After a somewhat cool spring, we think summer is on the way! It will officially arrive next Wednesday, but we enjoyed sunshine along with warm temperatures this week. We enjoyed being outside for a fantastic lesson with the master gardeners followed by games in the park on Tuesday. On Wednesday we learned new tasks when we volunteered at GCOC. Thursday found us making special treats for Father's Day, and on Friday, we worked at PSP and packed up to leave the building for a couple of weeks! Carol began her cruise in Scandinavia this week, so we welcomed Patrick's mom, Sue, Laura's parents, Lisa P and Tom, and Tracy as substitutes. We are grateful to them all! Read on for all the details of our warm and sunny week...
Tuesday
Our adventure with the master gardeners today included an informative lesson from MG Rich about composting. He asked if any of us recycle at home, and several hands went up to tell him about how we recycle paper, cardboard, certain plastics, and such. Then, he told us that composting is "nature's recycling" and it leads to the creation of nutrient rich garden soil.
Rich showed us samples of dirt, versus composted garden soil, and we reviewed what we had learned earlier this year about soil being better for growing plants. He also told us a sentimental story about how he learned to compost when he was just a boy, from working with his grandfather in the family garden when he was growing up in Connecticut. Rich shared fond memories of that time, and we enjoyed the story very much!
Rich is an avid composter, and we could tell he enjoys this hobby very much. What's more, he told us how easy it is...and he explained it's kind of like preparing lasagna. It's all about the layers! We learned that good things to compost include things like leaves, grass clippings, uncooked fruits and vegetables (especially the peelings), coffee grounds and tea leaves, and even shredded paper and torn pieces of cardboard.
Rich brought some materials like leaves, grasses, paper, and cardboard so we could add them to the bin. Dev B put the cardboard in and Rich was telling him to spread it all around.
Rich uses a large corkscrew tool to help mix the materials. He says it's a little easier on the back! Adia gave it a try. Now, when we come to check on the garden, we'll include a check of the compost bin, so we can observe how the materials we added break down and become soil!
Back at the outdoor classroom, we enjoyed a snack of lemonade and lemon/thyme shortbread cookies while MG Pat told us about thyme, which was the herb of the day. We learned that it's often used in savory dishes like pork and salmon, but of course, we loved it in the cookies Krafty Karen baked, too! We also learned that long, long ago, thyme was used when clothing was laundered to help freshen it, and it was also believed thyme could help prevent hair loss!
Here's MG Carolyn's Journal Update for today's session. Just beautiful, as always! Great lesson today, MGs! Thank you for all the interesting and unique facts we learn when visiting with you. We really enjoyed seeing the new compost area, too. We'll be keeping our eye on the materials we added when we visit the garden over the summer.
We found a shady area under a tree to set up bocce. Patrick, Erik, Alexis, and Abraham said they were just playing "for fun" so they didn't keep score!
We brought a horseshoe game we haven't played in ages. Liz, Kevin, and Laura were wowed when Dev B scored a ringer!
Sue's family recently donated a croquet set to us, and today was the first time we tried it. Her lessons were great! We had fun practicing, and we'll get the hang of it as we continue to use it in the future. Thank you for spending the day with us, Sue! We really enjoyed hanging out with you and you were a big help! 👏👏
Wednesday
Today we welcomed Laura's mom, Lisa P, and dad, Tom, to help us out in Carol's absence. Our Lisa took groups to volunteer at Grove. It was a busy day! Thank you so much, Lisa P and Tom, for spending time with us today. It is always nice to have you lend a hand, and we appreciate everything you did for us! Lisa P, as a retired educator, still has the touch!! 👏👏
Our Lisa took the first group to volunteer at Grove. As usual, the first group packs food and toilet paper bags. It's an assembly line job, and we are very good at it! Our friends Peggy and Joel chatted with us the whole time, but we really stayed focused...as did they!
Packing the toilet paper is more challenging, because the bags are smaller, so it's a tighter fit. We persevere, and Peggy and Joel say not to worry if it's a little wonky! Great job today, Kevin, Xavier, Adia, Dev B, Liz, Laura, Erik, and Kate...who is missing in this picture. Sorry, Kate!
Back at the center, Lisa P and Tom enjoyed the music as we started the day with our dance warm up. Drew and Kate found their groove!
With Lisa P and Tom's help, we made preparations for National Strawberry Shortcake Day. Michelle and Alexis sliced the beautiful strawberries.
Patrick measured sugar and Sweet T gave the sliced strawberries a good stir. The strawberries were then placed in the fridge to marinate until lunchtime!
