Image by Freepik
This weekend is Memorial Day, so we spent time this week learning about this day of remembrance, so it won't get lost in also being the "unofficial" start of summer. We also enjoyed a beautiful day outside at Yorktown on Tuesday, and volunteered our time at the JRES Library and Grove Christian Outreach Center on Wednesday. Our week wrapped up with a work day at Pet Supplies Plus followed by a birthday party for Tracy! Here are all the details:
Tuesday, May 21
Today was just a gorgeous spring day and we spent the bulk of it in Yorktown! We began the day with our dance warm up, and then a check of last week's blog. Next we read a couple of chapters from Lone Wolf, and after that, made our way to Yorktown for lunch outside at our favorite spot. There was a gentle breeze and we couldn't beat the view!
After lunch, we spent almost 1 hour playing bocce! Laura was put "in charge" since she was wearing her colorful bocce shirt. Once the course was set up, she announced, "OK, team! Everyone over here. Let's do it!"
Surely the beautiful weather had something to do with us playing for so long. We know days like this aren't a given in "spring," so we try to make the most of them when we can! (We heard it's going to feel like summer for the rest of the week!)
Alexis, Laura, Bryan, Xavier
Drew, Sam, Erik
Abraham, Michelle, Patrick
Our backdrop of the York River is stunning!
Beka, Drew, and Sam
After our delightful bocce games, we planned to take a walk, interspersed with hopping on and off of the free Yorktown Trolley. We began at the Yorktown Battlefield and walked over to the Victory Monument.
Just up this slight incline and we'll be at the Victory Monument. From there, we intended to jump on the trolley and ride over to the American Revolution Museum. Our plan was to hop off at the museum and follow a nice trail along the river to the Watermen's Museum where we would hop on the trolley again and head back to our vans at the battlefield...
We waited about 15 minutes and no trolley came to pick us up! Usually when we plan to ride the trolley, our wait times are less than 5-10 minutes.
Still waiting...but we were enjoying the nice breeze and time to chat with our friends. Lisa checked the location of the trolley on her app, and it seemed to be spending a very long time at the Revolution Museum. Maybe it was a shift change? So, after 30 minutes, we had no choice but to walk back to our vans at the battlefield.
In the end, we missed walking the trail by the river, but we still got quite a few steps!
And of course, what should appear just as we were loading the vans to head back to AFCC but the trolley. Beka predicted this would happen and she was correct! We'll try again another day!
When the vans were returned to the Rec Center at the end of the day, Lisa, Carol, and Alexis added some of our painted and "bling-blinged" rocks to the Kindness Garden. They are so pretty!
Wednesday, May 22
Our morning was filled with community service. First, we sent a crew to the JRES Library where Mr. Nonnemacher and Ms. Ortega were very happy to have some extra hands for shelving books! The end of the school year is rapidly approaching and we will miss this weekly experience over the summer.
We had 5 friends on the absence list today, and when it was time for "Carol's group" to go to GCOC to volunteer, we realized all 5 of them are in her group! Many thanks to Sam, Patrick, Alexis, and Erik from "Lisa's group" who chipped in to help Kevin, Xavier, Laura, and Bryan (not pictured) get the job done today!
The Grove Crew worked on counting and packing tea bags into smaller packages, and then preparing the food distribution bags with our favorite volunteers - Joel, Peggy, Tom, Ursula - and a couple of new ones, Mike and another Tom! We love to make new friends!
Just 5 of us were left at the center, but we were busy too! We created a unique birthday card for Tracy, and got a few decorations ready for her party. We also checked our strawberry patch (3 more strawberries!), and pulled weeds and grass from the raised bed and ground plot. On the way out of the garden, we borrowed some tools so we can transplant our sunflowers.
Beka made a quick stop at the Little Free Libary. We found a book that we might choose for our next read-aloud!
