We added 3 new members to our group this week! Welcome to Rebekah (Beka), Bryan, and Emma who bring our total to 18, and fill up our space for now. We all look forward to showing them the ropes and turning them into AoA pros in no time! We took them bowling on Tuesday, their first official day, and everyone had a great time! We showed them how we celebrate community friends with one of our special luncheons on Wednesday, and introduced them to Mike at the Watermen's on Thursday. On Friday, we wrapped up their first week with an Eaton work day. Check out the exciting week we had!
Tuesday, February 6
Everyone loves the first Tuesday of the month when we go bowling! Today, we surprised Wendy and the team at Bowlero when we showed up with 18 bowlers, but they welcomed us as they always do and made sure we had what we needed. We had to use lanes 7-10 this morning, but we adapted. It was hectic at first, getting everyone (and our new friends) situated, so we don't have a lot of pictures. But that doesn't mean we didn't have a lot of fun!
Lane 7 bowlers: Laura, Liz, Bryan, Cameron, Xavier (Notice the updated paint on the walls?!)
Lane 8 bowlers: Kevin, Tessa, Annmarie, Abraham
Lane 9 bowlers: Kate, Patrick, Beka, Alexis, Emma
Lane 10 bowlers, posing in the arcade area where an entire wall has been removed: Erik, Devin, Sam, Drew
Michelle pointing out the upgrades at the registration area
We picked up pizzas from Domino's and returned to the center for lunch. It was so good after our busy bowling morning! Emma, Bryan, Alexis, and Beka (on behalf of us all) send a huge shoutout to our anonymous donor who sponsored today's pizza! We truly appreciate your kindness!
After lunch we reviewed last week's blog post and ended the day by making cards for tomorrow's special guest: Bowlero manager, Wendy. We are celebrating our friendship with her as well as her one year anniversary as manager. We want to show our appreciation for all she does to make our experience at Bowlero fantastic each month!
Wednesday, February 7
We had a lot going on today as we welcomed two special visitors! Our friend Wendy, who is the manager at Bowlero, came for an appreciation luncheon. We spent most of the morning getting lunch ready. Later in the afternoon, Sandra, our friend from Colombia, stopped by to bring us an early Valentine treat! It was a great day!
Laura helped train Beka on shelving books at the JRES Library for our regular Wednesday volunteer job. Beka caught on very quickly!
Annmarie, Laura, Liz, and Nan got our fruit cups ready for lunch.
Beka and Bryan worked on Caesar salad.
Emma was tickled when Erik added chocolate chips to the "cake mix" cookies we were making.
Michelle joined Emma and Erik to place cookie dough on the baking pans.
Xavier, Abraham, Devin, Kevin, Kate, Cameron, and Drew played a lively game of Bingo!
Alexis, Patrick, Tessa, and Sam made sweet "We 💗Wendy" napkin rings.
Did we mention it was National Fettucine Alfredo Day, and we were having that for lunch? So of course we had to take a hallway walk before eating!
Ready to welcome Wendy!
Devin and Erik, the Welcoming Committee, greeted Wendy at Door 7. They were great!
Wendy was touched by our cards, decorations, and the lunch we cooked just for her! We wanted to show her that we are grateful for everything she does to make sure our monthly bowling experience is the best!
We were also celebrating Wendy's 1 year anniversary as the general manager at Bowlero, and she's doing a stellar job. Plus, we found out that she got this cute "popcorn" purse for her birthday on January 19, which (as we know) is National Popcorn Day!
Instead of fettucine pasta, which is kind of messy for us to eat, we had Penne Alfredo with chicken, broccoli, Caesar salad, and mandarin oranges. It was tasty!
These cake mix cookies were easy for us to make with only cake mix, egg, milk, vanilla, and chocolate chips for ingredients. We'll try them again with a different cake flavor!
💗💗Wendy may or may not have shed a tear when we read the appreciation cards we wrote for her. 💗💗
Devin told Sandra, "I'm a hugger," and thanked her with a sweet hug!
There were several pieces of sweet chocolate in each box, and we're pretty sure not all of them made it home!
We're so glad you were able to stop by today, Sandra. The adorable Valentine treat boxes you made for us, with our names on them, were extra special. We love that you took time to make them for us, and we thank you from all of our 💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖!