We also had a lesson on Flag Day! After watching a video, and discussing other facts with Lisa P, we completed our brain work assignment. Sam and Abraham were on it!
Soon, it was time to switch groups. Abraham, Drew, Patrick, and Sweet T unpacked cans of potted meat and stacked it into cardboard trays for easier access. When they finished, they carefully carried the trays to shelves in a storage room!
At the other end of the table, our Grove friend, Ally, taught Annmarie, Sam, Alexis, and Michelle how to fold the remaining prom gowns and put them in large plastic bags.
Next, she showed Sam and Michelle how to connect the vacuum hose and suck the excess air out so the bags would become smaller for storage. This crew ended up with 6 bags of vacuum packed dresses! Both of our groups were very busy at GCOC today! 👍👍
Meanwhile, the first Grove group was hard at work learning about Flag Day with Lisa P and Tom, and getting the Arc's July mailing started. Liz taught Tom how to collate and fold the letters so they would be ready for the stuffers later! Tom did a great job...what a great teacher Liz is!
Drew and Alexis paid close attention to the Flag Day video so they could complete their assignments correctly!
Looks like Dev B, Liz, and Kevin (and Erik, in the background), were deep in thought, too!
Adia and Xavier made sure they got the "numbers" right when it came to American flag facts! Happy Flag Day!
After lunch, we had a delicious dessert. Those strawberries Michelle and Alexis cut this morning were sweet and juicy, and we were very happy to celebrate Strawberry Shortcake Day!
Adia helped with a few stamps, and then she and Erik stuffed the envelopes. Kevin did his regular job of sealing the envelopes, and before we knew it, the job was done! Be sure to check the calendar, complete your sign up sheet, and return it to Kellie at the Arc office before the deadline! July has great activities you can join, including a Bingo Night, a Bowling Night, and a Dance Party!
We ended the day with a fun lesson for Pop Goes the Weasel Day (it's a thing, on June 14th!), which honors the nursery rhyme that originated over 300 years ago! We learned facts about actual weasels, like their bite is really powerful for such a small mammal. But the real fun came when we played a fun variation of the song, in which not only does a monkey chase the weasel, but so do a dog, cat, frog, rabbit, and lizard! This is one of Drew's favorite songs, and he had a great time dancing to this one with his friends!
Thursday
We began today with an interesting lesson about wind energy since it's Global Wind Day. We learned that it is a renewable resource for producing electricity, just like sun and water are! Wind is becoming more widely used to generate electricity in our country, and that is a good thing. We also learned that other sources of energy, called fossil fuels, include coal, oil, and natural gas. They are not renewable, because we will eventually run out of them.
Later in the morning we celebrated National Megalodon Day! What a huge shark that was...millions of years ago! We learned that one theory about its extinction says that maybe its main rival for food, the Great White Shark, was faster, and during the Ice Age, as prey became more scarce, was able to beat the megalodon to it. We even watched the classic trailer to the film Jaws, and no one wanted to leave the room (except Lisa)!
After lunch, Kellie (The Arc's Programs and Volunteer Coordinator) came by to help us put together special treat bags for some special guys! Hint: There is a day to celebrate them coming up on Sunday! Thank you for your help this afternoon, Kellie! We appreciated the extra set of hands since Carol wasn't available due to being in Sweden! You did a great job helping us with this important project, and we enjoyed visiting with you, too!
Sweet T and Laura were very engaged in making part of their projects very colorful!
Another part of the project involved assembling the beautiful cards that were in kits made for us by MG Krafty Karen. She cut several pieces and also stamped pretty pictures on some of them, and once we glued all of them together, it was beautiful. Liz carefully put a piece in place on her card.
Happy Father's Day, a few days early! We wonder if our guys will wait to surprise their dads, stepdads, grandpas, and other special father figures on Sunday...or if they will give them the treats now?!?!
Friday
Today we welcomed Tracy as our substitute for Carol. She was up to the task of taking this gang to Pet Supplies Plus for a work morning! In fact, they worked so hard cleaning, tending to animals, and scanning labels for inventory, that this is the only picture Tracy took. That's OK, Tracy. We know you guys were busy, and this is a GREAT picture!
The rest of the gang was busy at AFCC. We're relocating to Freedom Park next week, and to the Rec Center on Longhill Road the week after that, so we packed and got some things prepared that we will need, such as these colorful letters Kate, Laura, and others worked on. They will become part of a large banner we're making next week!