After lunch and Choice Time we had a lesson for National Maritime Day. One thing we learned is that many products we use in our everyday lives are shipped from around the world on cargo ships. We also learned about how the development of steel containers in 1956 revolutionized the maritime shipping industry!
Our last activity of the day was to commemorate National Solitaire Day! Lisa was surprised that many of us were familiar with the card game that has been around for about 200 years. We learned that in 1990, when Microsoft released Windows 3.0, they included Solitaire, and it helped many people master the use of the mouse on their computers! After our group game of Solitaire, we split into smaller groups and played other games with cards. It was a fun ending to a good day!
Kevin, Patrick, Annmarie, Alexis, and Michelle tried to trick each other with Disney trivia questions!
Nan played SPOT IT with Beka, Drew, Xavier, and Laura, and they were quick to spot the matches!
Carol's group tried to quickly name things that fit different categories. Bryan, Sam, Erik, and Abraham had a lot of great answers!
Thursday, May 23
Today we had lessons that centered around the true meaning of Memorial Day, as well as ways to stay safe in the sun and water since Memorial Day is also the "unofficial" start to the summer season. We also finished our read-aloud, Lone Wolf, and had time to squeeze in an informative video about wolves. Our day ended with one of our favorite games, corn hole!
We began preparing for Tracy's birthday luncheon, which is tomorrow. Erik and Bryan cooked the beef and sausage that we will use in our casseroles.
We finished Lone Wolf and gave it two thumbs up!
Between our book and this video, we sure did!
By late morning it was getting muggy outside and no one wanted to go out to walk, so we found a chair exercise video that was "fun" and not too hard. Here are pictures of our attempts to work out and not fall off of our chairs!
Before our lesson about the true meaning of Memorial Day, we reviewed sun and water safety tips with a cute video featuring Minions. Even they know how to be safe AND have fun in the sun!
We thought this young boy, Johann, did an excellent job on a video he made about Memorial Day. Click on the picture if you'd like to see it for yourself!
It was time for brain work after our Memorial Day lesson. Our guys were very focused on activities that included solving a crossword puzzle, graphing, and counting/coloring identified sets of items.
Thanks for giving Drew some assistance, Sam!
One of three hummers who visit our feeder!
It was more muggy later in the day than it was this morning, so we decided our Memorial Day Edition of corn hole would be played inside. We made temporary teams for today since we were down to just 12 members by 2:00. It was Hamburgers 🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔 vs. Hot Dogs 🌭🌭🌭🌭 🌭🌭!
Erik gave Xavier a high-five when he scored for the Hamburgers!
Emma concentrated and scored for the Hot Dogs on this turn!
Laura's favorite word during the game is "focus," so here she is, doing just that!
Great game and lots of fun, even with a few friends missing. Congrats to the Hamburgers who won today's Memorial Day Edition of corn hole!
Friday, May 24
Today we got to see photos of our friend Devin and his family who are visiting Alaska! We miss Dev, but we're so happy he's having this big adventure. Here he is with his sister, Hailey, and brother, Christian.
Looking good, Dev, in your shorts in Alaska!
Beautiful scenery!
While Devin and family were enjoying Alaska, we were taking care of Pet Supplies Plus. Devin, tell your parents, Scott and Roxanne, not to worry about a thing! Carol took a big crew today since Tracy and Intern Javante were able to help, and the store is in great shape!
BFFs Laura and Annmarie stocking shelves!
Kevin was making sure the fish aisle is well-stocked!
Bryan enjoys working on the reptile aisle, and he told us he wants to adopt this crusted gecko!
Erik showed Intern JaVante how we get a cart of product from the stock room and head to the shelves!
Michelle and Beka enjoy working together.
Pups in Williamsburg will be happy that Alexis stocked fresh treats!
Laura, Annmarie, and Kevin were happy to work with Birthday Girl Tracy! Thanks, Tracy and Intern JaVante, for your help at Pet Supplies Plus today! It was fun showing Javante the ropes!
