Fun Friday!

Just like most weeks, we were engaged in a lot of fun and meaningful activities this week.  We learned about the butterfly's role as a pollinator with the master gardeners on Tuesday, volunteered at Grove Christian Outreach Center on Wednesday, and had a productive work day at Eaton on Thursday.  On Friday, we notched up our fun with surprise visitors and a visit with Christina at the Art Museums for a drumming session presented by Young Audiences -Arts for Learning Virginia.  This was a special program Christina put together for us, and it was delightful.  Check it out, and everything else we did this week, right here!

Tuesday, June 11

It was a joyful morning when the WATA bus arrived and in walked Laura!  She had been on a big adventure out west, checking out lots of national parks, and we had missed her!  Welcome back, Laura!!

We had seen a few pictures from Laura's trip while she was still traveling, but today she shared more things with us.  We saw maps and guides from many of the parks she visited, a couple of snow globe souvenirs, and we even got to touch real bison fur!  We also checked out pictures from her mom's Facebook page, and were in awe of the amazing adventure they had.  We're happy for them, and glad they had safe travels!

Laura brought a number of post cards to add to our album!  Thanks, Palmer Family!

It was a gorgeous day to be outside and we were lucky to spend the first part of it with our master gardener friends.  We learned about the role butterflies play as pollinators, plus we learned interesting facts about them, such as they become immobile and cannot fly if the temperature drops to 55 degrees or lower!

Xavier and Tessa showed us a poster that depicts some butterflies we might spot in our area.

Beka and Michelle admired flowers from Karen's yard.

Patrick enjoyed thumbing through the butterfly book.

We checked things growing in the garden.  Our plants still look pretty good and green, thanks to our MG friends who keep them watered.  We could use some rain, though!

Laura pointed out a couple of baby cucumbers growing on the vines!

Bryan and Lexi pulled out onions that are pretty much done, so the potatoes would have more room.

Devin and Drew say the beans and corn are growing fast!

Some of the potatoes are popping up through the soil, so Karen covered them with more dirt so they will keep growing and not get a "sunburn" she said!

MG Carolyn shared this picture with us.  Can you spot Annmarie through the hole in the wisteria?!  Thanks, Carolyn!

Karen and Barbara brought us two beautiful jars of cut flowers from their yards!!  Thanks so much, Barbara and Karen!  These pops of color look so pretty in our room!

Rick found a leaf with a cicada shell still attached!

Before wrapping up with the MGs, we sang "Happy Birthday" to Krafty Karen, whose birthday is tomorrow!  Karen, we hope all your wishes come true, and that your year to come will be filled with joy, peace, and wonderful memories!

Here's MG Carolyn's journal page that documents today's visit.  It's as beautiful as the day itself was !

There was an event taking place at the picnic area at Freedom Park, so we made our way over to the Warhill Complex and ate under the big shelter.  There was a nice breeze!  We set up our corn hole and bocce games, and after playing them for a while, we drove over to the "big" playground and luckily, it wasn't being used by "real" kids, because we wanted to channel our inner-6 year olds!  We had a great day, and are thankful for the wonderful weather!

Wednesday, June 12

Our Wednesday was a little on the quiet side, but busy.  This morning we worked on a poster-sized card for Ms. Vallone, the assistant principal at JRES.  She's retiring and we want her to know how much we'll miss her, so we got "bee"-zy and made this cute card, along with some pictures to use for decorating.  We had fun playing with the word "bee" as we wrote her letter, saying things like, "We can't bee-lieve you're retiring!" and "Have fun spending time with your bee-utiful grandchildren!"  She's going to love it!🐝🐝🐝

Today was one of our Wednesdays to work at GCOC, so while Lisa took a group there, the others made sure to check on our herb garden.  Yesterday the gardeners told us to keep things watered, but not overly so.  Herbs tend to do well in hot weather.  

Liz watered the pot of lavender.  We're going to use lavender in the cookies we make for Ms. Vallone's farewell on Friday.

Kate watered the peppermint and spearmint.  Bryan and Emma wondered when we might do another experi-mint!?  We need to find a recipe!

Over at Grove, this group was busy working with Peggy and Joel to fill food distribution bags.  Tom and Ursula were traveling this week, but we got to work with Arlene and young Will, instead!

