Happy Birthday, Michelle

This week we celebrated two awesome occasions with Michelle's birthday and the 7th anniversary of our partnership with Christina at The Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg!  Both of them were special, but felt just a little off because we were missing many of our friends since The Arc of Abilities was visited by the Covid virus!

  Our friend Drew was first to test positive on Monday, followed by Carol and Patrick on Tuesday afternoon.  Fortunately, no one else became infected as our week ended, and we are grateful for that!  Our friend Abraham was also out this week, getting better after some tummy troubles, and a few other friends opted to stay home to be on the safe side.  We had to change a plan or two and make other adjustments, but all in all, we had a good week, even though it's never the same when friends aren't with us!  We missed them and hope they are all back with us next week.

Tuesday, May 7

Since we weren't certain how the Covid virus might be affecting our group, we decided to postpone Devin's birthday celebration until sometime after his family returns from their cruise to Alaska at the end of the month.  We wanted to be sure his family members weren't exposed if any of us were contagious and didn't know it. We were still able to go bowling, and enjoy pizza for lunch, courtesy of Sam's grandmother, and our friend, Nina.  She gifted us Domino's gift cards last Christmas, and we still had funds to use!  Thanks so much, Nina.  The pizzas hit the spot, as usual!  Your gift has meant a lot to us.  🍕💖😋

We didn't get many pictures today, but here's what we have!

Everyone just hanging around, waiting for their turns!

Devin pointing out that he had just made a strike, and it was probably because he was wearing his "lucky shirt" from Best Buddies!

Annmarie with her signature pose, whether she's working at Eaton or just scored a spare in bowling!

Sam was excited to have picked up a spare after his first roll resulted in a split.  We all know that's not easy!

A group photo taken outside of the lanes.  Everyone was ready to pick up the pizzas by now!

Thanks again, Nina!  We are grateful for the gift cards you gave us, and for having your grandson Sam for a friend!

After lunch and Choice Time, we got outside for fresh air and a walk.

We checked the sunflower seeds we transplanted to a pot last week.

They look very good, with a lot more leaves today. 

Wednesday, May 8

We had a low-key day, deciding to cancel our work session in the library and our volunteer time at GCOC.  While no one seemed to be experiencing symptoms, we felt it best to hang around "home" just in case we might be carriers.  We didn't want to unknowingly share germs with anyone who might be more vulnerable than we are.

  

Each week we enjoy looking at the previous week's blog post.  Today we got a kick out of seeing ourselves dancing in preparation for the Cinco de Mayo celebration with Sam's mom.

We had cards to create, too!  Michelle's birthday is tomorrow, and our friend Bette Faye, who used to plan many of the Arc's fun activities, has one next week!

The insides are just as beautiful as the outsides!

Tracy visited to tell us about an exciting adventure called "Bellyaking on the Bay" that will take place on June 13!

Check out the email Lisa sent with all the info.  Space is limited, so sign up quickly if you're interested!

Today was National Have a Coke Day!  We decided to do science experments, and have samples!

Erik helped set up our experiment so we could test the effect of different liquids, including Coke, on cleaning old pennies.

Many of us predicted the bleach will clean the dingy pennies best, but a couple of us picked alcohol and one person picked lime juice.  Nan picked Coke!  Hmmm....we'll check tomorrow.

Liz compared shiny pennies to older, dirtier ones before we put them in the liquids.

Bryan dropped one old, dirty penny in each liquid.  We also put an egg in a jar and covered it with Coke.  The egg's shell is similar to the enamel in our teeth and bones, so we want to see what "too much Coke" might do to it!  We predicted it will stain the egg's shell...but we didn't know what else might happen.  We'll get a picture of that one tomorrow.

Science is kind of interesting...but tasting regular and Cherry Coke is really fun!

Our final experiment was to make a "soda fountain" by adding Mentos candy to a bottle of Coke.  We learned that carbonation (from carbon dioxide gas) is what makes soda fizzy.  When the Mentos enter the beverage, the bonds between the carbon dioxide gas and water are broken, and since the top is also off of the bottle, the gas bubbles escape with an eruption!   It was fun to see, but we thought it would be more dramatic!  Sooo....

We were surprised that over 1/2 of the Coke escaped during the eruption!

