July Flies By

This week we realized July is flying by at warp speed as we started talking about what is coming up in August!  But before we get too far into that, let's take a look at our last full week of July.  We visited the U.S. Army Transportation Museum, volunteered at Grove, and worked at Pet Supplies Plus.  That's just for starters!  We also had a special celebration for The Arc's intern, Michelle. 💜 Oh, and it rained a lot!  Here's a look at our great week:

Tuesday, July 23

Since it had been a couple of years, we decided to visit the U.S Army Transportation Museum at Ft. Eustis.  Some of our newer friends have never been, so it seemed like a fun place to take them!  Beka and Tessa weren't able to be with us today, but Bryan and Emma said they liked the vehicles, history, and overall vibe at the museum.  It was a fun morning!

Patrick points out the motto for the U.S. Army's Transporation services!

Drew, Lexi, and Devin at the entrance where this 1941 Plymouth sits.  We noticed there were no seatbelts in the vehicle, but the seats were plush!

Patrick, Abraham, and Bryan stopped for a photo at the Colonial era exhibit.  We knew there were not cars and trucks back then, but we had not given much thought to the importance of "transportation" for moving supplies.  We were reminded that soldiers walked for the most part and horses pulled wagons loaded with supplies..

Carol, Michelle, and Sam thought it was interesting that at times the Army would enlist the use of "locals" to help with transporation needs...

Even if the "local" was an elephant as in this case in India during the second World War!

Erik and Kevin learned that during the 1940s, a lot of Americans still did not have much (if any) experience driving motorized vehicles.  There were quite a few accidents when soldiers were first given the task of driving!

"Look!  It's the candy bomber!"  Our "old-timers" filled Bryan and Emma in on the story of Gail Halvorsen, who was known as the "Candy Bomber" for organizing efforts to drop candy to children in Berlin during WWII.

Sam and Emma checked out the aerocycle that got "off the ground," but not successfully enough to become a permanent mode of transportation.  The concept was eventually abandoned.

Laura, Annmarie, and Xavier thought the latrine setup at the Operation Desert Storm display was "nice."  (Note:  They didn't have to use it!)

Michelle and Kate were surprised to see soldiers, who happened to be women, enjoying "down time" during Operation Enduring Freedom.

It was warm and muggy so we didn't spend as much time outside, but we did walk around and check out tanks, trains, helicopters, and other types of military vehicles.  A few of our friends asked if we could come back when it's cooler, and we just may do that!

We returned to AFCC in time for lunch and Choice Time, after which we checked last week's blog and then had a lesson about Moon Day, which was last Saturday, July 20.  It commemorates the first moon landing in 1969, and we watched a great documentary-type video that made us feel the fear, and respect the bravery, of the Apollo 11 astronauts, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins.  It was a sobering thought as we paused to discuss what it must have been like to be the first human eyes to see the surface of the moon up close, and then walk upon it!  Our solemness was short-lived, however, once we realized we had mini Moon Pies for a treat...which really have nothing to do with the moon, but it's a tradition in our program and we love traditions!

Wednesday, July 24

This morning we were surprised to find out that 6 of our friends were absent!  It was Grove Wednesday for us so we sent a crew of 8 with Carol to bag the canned goods and reunite with Joel and Peggy!  They have been traveling a lot and we missed them.  We also met two new friends:  Nina, who is the assistant principal at DJ Montague, and Michelle, who is the assistant principal at Matthew Whaley and knows Mr. Stutt.  We told her to tell him "hello" from us!  We also were blessed with another brownie treat from Ursula, who missed being in a picture.  Thank you for the delicious brownies, Ursula!  Your thoughtfulness made our day!  🥰  As we were leaving, Annmarie's mom was arriving to volunteer!  (She missed being in a pic, too.)  It was a busy and social morning!

This is Nina, who is at DJ Montague now, but "back in the day" she worked in Newport News Public Schools with Laura's mom!

Quietly back at the center, there were 4 friends who stayed to work on making fans that we will give away as favors at the golf tournament next weekend.  We need a little more than 100, and each one is hand-colored and assembled with care!  Patrick and Sam colored 5 or 6 each this morning, and it seemed it was slow going.

Alexis and Drew (plus Lisa and Nan) colored and assembled, too.

By the time our other friends returned from Grove, we had almost 30 finished fans!  Good thing we have another week to work on them. They look great and work well, too!

July 22 was National Rat Catchers Day, so we put it on today's calendar.  It's a two-fold celebration:  1) To give credit to exterminators (aka "Pest Control Managers") for the not always pleasant job they do, and 2) To enjoy the legend of the Pied Piper, who drove rats out of the German village of Hamelin in 1592.  We did both, and also tried a new group game called "Mousetrap!"

Today is Amelia Earhart Day.  She was born on July 24 in 1897.  She is honored for being an aviation pioneer as well as a representative for equal rights for women.  We enjoyed hearing a story about her achievements, and liked the fact that she never gave up and always wanted to be better at whatever she did.  We painted craft sticks and clothespins to make models of biplanes, which were the kind of plane Amelia first flew.

