With spring comes one of our busiest birthday seasons, and Sam's is the first one we celebrate. Friday was his special day, and we had a blast with a hot dog and pie party, complete with the "Pie in the Face Showdown" game! Earlier in the week we had a great morning of bowling, followed by pizza outside. We also worked at Pet Supplies Plus this week and invited our favorite custodian, Heike, to lunch! The school was quiet since the students were on Spring Break, but we brought life to the building the four days we were there! Here's a look at our joyful week...
Tuesday
We always start the month with bowling and pizza, so today was the day! We arrived at 10 a.m. and it wasn't long before everyone was situated. Most of them sit in the same seats each month. They like routines. ✅
Sam was happy when he picked up a spare, and Patrick was happy for him, too!
Dev B can be seen leaning left so his ball would curve that way, while Drew had just launched his ball in time to watch Abraham (the blurry one) let his go!
Xavier bowled great games today, and we were so proud of him for a couple of reasons: 1) he showed improvement in keeping track of when it was his turn, and 2) he concentrated on his roll...actually aiming at the pins, instead of his usual walk up and toss the ball any old way! Great job with your focus today, Xavier!!!
Hi Michelle! She is always up for encouraging her friends...and hamming for the camera! We had a good time bowling this morning.
We had to come up with Plan C for lunch! We picked up pizza from Domino's only to find out Kiwanis Park was overflowing with kids on Spring Break, so we couldn't use the picnic tables. Plan B was to eat at the Visitor Center at Colonial Williamsburg, but when we got to our usual spot there, we found 2 big busloads of visitors at our tables! Luckily, we came up with Plan C, which was to eat across the parking lot at the mini-golf area (for The Woodlands Hotel), but the tables are spread out, so we had to split up, which we handled like champs!
This group grabbed a couple of pizzas and headed to a table near the playground.
Cameron, Patrick, and Xavier saved a few steps and decided to eat on a bench! No one complained, and we all enjoyed having lunch outside on a very beautiful spring day! Thanks to Sam's Nina for sponsoring today's lunch, and to Cameron's family who chipped in, too. We love Bowling and Pizza Day!
Today was National Walk Around Things Day, so we split into groups and found things to walk around...like picnic tables, trees, bushes, light poles, trash cans, shuffleboards, mini-golf putting greens, and volleyball nets! This area of the grounds at the Visitor Center and Woodlands Hotel is scenic!
Lisa had the camera and was with the other group, so Liz snapped a selfie of this group who had just walked around the playground. We're not sure why they put Dev B behind bars! LOL! Great selfie with your friends, Liz!
Before heading back to the center, we got a group shot by these colorful and fragrant bushes. They are Chinese Fringe Bushes, and the guys say they smell like cotton candy!
Back at the AFCC, most of us enjoyed a bit of Choice Time before Lisa almost finished our read-aloud, Hello, Universe. Tomorrow....for sure! For her Choice Time, Adia elected to help make an "eclair cake" dessert for tomorrow's lunch. It was her idea to have this, and she said it's something she remembers eating at family gatherings as a child. (She's all of 24 now!) Lisa and Carol also remember having it at family gatherings when they were, umm, younger, too! 😃
Remember we went to Jeff's art studio last week and painted pretty watercolor designs? We had to leave them to dry, so Jeff sent them to us via Liz's mom, who is in his water aerobics class at the Y. Aren't they bright and cheerful?! Thanks again, Jeff, for working with us at your place, and thanks to Lise for bringing the masterpieces to us. We love our village! 🙏💙
Wednesday
Today was National Read a Road Map Day, and after we made sure everyone even knew what a road map is, we had fun looking for places and symbols on a Virginia map. Carol worked with Abraham, Laura, and Annmarie, and they were so happy that Abraham correctly identified our state as Virginia, and Williamsburg as our town!
Our groups were engaged, and even a little excited, at finding everything on the scavenger hunt, plus some extras like Indian reservations, Mt. Vernon, and state parks. Adia even spotted Lanexa and Toano, both areas of our county that we visited last week. Fun times with our road maps!
Things got busy as we prepared our lunch, and put up a few decorations to make the room look nice for Heike, our beloved custodian. She was working by herself a few days this week while staff and students were on Spring Break, so we invited her for a sit down lunch. We celebrated National Burrito Day, with this delicious lunch, but we didn't take a picture of Heike! Good grief... She loved spending time with us and getting to sit down and enjoy lunch, since she's usually on assignment in the school cafeteria during lunchtime. We enjoyed cooking for her today!