Thursday, May 9

It was another low-key morning as we carried on with only 11 in attendance today.  A few more friends decided to stay home just to be on the safe side, and we understand that.   We checked our sunflower seeds and observed that the ones we planted are still growing well and look pretty strong.  

We also observed that the ones we left in the cotton balls are still growing, and the roots are pushing through the cotton.  A few of them seem to have not made it.  We are thinking we might need to plant more of the ones with roots in soil!

.

Lexi and Emma documented their observations in their journals.

Next we checked the Coke experiments we set up yesterday.  We were "grossed out" by how badly the egg looked after soaking overnight in Coke.  Now, no one wants to put too much soda or sugar on their teeth, and that was the point!  We also checked to see which liquid would clean dirty pennies the best and were surprised that the Coke made the dirty penny look like new!  Nan was correct!  The bleach and lime juice also did a good job of cleaning.  We completely overlooked taking a picture showing how the pennies looked...but it's been that kind of week!

We're also gearing up for Mother's Day, but shh...it's a surprise.  We will share that Emma was working on assembling one of the card kits we got from Krafty Karen.

This year's cards are so pretty, as shown by Liz!  Thanks so much, Krafty Karen!

Michelle asked for a Movie Morning to celebrate her special day, and she chose to share Land Before Time with us.  It was a throwback for a few of us, but enjoyable all the same.  There's that sad part in the middle...but it ends happily!

We set up our little theater.  Liz and Bryan handled the Popcorn Cart!

Finally, lunch time arrived!  We really enjoyed the chicken nuggets, fresh fruit, chips, lemonade, and cupcakes that Michelle's mom and sister brought for us.  It smelled so good as soon as they entered the room!  Thank you very much, Susan and Meagan, for this delicious treat.  We enjoyed hanging out with you, and hearing all about Meagan's plans for grad school!  

Happy Birthday (on Sunday), Michelle!  We hope all your wishes come true.  Enjoy your "day off" tomorrow, too!  😉

Friday, May 10

Well, it has certainly been a while since we only had 10 of our members in attendance, but today was it!  Our Covid-influenced week finally came to an end, and it was a great ending...more on that below.  First, our attendance clerk, Laura, couldn't believe all the absences she had to mark on the roster today!  We sure hope everyone is back next week.  We miss our friends. 😦

We had a couple of hours before we needed to head out to meet Christina, so we made her a thank you card for today's Pizza Picnic, and then stretched with Jaime during a yoga segment.  Soon, it was time to meet Christina at the CW Visitor Center picnic area!

It was a one-van day!  

Since it's on the way, we stopped by Master Gardener Barbara's house to see her beautiful front yard.  (She told us to stop by anytime...but unfortunately, she wasn't home today.)  A few of us got out of the van for a closer look.

We recognized many of the flowers that Barb brings to our MG sessions to share with us.  These pictures don't do justice to her lovely and colorful yard!

Happy 7th Anniversary to Christina and us!  We first met her at a visit to The Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg on May 4, 2017.  We've had a lot of fun times with her over these seven years, and can't thank her enough for how much she has taught us.  We are also grateful for her friendship.  Today, she treated us to a Pizza Picnic and, while we were sad to miss many of our friends, and Carol, it was a very nice outing.  

Dirt cups with worms for dessert! 😋

Thank you for this wonderful celebration lunch, Christina.  On behalf of all of us, Laura's "speech" says it all.  (Great job, Laura.)

Our gift to Christina was this collage called "Through the Years with Christina."  There are a lot of great memories depicted on it!  We're excited about making more memories with you, Christina!

After our picnic, we went to the museums to work on a special art project.  Christina helped us make pretty flower art for Mother's Day!

First, we made our canvas by covering cardboard with pieces of paper cut from copies of the Virginia Gazette from the Colonial period.

Next, we put a few strokes of colorful paint down for a background.

The next step involved using a sponge/bubble wrap "stamp" to highlight the background with a bright yellow color.

We selected flower petals, leaves, and stems that Christina had cut from decorative craft paper.

Finally, we assembled the flower and signed our work!

Happy Mother's Day to all of our moms and stepmoms!  Happy Mother's Day to you, too, Christina!  Thanks for guiding us in the creation of another masterpiece!

⚘⚘⚘⚘⚘⚘⚘⚘⚘⚘⚘⚘⚘⚘⚘

With that, our week was done.  Here's hoping everyone is back to 100% next week.  We have an engaging and fun one planned!  

