Fall Birthday Season continued this week as we celebrated both Erik's and Abraham's birthdays! Abraham was first, on Tuesday, followed by Erik on Thursday. Plus, we sent cards to both Anna and Kellie at The Arc's office, who also had birthdays this week! It was a festive time, for sure. We did other things too, including hanging out with the master gardeners, volunteering at GCOC, meeting a new therapy dog friend, and working at Eaton. Check out our fun week!
Tuesday
Today was a perfect day to visit with the master gardeners. The sun was bright and just warm enough to take a slight chill off the air, before making it comfortably warm by the time we finished. The topic today was "Herb Review." The MGs had samples of the herbs we have learned about this year, and they quizzed us to see what we remembered! 🤔
We had learned about tarragon, which most of us were not familiar with at all. We kind of remembered it is used for savory cooking, and Barb reminded us that it has a mild licorice flavor, and is often used in French cooking. We have yet to use tarragon in our cooking, so it's on our to-do list!
We also reviewed bay leaves. The MGs gave us fresh bay leaves recently and we dried them at the center. We're waiting for cooler weather when we will use them in a soup or stew. Here, we were talking about different varieties of thyme, and Adia and Kevin thought the lemon thyme smelled good.
Other herbs we reviewed included dill, mint, basil, chives, rosemary, and lavender. Patrick and Tessa smelled the fresh lavender, which we learned can help with relaxation!
Later, Patrick approved of the tasty snack we enjoyed today. Krafty Karen baked chocolate mint cookies that were delicious. (She gave us the recipe!) The MGs also served water that had been infused with mint leaves. Yum!
We planted long rows of garlic bulbs and onion sets in the bed where the pumpkins had grown. We'll look forward to watching that bed fill up with aromatic garlic and onions!
Speaking of pumpkins, here's a picture of the ones we got two weeks ago when the MGs decided to remove the pumpkin vines since the hot weather had taken a toll. Karen picked these 3 and they were mostly green. Just as Karen explained, they have continued to ripen in our window sill and much of the green has turned to orange!
The last thing we checked was the sweet potato bed. Some small purple flowers are appearing, so we know the potatoes will start to grow. Karen reached under one of the plants and felt a very small, "finger shaped" potato, so we are hopeful to get a nice harvest soon!
The tables were decorated with fresh flowers from the master gardeners' yards and little pumpkins, which they let us keep! That was just perfect because we have some fun stickers to decorate them with!
The MGs we worked with today were Joanne, Barb, Karen, and Carolyn. Thank you, friends, for a fun and informative lesson today! We always enjoy our visits with you, and value our friendships very much!
Ta-da! Here is Carolyn's beautiful journal page for this session! 💚
Next, it was time for a Party in the Park! After eating our lunches, we had birthday cake to celebrate Abraham turning 28!!
Abraham, we hope all of your wishes come true, and your 28th year is your best one yet! Many thanks to your mom for providing cake and party supplies so we could celebrate in style!
After cake, it was time for games! Lisa taught us how to play SPUD. Birthday Boy Abraham threw the ball into the air and called on someone to catch it. The others were supposed to run when he threw the ball. When the person whose name was called caught the ball and yelled, "SPUD," everyone had to freeze and the catcher then tried to tag someone with the ball. We had several practice rounds before we kind of caught on... At least we were moving!
We also played with the parachute today. It's fun to figure out how to work together to make the parachute "work," and in this group, Carol even threw in some math skills. What?!?!
We returned to AFCC with just enough time to work on birthday cards for Anna and Kellie, who support us and the entire Arc of Greater Williamsburg through their work at the office. Anna's birthday is Wednesday and Kellie's is Friday! Happy Birthday to you both! We are thankful for all you do to make The Arc a great place!
Wednesday
We were off to volunteer at the JRES Library this morning! Those look like fun titles, Liz and Laura!
Alexis and Michelle enjoy working side by side!
We also volunteered at Grove today. The first group worked with Peggy and Joel to pack the canned food bags, followed by packing the toilet paper bags. This is a great job for us and we like showing Peggy and Joel how efficient we are!
GCOC has a 10k fundraiser coming up this weekend. The second group helped organize items that would be going into the participants' swag bags!
