Happy Birthday, Michelle!

We capped off a fun and busy week with Spring Birthday #5 when we celebrated Michelle after our Eaton work day on Friday!  In other news, we had a good time bowling on Tuesday followed by a day-late celebration of Cinco de Mayo at a Mexican restaurant.  That was a big hit!  On Wednesday we did our service work of volunteering at GCOC and making flower arrangements for Commonwealth Senior Living (CSL).  Thursday found us visiting the Mariners' Museum for the first time in 2025!  We were on the go all week.  Take a look!

Tuesday, May 6

There were a lot of smiles as we welcomed Abraham back this morning.  He recently traveled with his family and had an opportunity to visit the St. Louis Zoo, where he saw lots of animals, including elephants, his favorite!  Welcome back, Abraham!  We missed you!

We really did have a great time at bowling, but our photographer forgot the camera, and decided not to take so many with her phone since they kind of look the same each month, anyway. 😜

Everyone was here today, and Cameron joined us too, so we were busy keeping everyone on track at bowling.  Here's a couple of photos of our amazing Arc of Abilities members after bowling.  Ladies, first!  They were showing their "bowling sassisness!"

Here are 11 handsome fellas!

From bowling, we made our way to Los Paisanos Mexican Restaurant for a belated Cinco de Mayo lunch celebration!  The restaurant is located on Rt. 60 not too far past Riverside Hospital heading west.  We have stopped by a couple of times recently to make plans with the owners about our visit, and we felt very welcomed!

Everyone enjoyed chips and freshly made salsa while we waited for our orders.  Annmarie and Gail said the salsa was very good!

We liked sitting in smaller groups at the booths and tables.  Phones were put away and we carried on nice conversations, such as this one between Michelle, Patrick, Emma, and Kate.

There were several choices on the lunch menu.  Alexis and Liz chose mini fajita burritos.

Nan joined Laura, Xavier, and Kevin for friendly conversation.  (We had one more group but realized we didn't get a close up of Thomas, Erik, Cameron, Sam, Abraham, and Bryan.  They sat in a larger booth and couldn't stop raving about their tasty meals!)

Devin and Drew decided we should come back here for a holiday party!  Ummm....which holiday guys?!

We appreciate the staff at Los Paisanos for welcoming us for lunch today!  It's definitely a place we would consider visiting again...maybe on a holiday!!

Wednesday, May 7

This morning was a divide and conquer kind of morning, which is typical for most Wednesdays.  Some of us volunteered at GCOC, while the rest of us got things done at the center.

The delivery truck forgot to bring the pallet of USDA canned goods (it only brought fresh food) to Grove this morning, so we worked on packing 2 rolls of toilet tissue in bags.  We packed a few other nonfood items as well, so our services were put to good use.

We made small flower bouquets for Peggy and Ursula using some of the flowers we got from Trader Joe's for the Commonwealth Senior Living (CSL) arrangements.  We wanted to thank them for always making delicious treats for us (today Peggy brought oatmeal raisin cookies), and also wish them a Happy Mother's Day!  We appreciate their friendship and support of our work, and love volunteering alongside them and Joel, Tom, and Thom!  Thank you Devin and Liz for your on-the-spot kind words to Peggy and Ursula.  Great job, as always!

Back at AFCC, we arranged flowers for CSL's dining room.  Patrick and Emma selected roses and sunflowers from among the larger flowers for the arrangements they were working on.

Nan and Sam made a good team as they worked on a couple of arrangements.

What a pretty arrangement Erik put together!

Emma and Gail welcomed our new custodian, Lona, with a pretty arrangement!  She said we made her day!! (We gave Heike one, too, but didn't get a photo.)  Thanks to Liz's mom, Lise, for donating some small glass vases she didn't need.  They are perfect for us to make small arrangements in with the extra flowers, and use them to brighten the days of those who mean a lot to us!

Later, on the way to return the van to the Rec Center, we stopped at CSL and Patrick, Abraham, and Liz dropped off the arrangements with bright, smiling faces!

We worked with Allison to finish up our gifts for the special women who serve as moms or in mom roles for us.  We think they will like our flower theme this year!

Before the GCOC crew got back, this group had time to check the raised bed in the garden.  The master gardeners are coming here on Tuesday to help us plant herbs for this year.  We were going to pull weeds and freshen up the area, but we found it had already been done!  Lisa texted Krafty Karen, since we figured she and Steve had stopped by when we weren't here.  But it wasn't them!  There must be a garden fairy who pulled weeds and put down mulch for us! 💖

After lunch we listened to our read-aloud and checked last week's blog.  We ended the day with a make up lesson for National Bugs Bunny Day, which was April 30.  Bugs debuted 88 years ago  Our Michelle can imitate him pretty well!