Tuesday:  Double the fun today!  First, we travel to Freedom Park for a session with the master gardeners.  We'll plant corn and give them updates about our sunflower seed experiment!  Please wear Arc shirts.  When we return to the center, Xavier's mom and Steve will be here to celebrate his birthday with us.  They are providing a hot dog luncheon!  Thanks so much, Leah and Steve!!  It's going to be an epic day!

Wednesday:  It's time for a visit from our therapy dog friends!  We will enjoy reading with them and play a game, too.  Later, we'll have a lesson about this spring's cicada emergence that includes a lesson from Mystery Science.  Lunch on your own.  The JRES Cafeteria is available for Popcorn Chicken Bowl or Hot Dog.

Thursday:  We'll be busy this morning as we welcome several volunteers from Williamsburg United Methodist Church to paint rocks and play Bingo.  They asked to visit us for their "Hands on Mission Week" and we're looking forward to their help!  After lunch we'll have a lesson for Endangered Species Day (it's tomorrow) and play a game of corn hole.  Lunch on your own.  The JRES Cafeteria is available for Domino's Pizza, Deli Sub, or Chef Salad.

Friday:  We're going to Eaton for a work day so please wear Eaton shirts and bring a bagged lunch.  We'll keep our eye on the weather and decide as a group whether we want to take a walk at the park or return to AFCC for yoga with Jaime after we finish our work.

Enjoy the weekend!  Happy Mother's Day to our beloved mothers, grandmothers, aunties, and friends!

Image by Freepik

 

A Favorite Tradition for Cinco de Mayo

 

This week we welcomed the month of May!  It's a long month and we have many fun and busy days on the horizon.  We spent this week visiting our old friends at Mariners' Museum and weloming an Arc board member for a visit, with a new friend she introduced to us!  We also had a blast with a favorite tradition, celebrating Coach Teri's Cinco de Mayo birthday!  We wrapped it all up on Friday with an Eaton work day followed by a great walk at the park.  May is off to a wonderful start!

Tuesday, April 30

Our visit with Wisteria and Erika at The Mariners' Museum today was so interesting.  The topic was the "Global Exchange" between the Old World (Europe, Asia, Africa) and the New World (the Americas).  We learned surprising facts about which plants, animals, and other "things" were already in the New World, and which ones were brought here by explorers and settlers.

Wisteria and Erika showed a map from 1490 and explained that when Columbus made his voyage in 1492, and ended up in what is the Carribean today, he thought he had found a new route to India.  He did not know that the continents of North and South America existed between Europe and Asia.

Columbus also noted that some of the plants and animals he encountered here were not familiar to him.

A few years after Columbus made his voyages, Amerigo Vespucci came along and he was credited with recognizing that this was a "New World."  The Americas were named for him.

After we learned how our continent got its name, we moved on to what was brought here from the Old World.  Some of the not so good things were diseases like smallpox, typhus, measles, and malaria.  We did an activity where we started with a healthy sailor, then learned about the horrible symptoms of those diseases, and drew what he may have looked like after becoming ill with them.  We also talked about how the indigineous people of the Americas suffered great losses in their populations due to these diseases being brought here. 

These were our depictions of sick sailors who brought new diseases to the New World.

Next we moved on to a less "gross" part of the lesson and learned about plants and animals that were brought to the New World.  We also learned about some that were already here.  We were surprised by a few things.  Wisteria showed us a picture and asked us to guess 1 if we thought it was brought to the New World, 2 if we thought it was already here, and 3 if we thought it was always in both the Old World and the New World.

We were not surprised to learn that corn, tobacco, and bison were already in the New World.

We were surprised to learn that cattle, sheep, cats, bananas, and coffee were some of the things brought here from the Old World.

We got excited when our guesses were correct!  

Most of us didn't guess correctly that chili peppers were not known in the Old World, and are native to South America.  We wondered what Columbus may have thought if he tried one!

We were surprised to learn that dogs were native to both Worlds, but this dog, native to Mexico in the Americas, was one that Columbus thought didn't bark because it only made a whimpering sound.  Often called Xolos, they will bark if provoked, but are typically reserved.