A very cool thing happened today! Devin is a diehard Phillies fan and Patrick is a diehard Braves fan. Their teams are facing each other in the National League division playoffs. Devin and his dad traveled to Atlanta for the second game on Monday night, but their Phillies lost to the Braves by 1 run. Devin is a really good sport and even though he was disappointed his team lost, he brought Patrick the souvenir popcorn box that he had gotten at the game. He could have tossed it in the trash, but he knows his friend Patrick would appreciate it, and so he threw in a pack of microwavable popcorn and brought the box to his buddy, Patrick! Nice move, Devin...nice move! ⚾⚾⚾ UPDATE: The Phillies advanced to the National League Championship Series with their win over the Braves on Thursday night. Congrats to Devin's team, and on to next year for Patrick's!
We made birthday cards for Erik today since we are celebrating his big day tomorrow. While we worked on the cards, Lisa gave him a bunch of letter tiles and told him to make words with at least 4 letters in each! She said he needed to keep his "old" brain from getting rusty. Erik came up with 20 words before running short on tiles! 🤓
We used stickers to decorate the little pumpkins the MGs gave us yesterday. Each set of stickers was enough to make a face on two sides of the pumpkins, and it was fun using the stickers to bring them to life!
Now we need to find a place in the room to put them on display! Our window sills are filled with beautiful plants and flowers. We'll come up with something!
Next, it was on to National Fossil Day. We were happy, and not the least bit surprised, that Michelle would bring in fossil models to share! This is a representation of a mosquito that was preserved in amber, or resin, from a tree. Paleontologists have found real insects preserved this way that are millions of years old!
We wrapped up our fossil lesson with a fact/opinion assignment. We worked with partners to determine if statements related to fossils were actual facts, or merely opinions. Devin and Tessa worked together alongside Adia and Xavier. They helped one another and did very well separating facts from opinions!
During Choice Time we asked Adia to draw a picture of Aubree on our welcome board. Aubree is a therapy dog who was coming to meet us for the first time today with her handler, Vicky. Adia did a great job!
Here's a close-up!
This is Vicky and her Havanese, Aubree. They are soon to be new members of the therapy dog group that visits us each month. Vicky asked if she and Aubree could stop by on their own for a meet and greet, and of course we were happy to welcome them!
Vicky and her husband retired to Williamsburg two years ago. Prior to that, she was a mental health counselor in Michigan, and Aubree interacted so well with her patients, that she decided to train her to become a therapy dog. Here, Alexis was about to pet Aubree while Vicky showed Liz a photo from her recent trip to Spain where she and her husband walked a 75 mile pilgrimage to the Santiago Cathedral!
Aubree is not only adorable and sweet, she's also very personable. We enjoyed petting her and talking to her, too!
Thanks for coming to meet us today, Vicky and Aubree. We know Aubree is going to fit in well with our other therapy dog friends, and we can't wait to introduce her to them next week!
Thursday
Time for Birthday #2 this week: Erik's! We spent a fabulous day in Yorktown enjoying good times with friends and celebrating Erik.
First, we divided into groups and went on a nature scavenger hunt at the area near the Battlefield Visitor Center. Carol's group of Laura, Annmarie, and Sam looked over the items on the list before they took off to search.
Patrick, Alexis, and Liz worked together and they were the only team to find a squirrel (surprisingly)! They said it was running up this tree!
Tessa, Xavier, and Michelle found 3 different types of leaves and checked that off their list!
Birthday Boy Erik and his teammates, Devin and Adia, checked off the item "Something you didn't expect to see." They spotted a furry caterpillar on this tree, but later, when they brought the rest of us over to see it...it was gone! What a cool thing to see, and they knew not to touch it, too!
After the scavenger hunt, we drove down to the picnic area beside the York River. After eating our lunches, we played a boys vs. girls birthday version of Corn Hole. Erik was first up for the boys on this beautiful day!
The girls were behind when Laura's first turn came, and she gave it her best shot but fell just short of the board. She made up for it on her next turn, adding 1 point to the girls' score!
This area by the river in Yorktown is probably our favorite place for playing corn hole, especially on a beautiful fall day! We took this picture at half-time. The boys were leading, 3-1.
Our half-time festivities included partying with Erik! We want to thank his parents for sending these tasty cupcakes for the celebration. We particularly loved the way the green and orange frosting colored the tongues of our friends! So much fun!
Erik, we hope all your wishes come true and your 29th year is your best yet! We loved hanging outside with you on your special day!
When the second half of corn hole was complete, the boys had emerged victorious! Happy Birthday, Erik! You're on the winning team today! (Devin is peeking through the hole on the board...)
We enjoyed a game of Birthday Bingo in the warm sunshine. We were glad it wasn't windy!
Our Party in the Park for Erik ended with a ride on the Yorktown Trolley. We had it all to ourselves today. After this, we returned to the center and prepared for dismissal. What a great day, and we got lots of fresh air, too!