The gym has been available this week so during Choice Time we took advantage of the space. Drew, Erik, Sam, and Dev B walked, and even ran a little, but the picture was too blurry!
After walking, Dev B and Drew joined Kevin and Kate to shoot some baskets.
Patrick was about to score. He wasn't distracted by Xavier walking nearby!
Guess what happened today?! Lisa finished reading Hello, Universe!
We really liked the story about unexpected friendships, but we were a little bummed that it ended with Virgil only texting the word "hello" to Valencia, instead of speaking to her in person! Maybe there will be a sequel. We'd love to know if they ever get to know each other better!
We took a walk around campus today. We sometimes do this in the summer if it isn't too hot, but we always do it during Spring Break when the building is empty. We thought today felt like summer, though! 🌞
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We stopped on the playground where we practiced our version of "Team Bocce" and also played on the swings and slides. Here, Erik and Liz played against each other for a round. Erik was proud that he was able to control the speed of his toss, so his ball didn't go too far past the jack! 👏👏
Look how close Pat and Laura got their balls to the jack! Adia was impressed!
Even though we said this was going to be a practice game, the Bocce Celtics won 5-4, so they jumped at the chance to pose for a victory picture!
Thursday
It was time for a work session at Pet Supplies Plus today. While the PSP group went to work, the others stayed back to put together a fun Easter-themed lunch!
Liz had her hands full as she mixed chocolate pudding for our dessert with one hand while wiping up the splatters with another!
Abraham, Drew, and Patrick were exact in their counting as they placed freshly cut veggies in cups. Each one was responsible for putting a certain number of pieces in each cup, so everyone would have an equal serving!
When the guys finished filling the veggie cups, Laura carefully placed a sandwich bag over each one, and then we put a decorative picture on top.
Laura did double duty today. She also helped Sam, Dev B, and Xavier color pictures for us to use in some of today's decorations. Everything came together very nicely, as you'll see when you scroll down a little further!
Meanwhile, our PSP crew swept, dusted, folded towels, and straightened products on the shelves at the store today. Here, they are posing by a large selection of frozen food that PSP sells, and the gang wants you to know PSP also has a nice selection of pet-themed Easter cards!
It was a fun surprise to see Roxanne at the Lightfoot store today, as she is usually at the Chesapeake location! Our guys also got to work with Dev B's sister, Hailey, who works as a junior associate with the family business whenever she gets a chance...and Spring Break is a chance!!
On the way back to the center, the PSP group stopped by Eaton to pick up work for us to do ahead of next week's work day. James, Frank, and Kim greeted them, and we got this great photo!
It was almost time for the PSP group to return, so the Cooking Crew put the finishing touches on our Easter-themed lunch. They did a wonderful job creating colorful decorations and putting together bunny-shaped PB&J sandwiches, chickie veggie cups, corn chips, and for dessert, bunnies in "dirt" cups! What a productive morning for them!
Just a close-up because things were so cute!
We had a leisurely afternoon dedicated to Choice Time. Some of us worked on birthday cards for Becky and Easter crafts, while others read quietly or worked puzzles. We also had a lesson (part 1) on Crayon Day that was rescheduled from last week. (Part 2 tomorrow.) At one point, several of the friends decided to play kickball in the gym.
It's neat to observe how unexpected things turn out with our group. About 1/2 of them decided to play, and they organized themselves perfectly and made sure all interested players saw plenty of action.
Drew was flying down the baseline toward home when Erik threw the ball to try and get him out, but Drew was too fast!
Friday
The warm and sunny summer-like weather from earlier in the week was gone, and it was cooler and rainy today. What better time to take out the disco ball and kick off Sam's birthday with a little "Footloose," one of his favorite tunes?!
After our dance warm up, we squeezed in part 2 of our lesson for National Crayon Day, which was last Friday, but we had run out of time for it. Our friend, Kevin, is a huge fan of Mr. Rogers, and he found a link to a tour of the crayon factory that was on Mr. Rogers' show a long time ago, so he had his mom send it to Lisa for us to watch! It was very informative, and some of the comments from Kevin's friends included, "Wow, that's cool!" and "That is how they make crayons???" and "I really enjoyed that!" Thanks, Kevin, for finding the link for Mom to send us!!
Our artist friend Jeff suggested we try a project where we take old crayons, peel the labels off, break them into small pieces, fill silicone molds, and melt them into mixed-color, chunkier crayons. We got the molds on Amazon, and gave it a go today! At first, it was hard to peel the labels off, as you can see by the concentration on Liz's face. Once we decided to soak the crayons in water, we found the labels would come off more easily!