We enjoyed looking at pictures from Devin's family trip to Alaska, Canada, and Seattle from his mom's Facebook page today.  Devin loved reliving his adventure for us!

Dev's family went on a dog sled ride!

We also cooked the chocolate linguini Dev's family brought us!  We were stoked for dessert today...

It made the room smell like cocoa!

We added a sauce made from mixed berries and topped it with a dollop of vanilla ice cream.  It was "different, but really good" is what our guys thought!  Thanks again, Bobowicz Family, for thinking of us and bringing us a unique and very fun treat!  It was a first for all of us!!

We were thrilled when an unexpected visitor popped in:  Mr. Howard!  He was our custodian a few years ago, before he retired and Heike took over, and we thought a lot of him!  Today, he came for his grandson's 5th grade graduation at the school, and said there was no way he wasn't going to say hello to some of the best friends he's ever met!  Aww, we feel the same way about you, Mr. Howard!

June 9th was Donald Duck Day, but we didn't want to miss a chance to celebrate his 90th birthday!  We learned a few facts about Donald, such as there was a time when he was the mascot for the University of Oregon, and there was another time, in the early days, when he was a little more popular with audiences than Mickey Mouse!!!  We watched a couple of Donald Duck shorts, and laughed a lot.  We can see why he would be a popular character with his irritable, yet lovable, personality!

Our friend Michelle does a great Donald voice, just as good as the dude who originated it and caught Walt Disney's attention.  His name was Clarence Nash, but Michelle would rival him!  Thanks, Michelle, for amusing us with your impression of Donald Duck.  What a fun ending to our day!

Thursday, June 13

It was back to Eaton for a day of work on this warm Thursday.  We noticed the humidity (and temperatures) were creeping up so we opted not to walk at the park after our work was finished.  We returned to the center and got our Father's Day cards and treats ready, and enjoyed Choice Time, which for a few, consisted of yoga with Jaime!

There were a few PowerSlide Doors to assemble today, so Nan, Alexis, and Emma were our "Label Ladies!"

Xavier, Tessa, and Kate kept up with inserting nuts and bolts to hold the lenses in place!

After Erik tightened the screws with the electric screwdriver, Bryan put the doors into plastic bags and packed them into boxes!

Down at the other end of the room, Sam, Drew, and Devin transferred several different types of parts from this big blue bin into smaller boxes and tubs.  Attention to detail!

Patrick, Annmarie, and Laura removed just the "black and silver" pieces from these bags, remembering to discard everything else in the bags.  Attention to detail here, too!

We forgot to get a picture of Liz at Eaton where she was putting lenses into the PowerSlide Doors.  So back at the center we had her demonstrate how the black and silver pieces that were unpacked earlier are assembled.  This is a job we brought back to work on next week!

We hope all the fathers and father figures who receive this year's Father's Day treat bags will have a wonderful weekend!

Most of our guys decided to chill in the "comfy" chairs or check their devices at the end of the day, but Sam, Tessa, and Laura wanted to stretch with Jaime's yoga session.  We're happy with choices!

Tessa and Patrick attended the Arc's Thursday evening event of Community Quilt Making with Steve Prince (Xavier's stepdad) from the Muscarelle Museum.  Steve has been leading our community in making squares for this quilt for a few years, and when finished, it will be long enough to stretch a mile down Duke of Gloucester Street!  Thanks for the photos, Michelle (Tessa's mom).  It looks like Tessa and Patrick had a great time.  Tessa's sqaure shows how much she loves to play in the water, and Patrick's depicts his love of the Atlanta Braves!  Great job, you two!!  Also, many thanks to Steve for his dedication to this effort, and his ongoing friendship with all things Arc!

Friday, June 14

Wow...today was crazy, but as our guys like to say, "in a good way!"  First of all, Parks and Rec Intern Javante was back this week, and that's enough to put a smile on our faces.  But there was more!  We had just gotten our day going when a surprise visitor arrived!  It was Karryna, who was Tracy's intern a couple of years ago, and who became one of our best friends!  She directs a therapeutic recreation program at Sheltering Arms in Richmond now, but was given a day off to volunteer, and chose us!  She also brought her intern, Morgan, and we enjoyed meeting her too!  They joined us for a lesson about Flag Day, and helped us with our brain work, too.