We cooked our meat for Sloppy Joes yesterday, so all we had to do today was prep salads and heat frozen corn. Nan and Liz got the salads ready for us. Tomorrow is National Eat Your Vegetables Day, and we are pretty good about doing just that! These salads were full of colorful veggies, including fresh lettuce and arugula that Krafty Karen harvested for us at the garden on Tuesday. So delicious!!
We celebrated the first day of no school for students, which means we can access the gym pretty much anytime, or at least until a Parks & Rec program starts! (Then, we share.) Michelle, Xavier, and Sweet T wanted to throw the basketballs at Lisa, but they were just kidding. Annmarie was not angry...she was trying to look "sassy" for the picture!
Xavier was excited about having a Sloppy Joe (on a gluten-free bun) and fresh salad for lunch! Adia was helping to serve salad dressing, and in the background, Lisa and Nan prepped the Sloppy Joes.
We added cooked corn as another veggie today, and doesn't our plate look scrumptious?! 😋 Eat your veggies!! 🥗🌽
Since we ate our veggies today, we felt it was OK if we made a batch of peanut butter fudge to celebrate National Fudge Day! We only had 1 piece each, and Lisa will bring the leftovers for us to enjoy at Freedom Park on Tuesday! ✅
Do you know what's sweeter than peanut butter fudge? Zooming with Karryna!! 💗 She loves her new job at Sheltering Arms in Richmond, where she said she "does pretty much the kinds of things" we do at AoA with her group of adults with physical disabilities. We want to make a plan to visit Karryna and maybe do an activity with her group one day! We're proud of you, Karryna!
And since this is our only picture with Tracy in it from today, we want to give her a huge thank you for helping us, especially for taking the PSP group to work! She also helped us load a few (haha) things onto the van that we will need while at our relocation spots. She'll deliver them to us on Tuesday morning at Freedom Park. We appreciate you, Tracy!
We haven't posted a yoga pic in a while, so here we are, getting ready to relax after a busy Friday. We'll miss yoga for the next two weeks since we aren't going to schlep our mats on the road.
That's a wrap on another fun week at the Arc of Abilities. We're ready for the challenge of being relocated for a couple of weeks. Let's hope we packed everything we'll need!
Here's how things should play out next week at Freedom Park:
Tuesday: We will kick off our week at Freedom Park quite routinely with our Dance Warm Up, followed by a blog check. If the weather cooperates, we'll celebrate Hike with a Geek Day on one of the trails available to us at the park. After an early lunch, we'll head over to The Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg for a lesson with Christina! Bring your own lunch. Arc shirts optional.
Wednesday: The highlight of Day 2 at Freedom Park will be a visit with our therapy dogs and friends, who are happy to meet us at our temporary spot. Let's all wish for good weather! We'll have lessons on both Skateboarding Day (today) and International Surfing Day (yesterday), but we won't actively participate in either sport! We'll watch some cool video clips, though! It's also the first official day of summer, so there will be Summer Bingo, too! Bring your own lunch.
Thursday: We have a special treat today: Arc Board President Sue Hassan is treating us to a lunch of salad, pasta salad, grilled chicken, and watermelon! Thank you, Sue! We will look forward to enjoying a delicious lunch with you! It's Chocolate Eclair Day, so we're going to top off lunch with a no-bake eclair cake, too. In other activities today, we will watch the movie version of our latest read-aloud, Harriet the Spy, enjoy being outside (if it's not too warm), and play trivia games.
Friday: We're in for another special treat: Laura's parents, Lisa P and Tom, are helping us have a "Camping" theme today! We will have activities and lessons centered around camping and wildfires. Let's hope for nice weather, as Lisa P and Tom plan to make grilled hot dogs for lunch and show us how to put together a tasty homemade trail mix! It's also National Pink Day, so we will add some "pink" side dishes for lunch, and you can feel free to wear pink! No yoga today, as we won't have our mats, or enough space.
Time to gear up for the Women of the Moose's 8th Annual Golf Tournament! Moose Patti and all of our WOTM friends are working hard to make this a very successful FUNdraiser, as it always is! Contact Lisa for more info on supporting this wonderful event. Thank you!
We hope you have the date on your calendar: Saturday, August 5th! We need Arc Ambassadors to ride around on golf carts spreading good cheer and appreciation!
This weekend we send very Happy Father's Day wishes to all the special dads, stepdads, grandpas, and other father figures in our AoA Family! We appreciate all of you and hope you have a beautiful day!
Lisa, Carol, Nan, and the AoA Gang
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