This week's highlights were celebrating birthdays for Erik and Abraham, both of which had been postponed from last week. Better late than never, we say! We also had a fun Halloween-themed visit with our therapy dog friends on Wednesday, and on Thursday we welcomed the staff from Grove Christian Outreach Center (GCOC) for lunch and a tour of our program. We were ready to be outdoors again by Friday, so we worked at Pet Supplies Plus and then had lunch takeout from Jersey Mike's, which we enjoyed at Freedom Park. We thought it was a pretty good week!
Tuesday, October 15
We can't think of a better way to start a week than by celebrating a friend's birthday...Erik turned 30 over the weekend! We decorated the birthday board with cards from his friends...a few of which noted how good he looks...Yes, some of our guys think 30 is old. LOL!
Erik loves corn hole, so we played a birthday version this morning. Erik has practiced over the years to improve his game, and it shows! He scored 6 points for his team today!
Erik's team won today!
We played a silly party game called "Court Jester." The object is to try to make the king or queen laugh within a short time frame (20 seconds). We saw lots of funny faces and wacky dance moves, and even heard a few jokes as the jesters tried to make the kings and queens laugh.
Laura finally got Kate to giggle when she added sound effects to this silly face!
The birthday boy got Alexis with his side to side shimmy!
King Devin decided he would not crack, and even with Xavier's efforts as well as Drew and Annmarie's silly dancing, he stayed straight-faced!
We all got a kick out of Emma when she cracked up King Erik! He had kept a straight face for three previous jesters!
Happy Birthday, Erik! We hope all your wishes come true! We had fun playing games and celebrating your big 3-0 this morning! Many thanks to your family for the tasty cupcakes, and the gluten-free treat for Xavier, too!
After lunch, we made our way to The Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg for our monthly visit with Christina. As we walked from the parking lot to the museums, we noticed that progress is being made on the construction of the new archaeological museum which is due to open in 2026! The photo on the left is how it looks today; on the right is a depiction of how it will look when finished. We're already looking forward to visiting!
Christina was waiting for us and she had a "friend," too. Today is National Grouch Day, so she brought her cute little Oscar from Sesame Street! She reminded us that he lives in a trash can and likes garbage and/or smelly things, junk, loud noises, and being grouchy! For our lesson, she took us on a search for objects that Oscar might like...
It was kind of cool to see objects in the musems "through the eyes of Oscar the Grouch." Here are the pieces Christina thought Oscar might appreciate. She told us stories about each of them, and they were very interesting!
A corner chair had a pot attached to it and if you removed the cushion it would double as a toilet (smelly)! North Carolina native Vollis Simpson created whirligig art using scraps of wood, metal, or any other "junk" he could find. Oscar would love the sound made when the drum from the Revolutionary War was played, and he would also love to put his collection of junk into a basket made of bottle caps! The painting is of an 18th century tavern keeper named Calvin Hall, and Christina thinks he's about the grouchiest looking dude currently on display! We also saw a porcelain tea set. Oscar may or may not enjoy a cup of hot tea, but he would love the "slop bowl" that was used to toss tea into if it got too cold!
We relaxed after our examination of things Oscar the Grouch may have liked by doodling on green paper with white crayons and pencils. This was a simple activity, and we enjoyed the freedom to just draw. It proved relaxing not having lots of colors to choose from or having to draw anything specific, so we decided it was a good way to overcome grouchiness (not that we were grouchy)!
Thank you for another delightful visit, Christina! This lesson was quirky (like Oscar) and so much fun! Who knew we could find things in the museums that would appeal to Oscar the Grouch!
Our doodles can't be seen well in the photograph, but they were just as unique as we are!
Wednesday, October 16
It was time to celebrate Abraham's 29th birthday, and we didn't mind one bit that it made for two days in a row of birthday fun!
More on Abraham's birthday later because first thing this morning, we had a visit from our therapy dog friends! It was a smaller group of only 4 today, but we still got lots of attention, and so did they. Our theme for this month's visit was Halloween, and these pups were dressed to impress!
Darby was also known as Eeyore today!
Sweet little Aja was cute as a unicorn!
Marisol said Tucker was dressed as Humphrey Bogart...who's that?!?! 😂
We think Casey is a handsome dinosaur, and Carol is a lovely spider!
Thanks to our Library Leaders, we had some silly, spooky, and spectacular Halloween books to chose from for our reading rotations.
Thanks so much, Carol S. and Casey, Susan and Aja; Marisol and Tucker; and Carol D. and Darby for a terrific visit today! We love the time we spend with you!!
While we loved spending time with our therapy dog friends, today's main event was celebrating Abraham's birthday! He turned 29 last Thursday, but wasn't feeling well, so we saved his party for today. It began with one of his favorite activities: dancing! We played his favorite songs, including "Beat It" by Michael Jackson. Check out his moves!
We want to thank Abraham's mom for sending cake and ice cream (with toppings!) for his celebration today! It included gluten-free cake and dairy-free ice cream for Xavier, too. We had a super fun, and tasty, celebration after lunch! Happy Birthday, Abraham! We hope all your wishes come true!
