade made it a real treat! Thank you, Andy and Donna, for this wonderful lunch and for joining us as we celebrated your fun-loving son! It was a delightful time!
We made cupcakes for Drew that we decorated with toppers that depicted some of his favorite foods. Donna provided the Scooby candle for Drew to make a wish upon, and look at that giant burger that Scooby's holding! So fun!
Happy Birthday, Drew! We wish you a great year ahead as you celebrate being 32, on 3-2 no less, and in 2023...that's a lot of 2s and 3s! We hope all your wishes come true!
Donna sent us this picture of Lisa, Carol, and Nan posing with our Birthday King! We had to include it because Drew makes them look so good! 😜
Next, one of Drew's favorite games, Bingo! Donna provided a great basket of new prizes and we couldn't wait to see who would be the first winner!
As we were winding down the party, Krafty Karen stopped by! She brought us a framed picture of all of us with the MGs who were at last week's luncheon, along with a beautiful thank you card she made herself! Aww, thanks Karen and MGs! It was a real pleasure for us to celebrate your partnership with us at the luncheon. We love this framed photo and will display it with love!
Finally, as we were cleaning up for the day, we spotted this bird at the feeder. Its body is half white at the top, and we have never seen it before. It stayed at the feeder for quite a while, even pushing other, smaller birds away. We'll try to research what it is, but if anyone knows, please contact Lisa. Michelle thinks it looks like a mockingbird, which we have plenty of around our feeders. Maybe it is a partial albino one???
Friday
After our dance warm up, we moved on to an egg-citing activity today! We stuffed eggs for an Easter Egg Hunt! Devin B, Kevin, Erik, Kate, Xavier, Adia, and Liz couldn't believe how many eggs (almost 1,000) and how much candy we had at the start of the task.
Check us out!
Drew, Sweet T, and Xavier were runners. They made sure empty eggs got to the fillers, and filled eggs got carefully packed up for delivery to Coach Teri. Nan, Laura, and Michelle were egg assemblers, making sure all the egg shells matched up before being filled with candy.
Adia, Sam, Dev B, and Erik were fillers. Each egg got stuffed with three yummy pieces of candy! Adia is holding a filled egg up to her ear to hear if it "snaps" shut so it won't come open when it's moved to the next station!
Liz, Kevin, Carol, Kate, and Annmarie were also fillers. It took a lot of us to stuff almost 1,000 eggs!
Our last two fillers were Alexis and Patrick. Or should we say Al-egg-is and Pat?! LOL! We enjoyed this egg-cellent opportunity, and wish to thank Coach Teri for trusting us with the assignment! We hope we did an egg-ceptional job! We will earn a paycheck that will enable us to take a trip for a miniature golf outing in a few weeks. We're egg-cited about that!
We studied state #10 today, our very own Virginia! Liz was thrilled to contribute to our lesson by sharing mementoes from home. Her mom attended UVA and is a proud alum! The t-shirt is from one of her mom's favorite diners that she went to as a child and where she takes Liz still to this day. Liz said they have killer chili-mac and chili-dogs, and we all got hungry listening to her talk about it! Liz was also excited to tell us that her dad grew up in Arlington, and the schools he attended were Williamsburg Elementary, Jamestown Middle, and Yorktown High! WOW! That's cool!
We learned about the 5 geographical regions of Virginia, and what agricultural products come from each one. Krafty Karen gave us this assignment so we could learn more about our great state! Michelle helped Dev T identify the coastal plains region, where we live, and observed as he colored it in on his map.
Laura was proud to show off her work on the regions map, and to learn that our state is known for lots of great products including peanuts, seafood, and apples! Thanks for giving us this assignment, Karen! We got smarter today because of you!!
Michelle and Alexis couldn't let the weekend come without filling the bird feeders, even though it was drizzling outside. They were thankful for Erik's handling of two umbrellas to keep all three of them dry. Those hungry birds depend on us!
We were tickled to find out that Jaime had posted a new yoga routine on her website. She based it on the Disney movie, Encanto.
We watched Encanto last year, so we were familiar with the plot. Jaime summarized the story well, and we benefited from the stretching. It was fun!
Ahh, after that wonderful yoga adventure, our week was finished. We cleaned up our mats, put on our rain jackets, and headed home to enjoy the weekend. We better rest up, too. Next week is looking busy! Here's our schedule:
Tuesday: It's the first Tuesday of the month, so bowling, here we come! Today we are grateful for pizza for lunch, courtesy of the Kline Family! Thank you, Klines! We appreciate your generosity. 🍕 The forecast looks sunny and mild, so we will plan to check the garden and take a walk after bowling. Arc shirts optional today because we need everyone to wear them tomorrow, for sure!
Wednesday: We will send one group to Grove Christian Outreach Center to volunteer today while the other group visits Trader Joe's for a tour. Please wear Arc shirts. When we all return to the center, we will celebrate Annmarie's birthday!! 🥳 The Sullivan family is providing her favorite, fried chicken with all the fixings, for lunch! Thanks in advance, Andy and Teresa, for your generous lunch treat. We can't wait to celebrate your sweet girl!
Thursday: We're excited to welcome Mike, from the Watermen's Museum, for a visit today! He's going to bring us a lesson on St. Patrick's Day and we're going to thank him for his dedication to our education (and fun times) by treating him to cheeseburger pie for lunch! (Thanks to Christina for the recipe and inspiration!) This is Mike's first time visiting us at the center! We'll also catch up on a couple of Mystery Doug lessons.
Friday: Today we are scheduled to work at Eaton, so wear your Eaton shirts and bring a bagged lunch. We'll keep our eye on the weather forecast, and if it's nice, we will stop for a walk at New Quarter Park after we finish our work. If it's too chilly or rainy, we'll return to AFCC for yoga. Dress to stretch, either way!
Enjoy the first weekend of March, 2023!
Lisa, Carol, Nan, and the AoA Gang
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.