Sam and Abraham also focused on unwrapping crayons. They found that the labels on older ones were much more difficult to peel off, so we got them a cup of soaking water, too!
Everyone worked on peeling the labels off for a long time. It was kind of relaxing on this rainy morning! As the silicone molds began to fill, we put them in the oven on 250 degrees so they could melt. This is a picture of a few that had melted, and a few that were just going into the warm oven. Once they were melted, we had to let them cool for a while before popping them out of the molds.
Here are the finished products! They were quite pretty, and they still color, too! Some of our friends took theirs home, but most left them for us to use here at the center. Happy Belated Crayon Day, Everyone! And thanks, Jeff, for the suggestion. It was fun!
Speaking of fun...we had a really FUN time celebrating Sam's birthday today! After our busy morning with dancing, melting crayons, and gym time, his parents arrived with a delicious hot dog lunch for us! That was followed by a pie buffet for dessert...as Sam is a "Pie Guy!" It was soooo good!
Channeling his inner server, Sam's dad Tim delivered the first piece of chocolate cream pie to the Birthday Boy! Other choices were cherry and chocolate pecan, and all of them were delish, as Sam would say. We also had lemonade and sweet tea to accompany our lunch. Yum!
Sam requested that we play the "Pie in the Face Showdown" game, and we were happy to oblige! He challenged Alexis in the first round. Sweet smiles!
Next we have Dev B and Sam...
Followed by Sweet T and Patrick!
Here are Sam and Abraham. Abraham felt like a winner because, even though he got the "pie in the face," he got to eat the sweet cream! (Also known as "pie" for this game.)
We even got Sam's dad, Tim, to play! He anticipated the pie coming his way...you can see how he pulls back just a little! 🤣
Xavier surprised us when he said he wanted to give it a try. We were proud of him, even though Dev B got him with the pie! (They were so quick we couldn't get a video.)
Happy Birthday, Sam! We hope all of your wishes come true!! Thank you, Tim and Teri, for treating us to a wonderful lunch, and for spending time with us this afternoon. We enjoyed your company!!
After the excitement of the pie game, we settled down for some brain work. Each team had a set of letters and had to use them to unscramble words related to Easter. Sweet T was helping pull out the letters P, G, N, I, R, S. He, Erik, and Kate would unscramble them to make the word SPRING.
After we finished with words related to Easter, the teams continued making words before packing up their letters. Adia and Xavier weren't surprised to see Sam come up with the word PIE!!
We ended Sam's party afternoon with one of his favorite activities, yoga with Jaime. That's Sam, right in the middle, trying boat pose along with his friends!
After a good stretch, we were ready for...the weekend!
Happy Easter from all of us at the Arc of Abilities! Thank you to Laura and her family for the fun goody bag treats!
We're going to be on the go next week. The stars must have aligned in some special way, because we have places to be every day next week! We are blessed with amazing opportunies, and we are grateful. Here's our schedule:
Wednesday: It's the second Wednesday of the month so we will volunteer at Grove Christian Outreach this morning. Please wear Arc shirts! It's For Twelves Day, so we will have a math lesson centered around the number 12. Since it's also Big Wind Day, we'll try making parachutes out of plastic bags. It's Grilled Cheese Day, too, so we'll make one of our favorites, blueberry grilled cheese sandwiches, for lunch! After lunch, we may take a drive to deliver birthday cards to a special someone...but this is still in the works, so stay tuned!
Thursday: Today we're going to see Mike at the Watermen's Museum for a lesson on ????, but we know it will be fun! It's Make Lunch Count Day, so bring your favorite bagged lunch, and we will picnic by the river. When we return to the center, Adia will help us celebrate ASL Day with a lesson she's prepared, and we'll have yoga today instead of tomorrow because Jaime has added a few segments that feature sign language! Wear Arc shirts and stretchy pants or shorts!
Friday: We'll visit Eaton for a work day, so wear your Eaton shirt and bring a bagged lunch. If the weather is nice (it's supposed to be a gorgeous week) we will wind up the week with walk at New Quarter Park after our work session. It will feel great to stretch our legs and enjoy fresh air and sunshine!
REMINDER:The Arc of Abilities is supporting The Arc's Aktion Club with their April Food Drive. All donations we collect will be designated for Grove Christian Outreach Center (GCOC). Please make your contributions by the 26th of April and we will deliver them when we volunteer at GCOC on that day. Thanks for your donations!
Have a great weekend,
Lisa, Carol, Nan, and the AoA Gang
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