We wrapped up the day, and Abraham's party, with a game of Birthday Bingo. The Birthday Boy was happy with his prize!!
Thursday, October 17
Celebrations continued today, but it wasn't a birthday this time. We invited our friends from Grove Christian Outreach Center to join us for lunch so they could see our place! Here's a look at how the prep goes down!
Friends help each other put on nametags.
Our decorating committee likes to work with music in the background!
Meanwhile, lunch is prepared: Chicken Caesar Salad and homemade sugar cookies.
Time to cover the tables and set out the decorations and centerpieces!
Ready for our guests, and don't those cookies look delicious?!
We have been volunteering on Wednesdays at Grove Christian Outreach Center since January, 2023. We absolutely love all of the staff and volunteers we work with on our visits, and we value the skills we have learned through our service work. Today, we welcomed a few of their staff members for lunch and a tour. From left to right it's: Coco Antone, Food Ministry Manager; Katie Patrick, Executive Director; and Tracy Hansbrough, Operations Manager.
Kate and Devin gave speeches to let our visitors know how much we enjoy volunteering with them, and how much we respect all of the amazing things they do to support the Grove community.
Thanks, Katie, Coco, and Tracy for spending part of your busy day with us! We really enjoyed getting to know you a little better, and showing you what our program is all about.
Friday, October 18
We wrapped up our festive week with a work morning at Pet Supplies Plus and a takeout lunch/picnic at Freedom Park where we also checked the garden to see if there were more flowers on our sweet potato plants. We're hoping for a good harvest in November!
We only ordered our sandwiches, so the crew that didn't go to PSP helped round out our lunches by adding sides. Liz and Beka bagged potato chips for everyone.
Drew made sure everyone got a fresh banana!
Sam and Patrick filled dessert bags with cookies.
Thomas folded paper towels, which Xavier and Abraham then stuffed into each bag.
Annmarie finished the job by packing the box with our bags before we headed out to meet our PSP crew at Freedom Park.
Speaking of the PSP crew, they spent the morning working up an appetite at the store where they stocked shelves. Then, they had some things to share!
The cutest little ferrets, Lola and Rizzo, are looking for a fur-ever home!
Come get your Halloween toys for your fur babies!
When they finished working at PSP, the crew stopped by Jersey Mike's and picked up our subs for lunch. We all met at Freedom Park where the subs, and the rest of the goodies we had packed, were gobbled up in no time! It was a pretty day to enjoy lunch outside with friends!
Xavier, Patrick, and Drew said the subs would be "yummy in our tummies!"
Alas, we didn't find more flowers on the sweet potato plants. Luckily, it seems sweet potatoes will still grow, even if the plants don't flower. If they do flower, the plants are really beautiful because the flowers look like vibrant, purple morning glories! We saw a couple of them the last time we were here with the master gardeners.
We got another encouraging update on Tessa this week! She's working so hard with her physical therapists and getting a little stronger each day. Her favorite meal is French fries, and she enjoys time on her iPad, too! Keep at it, Tessa, and Mom, too. We know you are BOTH working so hard to help Tessa get stronger!
We miss this smile!
Don't forget to stop by Tracy's Disability Awareness Trick or Treat event next Saturday! There's something for everyone and lots of treats! Lisa, Carol, Liz, and Alexis will be at the Arc table and we'd welcome anyone else who wants to help. We also heard that our friend and former AoA member, Adia, might be there!
Lisa is taking a few days off next week, but we'll keep rolling! Here are our plans:
Tuesday: Liz's dad, Greg, will fill in for Lisa today as he joins us for our final session of 2024 with the master gardeners. Thanks, Greg! We'll take advantage of the beautiful fall weather and enjoy lunch at Freedom Park followed by a walk. Arc shirts optional. Please bring a bagged lunch.
Wednesday: Today we welcome our volunteer, Allison, for the entire day as she fills in for Lisa. Thank you, Allison! We'll send a group to volunteer at Grove while the others work on preparing a new Halloween Bingo game for us. Allison is also bringing a "witchy" craft project for us. It's National Horror Movie Day, so we'll watch Monsterville: Cabinet of Souls, a mildly scary and silly movie with overblown monsters and cartoonish demons. Lunch on your own. Microwave available. JRES Cafeteria is offering Cheesy Pasta Supreme or Sub of the Day.
Thursday: Allison will return to help out today as we celebrate Frankenstein Friday a day early with a "fairy tale" version of the story and a craft project with Allison. We'll cook chicken tenders, mac and cheese, and side salads for lunch. We're also having a yoga session with Jaime today, so dress to stretch!
Friday: Lisa returns today and joins in with Kevin's mom, Debbie, to treat us to sub sandwiches, chips, fruit, and cake for lunch as we celebrate birthdays for Alexis and Kevin! We'll play online puzzle games (Kevin's request) and corn hole (Lexi's request) and end the day with a walk along the lake at Newport News Park.
Have a great weekend,
Lisa, Carol, Nan, and the AoA Gang
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