We learned that Amelia's last flight was her attempt to make it all the way around the world, and we saw her trajectory on a flat map of the earth, while we tried to imagine just how far it is around the globe - almost 25,000 miles.  Amelia disappeared with about 3,000 miles left to go.

The disappearance of Amelia Earhart may always be a mystery, and it's hard for us to imagine something like that happening in today's modern world.  

Our herb garden continues to thrive, even though other areas of the Grove Community Garden are becoming overgrown with grass.  Today we were really pleased with how the thyme and oregano are growing, so we need to plan to cook an Italian dish!

Thursday, July 25

Today was National Intern Day and we were so happy to celebrate Arc intern Michelle in person as she spent the day with us.  We also celebrated Parks & Rec intern Javante in spirit, since he had to be at camps today.  We have really enjoyed working with both of them this summer!

Our day began with dancing and then we watched Night at the Museum:  Battle at the Smithsonian which was a great choice for Movie Morning, because we have been visiting a lot of our favorite museums lately, AND because it features Ameila Earhart who we think is pretty cool!  (Spoiler alert:  This movie is also part love story! 😍)

After lunch, Intern Michelle told us what it means to "intern" and what she has been doing as The Arc's intern this summer.  One thing she's working on is adding a resource to The Arc's website that will identify sensory friendly places for families to visit in our area, such as restaurants and places with fun activities.

How convenient that National Hot Fudge Sundae Day is on Intern Day, so we could celebrate our friendship with Michlle by having hot fudge sundaes!  First, we watched a video that claims hot fudge sundaes were "invented" in Two Rivers, Wisconsin in 1881, but that is disputed by some.  Doesn't matter to us...we're just glad they exist in 2024!

Friday, July 26

We ended our week with a busy Friday.  We sent one group to work at Pet Supplies Plus while the other group stayed at the center to prepare lunch.  It's one of our favorite ways to spend a day!

Many thanks to our friend Katrina from Parks & Rec for joining us at PSP today.  We appreciate your help, Katrina!  You are a great worker, and Michelle and Laura enjoyed shelving products with you!

A big delivery had come in, and Devin and Erik had time to unpack and stock several boxes of reptile items!

We got to work with Scott today!  Bryan and Emma assisted him with putting "Best By" date stickers on the dog food!

Laura wandered over to help...or supervise! 😜

Today the crew wanted to highlight the grooming area and services at Pet Supplies Plus!  Give them a call if your pup needs a spa day!

Meanwhile, our cooking crew was busy preparing chicken Caesar salad, fresh grapes, and homemade bagels for today's lunch! 

Annmarie and Kevin whipped up our salad.  Here, they were adding the finishing touches by sprinkling a bit of extra Parmesan cheese on top!  Kevin said it smelled delicious!

Thanks to Drew and Xavier, we had "stemless" grapes!  We would like to thank Laura's family for providing these tasty grapes for us, along with some cream cheese for our bagels! 💖

Sam worked the bagel dough.  We use a very easy recipe that doesn't call for yeast...you can check it out here, as we highly recommend it!  Easy Bagels (No Yeast!)

Alexis joined Sam for the rolling of the dough.  After that, they applied an egg wash and Trader Joe's Everything Bagel Seasoning to both sides.

After about 20 minutes in The Nina, our bagels came out beautifully!  We used gluten-free pizza dough to make Xavier's.  They turned out great, too! 

After we got lunch ready, we had time to hang out in the gym before the PSP crew returned.

We had a laid back afternoon.  Choice Time followed lunch, and then Lisa read to us.  Soon it was time for yoga with Jaime, who had a new episode called "Magic Museum," which was inspired by the Night at the Museum movies, and fit right in with our recent and upcoming museum visits!

 

After yoga, we were ready to start our weekend!  We have a lot to look forward to next week, including a birthday party.  It's been a while, so we can't wait to celebrate Nan!  Here's our schedule:

Tuesday:  We're visiting our friends at Mariners' Museum today and if it's not too muggy outside, we'll picnic and take a walk on the trail.  (Otherwise, we will return to our nicely air-conditioned center at AFCC.)  Bring a bagged lunch; Arc shirts optional.

Wednesday:  We are increasing our volunteer time at Grove Christian Outreach Center by adding additional Wednesday visits each month beginning today!  It's a great experience for our guys, and since Grove is so close to our location, it's an easy decision.  Please wear Arc shirts. We're also celebrating Nan's birthday today!!!!  She requested (with suggestions from her friends) Chinese takeout, so please bring $10 for lunch.  Lisa and Alexis will provide beverages and cake, and we'll play games (Jeopardy, anyone?), dance, and party with Nan on her special day!

Thursday:  August is here so we will update our calendar today.  We'll also talk about the Olympics, since the summer ones are underway in Paris.  We'll check out videos on BrainPOP and Mystery Science, and have brain work, too!  Lunch on your own; microwave available.

Friday:  Today is an Eaton work day, so please wear Eaton shirts and bring a bagged lunch.  After Eaton we will assess how much time we have, and make a trip to check the garden if we can.  We'll end the day with Choice Time and/or Corn Hole back at the center.

Enjoy the weekend!  We hear the 🌞 may decide to visit!

Lisa, Carol, Nan, and the AoA Gang