Thanks so much for this very fun, interesting, and yes, gross lesson, Wisteria, Erika, and Amanda (who was taking photos for the museum)!  It was great to see you all again!  We had no idea that the Global Exchange was responsible for many of the foods we love and animals we enjoy.  We're sad that diseases were shared between the two Worlds, but we're grateful for modern medicine and vaccines that have helped to eliminate some of them!

After learning about all the great foods found in the Old and New Worlds, we were hungry!  We stopped by Deer Park to enjoy our lunches, and the weather was very nice.  It was warm and a little breezy, but not humid.  Some of us even got in a walk before we had to return to the center.  There was not an abundance of azaleas and dogwoods as we had hoped to see 😔, but we did see a dog! 🐕 Beka's mom met us at the park and we got to meet their dog, Alfred!

Wednesday, May 1

We welcomed the month of May with a busy day at the center!  We sent our library crew to work with Ms. Ortega.  Emma, Alexis, Laura, Kate, and Liz shelved books in the easy/picture book section this morning.

We also checked our sunflower seeds today.  Last Friday many of the seeds we had "planted" in moist cotton balls with the master gardeners had sprouted.  So today, we checked again, and many of them were growing roots and stems, and a few had leaves!

We consulted with MG Barb, who suggested we plant some of the sprouted seeds, and keep some in the cotton balls so we can compare how well (or not well) they will grow.  Here, Bryan is planting one of his sprouted seeds in this pot.

Laura and Drew helped with watering.  We hope some of these will take hold in the soil, and grow bigger and stronger so we can transplant them to our garden plot in the community garden behind the school.

Pardon our messy tables, but we also worked on updating our calendar for the month of May!  Alexis and Devin searched for clip art to help highlight our calendar squares.

Erik looked on as Liz and Beka worked together on several calendar squares.

Almost 5 full weeks of action in May!

We were very busy between getting both the calendar and lunch ready today, so not too many action shots.  But here's one of our lunch spread...we were welcoming special guests today.  Our menu was Spinach/Quinoa/Chicken Salad, Fruited Jell-O, and whole wheat crackers.  (We also had iced tea since we had guests!)

Salad closeup!

Our special guests were Sallie McClain, the Williamsburg Coordinator for the Virginia Down Syndrome Society (left) and Diane Schwarz, Arc Board Member and volunteer extraordinaire at many Arc events!  We were happy to enjoy their company for lunch, and give them all the highlights about our Arc of Abilities!

Thanks so much for visiting today, Sallie and Diane.  We loved seeing Diane again (it had been a minute!) and it was great to meet Sallie.  Thanks for all you both do for the special needs population in our community.  We appreciate you! 💕

Thursday, May 2

Have we mentioned lately how blessed we are by the many family members and friends who do so many wonderful things with us and for us?  Today we celebrated Cinco de Mayo (a few days early) with Sam's mom, and our friend, Teri.  That day is also her birthday, so it's a double celebration!  We like to call her Coach Teri because years ago, she was the bowling coach for many of us in Special Olympics, and she also taught us how to play bocce in the early AoA days.  Ever since our program began in 2016, Coach Teri has made Cinco de Mayo and her birthday a fun treat day for us by providing a taco lunch!  It's one of our very favorite traditions.  Here's a throwback to 2016 and our first Cinco de Mayo/Birthday party with her.  Meghan, Chris, Nancy, and Bo are not in our program anymore, but Patrick, Alexis, Sam, Kevin, Drew, and of course, Coach Teri, haven't changed a bit!

We're getting ahead of ourselves, though.  Before Coach Teri arrived, we warmed up to some Mexican music, did Eaton work, played Heads Up, 7 Up, and learned the history behind Cinco de Mayo.  It's not such a big deal in Mexico; just a day to remember that a rag-tag Mexican army defeated French forces three times as strong and with better weapons in Puebla back in 1862!  But here in America, and in other places around the globe...even in France...it is a celebration of Mexican culture, and a great reason to throw a party!

Fast forward 8 years, from that first celebration in 2016, and today we had a fabulous party as we celebrated May 5th once again!  Just as we were wrapping up our lesson, Coach Teri and a surprise guest arrived.  A friend of Sam's family, Mary, surprised Sam by joining Teri for today's festivities.  We loved getting to know her (she's from Ireland and has the most delightful accent), and of course, telling her about the Arc of Abilities!

