We said "goodbye" to July this week, but ended it with a party for Nan's birthday! That was definitely a highlight, but our whirlwind week also included an engaging visit to the Mariners' Museum, volunteer time at Grove, lessons about the Olympics, a work day at Eaton, and a HUGE surprise! We covered a lot of ground, and here's the proof:
Tuesday, July 30
We traveled to Newport News to see Wisteria at the Mariners' Museum this morning. We did not know her topic in advance this time, so our curiosity was sparked. As soon as we arrived, she told us we would be working on a "colorful" project!
First, Wisteria showed us a slide show that highlighted a lot of watercolor artwork that is in the collection at the museum. She reminded us that not everything can be on display at the same time, but said she wanted us to see some of these pretty pieces...and let them inspire our artwork. Here are watercolor renditions of the iconic eagle we see each time we enter the museum, as well as the figurehead known as Columbia. We have learned from our lessons with Christina at The Art Museums of CW that Columbia was an early mascot of the United States, representing America's hopes, long before we had the more famous Statue of Liberty.
This is a big wave that was a print before it was painted with watercolors. There are boats being tossed in the waves, and Kate wondered if it might be showing a typhoon. Good thinking, Kate! Wisteria said it isn't known, but she liked Kate's thinking, too!
This is Brian, a colleague of Wisteria's who is an expert at relief printing. He explained that relief printing is a technique that involves cutting away parts of a printing surface (such as a block of wood) so that only the design to be printed remains raised. The raised design is inked and then pressed onto paper. Brian used this technique to make several prints for us to use with our watercoloring activity.
We learned that there is a coloring medium called watercolor pencils. How cool! They look like regular colored pencils, but they are watercolors. The first step in using them is to simply color. We each selected one of Brian's prints, and colored it in with the watercolor pencils. We got to work with a Mariners' Museum intern today, too. Her name is Sophie and she's seen in the blue shirt below. She's from William and Mary! Go, Tribe!
The next step is to dip a brush in water and lightly "paint" over the colored area, as Drew is doing here. Suddenly, what we colored with pencil, becomes watercolors! Only it doesn't get too wet, which is often an issue when we use traditional watercolors. We loved the watercolor pencils!
Just to make sure our watercolors were good and dry, Wisteria used a hand-held dryer on each one for a few seconds.
Back at the center, we took a picutre of our watercolored prints.
We were (rightfully) very proud of our work today! Thanks, Wisteria, for a fun experience! We loved being the first group you tried creating watercolor prints with, and we hope to one day see some of the museum's prints up close when they make it on display! Thanks for introducing us to watercolor pencils, too...Lisa is adding them to our shopping list! 😉
It was a little bit humid outside, but we decided to drive over to Deer Park and see how it felt in the shade, and much to our delight, it was very nice. We got to eat lunch outside at the end of July!
Inspired by how nice the shade was at the park, we drove back to the Mariners' Museum and took a walk on the Noland Trail. We saw turtles and ducks, and a lot of other folks out enjoying the trail, too!
Just hanging with our friends on a lovely summer afternoon!
We wrapped up the day with a look at some photos Liz shared of her family's trip to Jamaica last week. We told her how rainy it was here, and that they picked a great week to spend in the Caribbean! Thanks for the postcard, Liz! Our collection is growing nicely!
Wednesday, July 31
Everyone was excited to celebrate Nan's birthday today, but, as is often the case, we had to take care of a few responsibilities first. We took a group to Grove Christian Outreach Center to volunteer. We worked efficiently, and happily, bagging nonperishable foods into bags for distribution to families in the Grove Community.
Working with Thom and Joel
Working with Peggy
Some of the finished products. We fill a large bin at least twice!
We also worked with Ursula, and once again, she treated us to a special treat. Today it was cranberry scones, and they were delicious! Thank you, Ursula, for your gift from the heart. We enjoyed them, and so did our friends back at the center. You're a great baker!
The group that remained at the AFCC continued to color and assemble fans that we will give out as favors at the golf tournament this weekend! We have made 100 of them!
Bryan took a break from fan making to hang Nan's birthday cards on the wall.
We've been frustrated lately with squirrels who vertically straddle our "squirrel buster" bird feeders so that they can eat out of the dispenser hole. Several of our guys will run out and scare them away, but they always return.
Today, Bryan and Devin decided to stand guard...but that's not a sustainable solution! We'll keep thinking...
Carol and Alexis picked up our Chinese takeout for lunch. Of course, everyone thought it was delicious. 😜 This is chicken with broccoli, which a few of us ordered. Just as in February for Chinese New Year, we called Hong Kong restaurant on Merrimac Trail for this big order. Once again, they got every order correct and it was hot and fresh! 👏
Happy Birthday, Nan! We hope all your wishes come true. 💖
We played Nan's favorite song (and motto), "Forever Young" by Rod Stewart. It's really good advice!
Devin and Liz read Nan's cards aloud. Our guys write very sweet messages in birthday cards!