Javante, Karryna, and Morgan also played kickball with us in the gym!  Yay for having gym time since school is out for the year!  Thanks a lot, Javante, Karryna, and Morgan, for hanging out with us today!  You are so much fun!!!  We loved "kicking" Lisa, Nan, and Carol out to pack up our stuff for the move, and having you all to ourselves!! 

Another part of our "crazy in a good way" morning was a celebration for our beloved friend, Ms. Vallone, who is retiring from her job as assistant principal at JRES.  Back in the day, she even taught Annmarie and Drew when they were in kindergarten!  She's been here at James River since 2015, so she's the best assistant principal we've ever known!  We baked sugar cookies and had lemonade, and spent a few minutes wishing her well before she had to get back to work...only for a few more hours!  Just as we predicted, she loved the bee-themed farewell poster we made for her!

We harvested lavender flowers from the plant in our garden, and infused a few of our cookies with it.  They were delicious, and we will make them again when we have more lavender to add!  We are enjoying our herb garden very much!  Thanks, Master Gardeners!

We spent the afternoon at The Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg with Christina.  She had arranged a special treat for us today in the form of a program called Drumming FUNdamentals.  It was presented by the nonprofit group Young Audiences - Arts for Learning Virginia, and it was wonderful!  Before it began, Christina gave us a short lesson about the use of drums during Colonial times, especially their importance, along with fifes, as a tool for relaying signals to troops during the Revolutionary War.

In the Education Studio, we met a very cool musician and drumming instructor named Gary Garlic, who is with Young Audiences.  He proceeded to teach us the basics of drumming rhythms, and before long, we had become a "band" (according to Gary)!

Here's our first attempt at playing in rhythm with each other (notice how much fun we're having)!

More practice followed our early efforts!

Soon we could play half notes, quarter notes, and eighth notes, and even incorporate rests.  That's our story and we're sticking to it...pardon the pun!

Our grand finale!  

Thank you so much for choosing us to experience this program, Christina!  The vibe in the room and the smiles on our faces told it all - this was a blast!  Many thanks to Gary, from Young Audiences, for his excellent instruction, and for meeting us "where we are."  He was very good with us!  We enjoyed this so much!

💙🥁🎵🥁🎵🥁💚

What a day, and a great ending to another great week!  Next week will be interesting as we will relocate to a classroom in the school while our AFCC area is being closed for annual maintenance.  The space is smaller and the chairs are harder...but we have plans to be out and about as much as possible.  We'll all bring our patience and good humor, and the two weeks will fly by, right?!  Here's what we have planned for the first one:

Tuesday:  Today is the first day of our 2 week relocation to a room in the school side of the building.  Families, please remember that drop off and pick up will be at the front door (#1) of the school, in the circular drive.  Our community outing today will be a visit to the James City County Police Department for a tour!  After that, we are FINALLY celebrating Dev's birthday with a pizza party for lunch.  If it's not too hot, we'll celebrate at the Warhill picnic area, but the forecast looks rather toasty and muggy, so we will probably return to the school for fun and games!  We'll also have a lesson about the Juneteenth holiday.  Please wear Arc shirts for this trip!  NOTE:  We need to leave the school at 9:05.

Wednesday:  Today is the federal holiday, Juneteenth, and the Arc of Greater Williamsburg, including the Arc of Abilities, will be closed.  Many federal holidays fall on Mondays, when we are not in session.  This is a rare treat for us, and we hope everyone enjoys a mid-week holiday! 

 Thursday:  Today we're going to travel to Freedom Park to meet some of our therapy dog friends for a walk.  Since we are in a smaller classroom this month, we decided not to have them visit us at the school.  We'll get in an early walk, and return to the school for lunch.  We'll spend the rest of the day with a lesson and brain work for National American Eagle Day, listening to our read-aloud, and enjoying Choice Time.  Please bring a bagged lunch.

Friday:  This morning we will send a crew to Pet Supplies Plus while the others check on our herb garden and catch up on thank you notes we need to send.  We'll spend the afternoon with board games and Bingo.  Lisa, Carol, and Nan will bring lunch for us:  Chicken Caesar Pasta, Orange Jell-O, and Cookies.  (Bring a bagged lunch if you'd rather have something different!)

Happy Father's Day Weekend,

Lisa, Carol, Nan, and the AoA Gang