Thank you, Teri, for treating us to a taco bar from Moe's!  You could tell we loved it, by our silence when eating, couldn't you?!?!

Our combination birthday and Cinco de Mayo tradition with Coach Teri is special to all of us, especially her son, Sam.  He wrote in her birthday card that his friends "appreciate you for bringing the yummy lunch."  That is a fact, and Coach Teri made a point to mention that she received many "Happy Birthdays" and "Thank yous" from our gang!  💛🌮💚🌮🧡🌮

Happy Birthday, Teri!  We hope all your wishes come true.  Thanks for being born on Cinco de Mayo, and choosing to celebrate with us each year!!

We couldn't celebrate Coach Teri without playing the game of bocce, which she taught us many years ago!  She also provided a number of playing sets, so we always have enough for our group.  Today, we played for fun, so we didn't keep score.  It was relaxing that way, and it was nice to hear everyone cheering for each other!

Friday, May 3

We'll wrap up this week's post with a few photos from our wonderful work day at Eaton.  In the midst of "Spring Birthday Season," this is an opportunity for us to be reminded that work is valuable, important, and a necessary part of being well-rounded...and grounded!  That said, we really enjoy our Eaton job!  We did sorting, unpacking, repacking, and gasketing tasks today.

Erik, Nan, Bryan, and Liz applied gaskets to rectangle parts.

Emma and Alexis also applied gaskets, and Nan was still at it, too!

Xavier repacked lids so we could consolidate space in the bins.

Laura and Annmarie sorted parts, and later they also helped with repacking to consolidate tub space. 

Devin and Sam transferred handles from the big blue bin to the tall brown boxes.

Kevin and Tessa unpacked parts from this big brown box, and sorted them at the same time.

Drew handled a sorting job at this table on his own.  His buddy Abraham has been under the weather this week, and he was missed!

Rosemary popped in to say "Hello!" and got to see Kate, Michelle, Beka, Patrick, and Devin twisting the side tabs off of these plates.

We were so proud of our guys, including Tessa and Xavier, who repacked the lids in such a neat and orderly fashion!  This saves so much space in the tubs.

An after lunch task of unpacking large yellow lenses and carefully transferring them to the blue tub we emptied of other parts earlier!  Good job, Beka, Kate, Devin, and Michelle!

We had an excellent and productive work day at Eaton, and when we were done we had enough time to stop by New Quarter Park for a walk and some time on the playground.   

Getting some steps in as we headed to Queen's Creek to show our new members Bryan, Beka, and Emma.

The tide was in and the water was choppy.  It was getting windy outside and noticeably cooler than it was this morning!

We are grateful to have a balance of work and play in the same day!

Here's a look at what we have planned for next week.  It's going to be exceptionally festive...

Tuesday:  It's time to celebrate Devin's birthday!  We're going bowling today and then hooking up with his family for a pizza party for lunch at the picnic area at WISC.  We'll stick around for a walk, too.  Thank you, Bobowicz family, for today's lunch to celebrate our friend, Devin!  Arc shirts are optional today.

Wednesday:  We will volunteer at GCOC this morning, so please wear Arc shirts today.  It's National Have a Coke Day which gives us an opportunity to do some fun science.  Experiment time!  Lunch on your own.  JRES Cafeteria is available for Cheesy Pasta Supreme or Sub of the Day.

Thursday:  We're celebrating another spring birthday today - Michelle's!  We'll begin with a movie morning followed by chicken nuggets and cupcakes for lunch provided by her family!  Thanks to Michelle's family for this opportunity to celebrate another special day for one of our friends!  If the weather is nice, we'll take a walk at NN Park after lunch, and stop by the Discovery Center to check on the status of the snapping turtle we recently saw in the water there.

Friday:  We're combining work and fun to end the week!  We'll begin by sending a crew to work at Pet Supplies Plus while the others catch up on chores and tasks at the center.  Then, we will meet Christina at the CW Visitor Center picnic area where she is treating us to a pizza party in celebration of our 7 years of collaboration with her and the Art Museums!  After lunch we will travel to the art museums for a fun project with her.  Wow, has it really been 7 years with you, Christina!?  Thank you so much for the pizza party celebration.  We love working with you!  We need to wear PSP shirts today, but feel free to bring something to change into for our party with Christina if you'd like! 

Have a great weekend,

Lisa, Carol, Nan, and the AoA Gang