We ended our day with a game of Birthday Corn Hole. In honor of Nan, Team Rod Stewart played Team Jeopardy. When all was said and done, Team Jeopardy won today, 16-11! Thanks for having a birthday, Nan, so we could have such a fun day!
Thursday, August 1
Sooo, today didn't go exactly as we expected...it went even better. More on that later! First, we had an unusually good time with this morning's dance warm up!
In fact, we applauded for ourselves! Haha!
We were inspired by Laura prior to our lesson on the Olympics! The Winter Olympics were in Salt Lake City in 2002, and Laura's dad visited the area on a business trip in 2003. This cap was what he brought Laura as a souvenir. As she herself would say, "Isn't it great?!"
When she did Olympic-themed brain work with her partner, Patrick, it became a "thinking cap!" We also love that both of them are wearing their "Go, USA" colors!
We also updated our calendar for August. Here are several pictures of us working on this monthly team project, which is one of our favorite activities...except for when we have trouble with our slow-running computers, which are 7 years old!
Did we mention our slow-running computers? We're very patient with them, but we have wished, make that whined, for new ones recently. So we were really caught by surprise when our wish whine came true today...
Right in the middle of our calendar work, Pam, Sue, and Caroline showed up from the Arc office with something big covered up in the wagon! We thought maybe it was something to use in the kitchen, or perhaps a game.
Sue found a grant opportunity from The Hambrick Foundation, which supports special needs educators and those who care for the special needs community. She submitted lots of required information and paperwork, and The Arc was awarded the grant, which was used to provide us with new computers and a printer/copier. Thank you, Sue, Pam, and all of The Arc's staff and board members for this amazing gift. Sue, we know that grants are sometimes few and far between, so we really appreciate the efforts you made on our behalf. We will use these beautiful laptops for many years and in many ways! We can't wait to get started!
Kevin and family are having a great time in California this week! Debbie says they are doing a lot of hiking and Kevin might come back exhausted! She sent these photos and a message from Kevin that he says hello and he misses everyone! We miss you, too, Kevin, but we're happy for your fun adventure with your family!!
Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco
That's a big sequoia tree!
Yosemite National Park
Friday, August 2
This morning we traveled to Eaton before it got too hot. Ethan had unpacking, sorting, and gasketing tasks for us to work on today, but they are still waiting for a boatload of doors to make it over here from China. We miss assembling the doors!
Sorting Superstars: Xavier, Abraham, and Drew
Gasketing Greatness: Liz and Alexis
Upstanding Unpackers: Erik, Sam, Devin, Laura
Teamwork Twosome: Patrick and Kate
Precise Packer: Bryan
Brilliant Box Openers (aka, unpackers): Laura and Kate
Thank you, Eaton, for this wonderful opportunity to stretch our vocational muscles! We benefit immensely from this partnership with you. We enjoy the work, and we're proud of our accomplishments!
After our productive morning at work, we returned to the center for lunch, Choice Time, yoga, and birdwatching. After thinking about our squirrel situation, we decided to move the feeder away from the bush because we thought the squirrel might be jumping from the bush to the feeder. It seems to be working because look where the squirrel is now!
We also spotted a beautiful tiger swallowtail butterfly on our flower!
Before we knew it, it was time to start our weekend!! Here's our schedule for next week, the first full week of August, 2024. Where does the time go?!
Tuesday: It's the first Tuesday of the month so we are headed for a bowling and pizza adventure! We'll stop at Freedom Park first for a garden check. Note: We need to leave from AFCC at 9:05 this morning! The forecast looks too warm for eating outside so we will return to the center with our pizza, and then begin a new read aloud! Arc shirts optional; pizza and fruit for lunch.
Wednesday: We will volunteer at GCOC this morning, so please wear Arc shirts. We'll have another lesson about the Olympics, with more brain work, and also celebrate National Lighthouse Day with a fun drawing/painting activity. Lunch on your own; microwave available.
Thursday: Today we will visit Christina at The Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg. She's pretty excited to celebrate International Cat Day with us! We have to go at 11:15 again due to her summer schedule, so we will make a healthy snack before leaving and have lunch at 1:00. Lunch on your own; microwave available.
Friday: Today is a Pet Supplies Plus work day, so please wear PSP shirts. The cooking crew will snip fresh herbs from our raised bed garden and use them to prepare pasta with meat sauce and a side salad for lunch. We'll also celebrate National Book Lovers Day, so bring your favorite book(s) to share with your friends! (This is one of our favorite activities each year!) Dress to stretch for yoga with Jaime, too!
🍨🍨🍨
Moose Patti asked us to pass along this invitation to an Ice Cream Social and School Supply Drive! Everyone is invited and the Women of the Moose (WOTM) would love to see some Arc Ambassadors that day! Snag some school supplies to donate during Virginia's tax-free weekend (now), and join us at the Ice Cream Social from 2-4 p.m.! 🍨🍨🍨
Have a great weekend!
Lisa, Carol, Nan, and the AoA Gang
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.