Thursday, February 8
Today's adventure took us to the Watermen's Museum in Yorktown for a lesson about Mardi Gras with Mike. It was our first visit with him this year, and he didn't disappoint! Something cool that we learned is that Mardi Gras is just a day. There are so many parties and parades from the end of the Christmas season (Twelth Night - January 6) until Mardi Gras (Tuesday before Ash Wednesday), and altogether it is known as the Carnival season.
The parading partiers often wear masks, and Mike had a huge one on display!
We were suprised to learn that during the Carnival season, there are parades on lots of days. The groups that hold the parades are called "krewes" so we had to think of a name for our krewe.
We decided we have many abilities so we would be the Krewe of Able Abilities! 😍 (Drew made sure we had pizza represented because Krewe Pizza would be a close second for our name!)
We decorated large banners that Mike fashioned onto the wall and a table turned sideways, so we could have our own Carnival float!
Looks like we need a longer float now that we have a full krewe! Oh, we made masks, too. Lisa commented that this was the easiest group photo ever...she didn't have to worry about eyes on the camera! 😎
It really wouldn't be a visit with Mike if we didn't sing! Thanks sooo much for today's interesting, creative, and fun time, Mike! Once again, we discovered that with a bit of imagination and encouragement, we can create the most wonderful things, and make great memories, too!
Our party time was just beginning with Mike... When we returned to the center, we switched into Super Bowl Party Mode! Check out our sports apparel and our chip, veggie, fruit, brownie, and beverage buffet! It was BYOS today. (Bring Your Own Sandwich)
Liz shared some of her dad's memorablia from that time back in 1988 when the Washington Redskins defeated the Denver Broncos to win Super Bowl XXII. Her dad got to meet the quarterback, Doug Williams, along with a few other players, and got their autographs! Very cool. Liz! Thanks for sharing!
Here's our take on this year's game. According to our helmet bar graph, the San Francisco 49ers are predicted to defeat the Kansas City Chiefs. We are almost evenly split, though, so it could go KC's way...😂🏈
Friday, February 9
We made it to Friday of our first week with a full house! We almost had perfect attendance all week, too. There was one member absent on Thursday, but other than that, everyone was here every day!
👏👏👏
While we're clapping our hands...here's a huge shoutout to Intern Mallory who has been working with us a couple of days a week and is fabulous! She is technically Tracy's intern, and is studying Therapeutic Recreation at Old Dominion University, but Tracy (wisely) realized that some hands-on experience with the Arc of Abilities would benefit her immensely, and we agree. It just also happens to benefit us immensely, too! Thank you, Mallory, for working with us. You're a natural, and we are honored to work with you and help you achieve your goals for a career in therapeutic recreation! 👏👏👏
Today was an Eaton work day and we're very proud of our accomplishments! It was only our second time in our new work area, which is smaller than we had before, and we made it work smoothly with all 18 AoA members plus Intern Mallory, and Lisa, Carol, and Nan.
We finished up around 1:15 and decided to take a walk at New Quarter Park since it wasn't too chilly outside. The fresh air and opportunity to stretch our legs felt great, and was a perfect ending to our excellent week!
We're looking forward to another great week as our newbies continue to become part of the family! We have a few celebrations in store, and here's a look at our plans:
Tuesday: We visit Wisteria, Erika, and friends at the Mariners' Museum for the first time in 2024 today. Please wear Arc shirts and bring a bagged lunch. It's also Mardi Gras, so when we return to the center we will celebrate with a special King Cake being given to us by Moose Patti, whose father in New Orleans is sending it for us. Thank you, Moose Patti! This is a special treat! 😋 We will miss you being able to celebrate with us this year. 🎉
Wednesday: Happy Valentine's Day! We will volunteer at GCOC in the morning and party in the afternoon! Pigs in a Blanket (hot dogs), baked beans, and fruit for lunch. Bring valentines to exchange (optional) and feel free to wear your Valentine colors today.
Thursday: Our week of celebrations and AoA traditions continues today as we fit in a day for the Lunar New Year, which began on February 10. We'll have a movie morning and watch Mulan. We'll also celebrate our favorite custodian Heike's birthday, and treat her to lunch! We will order Chinese takeout for lunch so please bring $10. You may also bring lunch from home if you prefer.
Friday: We'll send a crew to work at PSP this morning, so please wear Pet Supplies Plus shirts. Our crew that stays at AFCC will help clean out our storage areas. We'll keep it moving after lunch with a round of Winter Corn Hole Challenge followed by yoga with Jaime. Lunch on your own. JRES Cafeteria is available for Cheeseburger or Fish Sticks.
Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend,
Lisa, Carol, and the AoA Gang
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