Today's crew wanted to showcase summer clothing and life jackets for your pets! The big smile on store manager Brittany's face is because she told Carol that she looks forward to our work shifts because we bring her so much joy!
Speaking of smiles, the crew of only 5 (!) that stayed at the center were all smiles as we finished getting lunch ready for Tracy's birthday celebration! We knew several of our friends would be out today, so that's why we started preparing yesterday.
Liz and Emma made decorative napkin rings that said "Happy Birthday!"
Xavier was just a little disappointed to help prepare a gluten and dairy-free version of today's baked ziti when he realied he had to wait until lunch time to eat it! (It was worth the wait!)
Patrick and Drew assembled the regular version!
Liz made the filling for our Cookie Butter Cookies. We tried a new recipe for Tracy's birthday, and highly recommend it. We forgot to get a picture, but here's a screenshot from the website Southern Plate and if you click it, you can get the recipe! 😋
We got a picture of our lunch plate!
Intern JaVante sent us this great selfie, and you can spot Mallory on the front row...a former intern! Thanks for joining us today, Mallory!
Happy Birthday, Tracy! We hope all your wishes come true, and we thank you for all you do for us!
After partying with Tracy, we enjoyed Choice Time that became extended Choice Time because, well...just because...and it was Friday! Around 1:45 it was time for yoga, but when we tried to connect to Jaime's webpage, we had no internet! That is very rare, but we quickly adjusted. Instead, we celebrated National Scavenger Hunt Day with an indoor scavenger hunt. We were going to do it earlier, but "forgot" when we decided to have extra Choice Time.
Kevin's mom, Debbie, arrived a little early for pick up so she came in to say "hi" and was interested in hearing about our scavenger hunt!
Tuesday: This morning we will visit with the master gardeners and meet a special guest for a lesson about bees and pollination. After than, we're going to celebrate National Hamburger Day with a visit to Cook Out, so please bring $10 for lunch. Weather permitting, this will be followed by a walk at Kiwanis Park to work off the burger! Please wear Arc shirts.
Wednesday: Today we're going to play around, as we have activities related to "celebrations" that fall at the end of May: Paperclip Day, Tap Dance Day, and Paper Airplane Day! We'll even give Flip Flop Day another try (last year was more of a flop)...so bring your favorite flip-flops or sandals to add to the collection for some games. (Still wear your sneakers for other activities.) We will also begin a new read-aloud today! Lunch on your own. JRES Cafeteria is offering Popcorn Chicken Bowl or Hot Dog.
HEAD's UP about ordering lunches: The last day of school is Thursday, June 13. Any unspent funds in the accounts will roll over for the new school year!
Thursday: Today we are celebrating National Creativity Day with activities centered around dancing, crafting, and cooking. We'll watch a movie that celebrates creativity in cooking, Ratatouille, and speaking of cooking, we'll make chicken nuggets, "creative" macaroni and cheese, and fruit salad for lunch! Later we will make cute bees out of toilet paper rolls to use in a creative farewell card we're making for JRES Assistant Principal, Ms. Vallone, who is retiring.
Friday: We are scheduled to have a work day at Eaton, so please wear Eaton shirts and bring a bagged lunch. The forecast looks gorgeous for being outside, so if it holds, we will plan to walk at New Quarter Park after working. Yoga with Jaime will be a backup if the weather changes course.
Please remember the Women of the Moose Charity Golf Tournament is quickly approaching on August 3rd! We hope you will consider being a Bronze Sponsor (also known as sponsoring a hole that includes signage with your AoA member's picture on it). Of course, we would also welcome Silver and Gold Sponsors! You can make checks payable to WOTM 1755 and give them to us. We'll make sure Moose Patti gets them, and we thank you in advance for your support of this amazing fundraiser from which the Arc of Abilities directly benefits! We also need AoA members to volunteer at the tournament, so please let us know if you can help!
Enjoy the holiday weekend,
Lisa, Carol, Nan, and the AoA Gang