Friday
So, today started out as a typical Eaton work day, but then it became something really fun! More on that later...
We got right to work upon our arrival. Drew, Erik, and Sam tackled this big bin full of water plates, which needed to be transferred to smaller tubs.
Over on the other side of the room, Devin, Patrick, and Xavier did the same thing with a big bin of amber colored plates.
While Lexi, Liz, Adia, and Nan were unpacking light bulbs, Eaton's Buyer, Kim stopped by to say high and see how everyone was doing today. We hadn't see her in a while, so that was a nice surprise!
Our last group of efficient workers today included Laura, Abraham, and Tessa. They counted screws in sets of 50 which we then put in the plastic bags.
Next thing we knew, things went from work mode to fun mode! Our Eaton friends set up a table filled with craft materials and a box of little pumpkins. It was time to put work aside and get our crafting on!!
Liz and Alexis enjoyed chatting with Tricia while they decorated their pumpkins to look like unicorns!
Tessa used Sharpies and stickers to decorate her pumpkin so that it resembled a Frankenstein!
Abraham and Patrick went the painting route. Look at their concentration!
This is all of the creative work we did. Mark, Eaton's Business Operations Manager, and Kim, along with other Eaton associates, created with us, and we had so much fun that Devin said, "This was the best day ever!"
Here's a close-up! We're so proud of our masterpieces! Thank you, Eaton friends, for providing this extremely fun activity for us. We were not expecting this, and it made our day!
Rosemary, who works in the warehouse with Ethan (who was on vacation today), took this amazing video of all of the creative and beautiful creations we made. Thanks for sharing, Rosemary! It really shows off the talents of us and our Eaton friends!
But wait! There was more! Just as we thought the fun was finished, Mark slipped out and when he returned, he had two tubs of candy to share with us! Wow! As Adia said, "Eaton spoils us!" Thank you Mark, Kim, Rosemary, and all of our Eaton friends for this memorable day. We are grateful for your support and friendship!
Lisa got caught sneaking a piece of candy. Rosemary snapped this picture and suggested we put it in the blog. When Lisa protested, Rosemary led a vote and, well, Lisa lost... 😜
On a more serious note, we learned that Russell will be leaving Eaton next week to pursue a different career opportunity. He said it's bittersweet for him, because he loves the folks he works with at Eaton. We can understand that! We wish Russell the best in his new job, and we hope we'll run into him around town sometime. Thanks for working with us, Russell. You're so cool, and we will miss you a lot!
Here's a look at what we have planned for next week:
Tuesday: We will spend the morning working on a thank-you project to take to the master gardeners next week. After an early lunch we'll go to The Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg for a visit with Christina! Please wear Arc shirts today. Lunch on your own. The JRES Cafeteria is available and is offering Pizza, Beef Soft Taco, or Taco Salad.
Wednesday: We have an interesting combination of activities planned for today. First, our therapy dog friends will visit in the morning for Halloween themed activities. We're going to meet new dogs and handlers, too. Our wonderful group is growing! Later, we will have activities for Reptile Awareness Day. 🐍🦎🐉 Lunch on your own. The JRES Cafeteria is available and the menu lists Popcorn Chicken Bowl or Hot Dog as choices.
Thursday: We'll spend today working on decorations to be used at the Disability Awareness Trick or Treat event coming up on October 28. We'll also have a Mystery Science lesson on why pumpkins are so popular in the fall. We are being treated to a spaghetti luncheon by our dear friend Nancy's brother and sister-in-law, Randy and Sally! Nancy moved to Kentucky in 2021, but we stay in touch with her through cards and letters, and we see Randy and Sally a couple of times a year. Thank you, Randy and Sally. We are blessed by your friendship!
Friday: It's a Pet Supplies Plus work day, so please wear your PSP shirts. One crew will work at the store while the other crew stays at AFCC and prepares lunch. We're having chicken tenders and waffles for lunch as we celebrate National Chicken and Waffles Day. This is a new one for us, but we think it sounds good! We'll also make cards for our custodian Sevarina's birthday, and unwind with yoga at the end of the day, so dress to stretch.
🎃👻🍬
ATTENTION! Coming soon is the Disability Awareness Trick or Treat at the AFCC! Join Tracy for her award-winning event on Saturday, October 28th from 9-12. Wear your favorite costume and go trick or treating...then hang out at the Arc of Abilities table and help us hand out treats and share information about the awesome Arc! Several of our AoA members attended last year and had a blast! We hope some of you will be able to come this year, too!
Thanks for all the support! Enjoy your weekend,
Lisa, Carol, Nan, and the AoA Gang
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