We ran out of time to do our Bugs Bunny (Looney Tunes) brain work, but we will get to it tomorrow.  Instead, we watched Bugs Bunny cartoons, and ended our day with a lot of laughs!

Thursday, May 8

We enjoyed a nice visit with Wisteria at The Mariners' Museum today.  It had been a few months since we could line up schedules for a visit.  She introduced us to Lyles Forbes, who is her "boss" but also Vice President of Collections & Chief Curator.  Together, they showed us around some rearranged galleries, and explained the museum's vision to make more of the museums objects accessible to visitors.  There are over 32,000 objects at The Mariners', but only about 2,000 on display at any one time...until now, with the new plan!

Lyles explained that in order for visitors to have a more meaningful experience, they need to be able to see more "stuff."  It's going to take a few years, but museum staff are going to be bringing out more objects and setting them up in "visible storage" which means not only on walls and in cases, but on large racks that look like...well, storage!

Objects will be tagged and their "stories" will be told with guests being able to see (up close), hear, and in some cases, touch, to learn about objects that interest them.  For example, there is a large half-model of the RMS Queen Elizabeth I (1939) where a visitor could learn about where it was built and what size it was, how many passengers it carried, if it had enough lifeboats, and what eventually happened to it.  From there, the visitor might want to learn more about passengers, such as what they ate or what kinds of dishes were used, so they would be directed to another gallery for more information.  From there, if the guest was still curious, they might be pointed to yet another gallery to learn about how the ship was used in other ways.  In this case, the Queen Elizabeth I was used during WWII as a transport ship for the military.  Pieces from the museum's vast collections are going to be grouped differently, so learning about them this way would be like going on a treasure hunt!

Wisteria asked for us to provide feedback about making the museum more accessible to us.  We went into a large meeting/reception room for a discussion where we shared our ideas.  We said we would like to have audio and video displays, guides or docents to show us around, and maybe coloring sheets or a craft project to go along with some of the displays.  She took notes, and thanked us for our thoughts!

Thanks Wisteria and Lyles, for the tour and all the exciting updates about changes coming to the museum!  We are looking forward to seeing how things progress in future visits.  We appreciate you asking for our input, too!

After our busy morning, and all of that discussing and thinking about how to make the museum more accessible, we were hungry.  Luckily, it was a very nice day, so we stopped by Deer Park and enjoyed our lunch in Shelter 2!

Thanks, Elizabeth, for sharing fly repellant fans with us!  These are so cool.  Just set them on the table and extend the blades, which will rotate gently, using a physical method for keeping away flies and bugs!  They really work!

When we got back to the center, we had Choice Time before cleaning up to go home.  Our day was very nice!

Friday, May 9

We zipped through our Eaton work so we could return to the center to celebrate Michelle's birthday!  Ethan had plenty of unpacking, gasketing, clipping, and even paper folding for us to work on, and we got right on it.  After 2 1/2 hours, we were done and Ethan said he was "impressed!"

Well, we were motivated to get back to AFCC for a party!

We returned to the center for lunch and a short Choice Time before setting up to play Birthday Cornhole at Michelle's request.  Her friends were more than happy to oblige, and teams were formed.  Michelle chose the names "Chomper" and "Littlefoot" for the teams, because they are favorite characters from one of her favorite movies, Land Before Time.  Michelle's mom, Susan, and sister, Meagan, arrived with party treats, so we snagged Meagan to play on the Chomper team since they had one less player.  It was a very fun game, and everyone scored today!

Today's winner was Team Chomper!  Thanks for helping out, Meagan!

After cornhole we enjoyed cupcakes and ice cream with toppings as we celebrated our kind, helpful, and funny friend, Michelle!  Thank you, Meagan and Susan, for a fun and tasty treat.  We enjoyed socializing with you!

Michelle, we hope all your wishes come true!  We had a wonderful afternoon partying with you, Meagan, and your mom!

What a sweet ending to a busy week!  We have a lot to look forward to next week.  Here's a peek at our plans:

Tuesday:  We will remain at the center today and welcome our master gardener friends who are coming to plant herbs with us in our raised bed.  The MGs gifted us the bed last year, and we enjoyed fresh herbs all summer and into the fall!  We'll treat them to an "herby snack" that we'll make before they arrive.  After our time with the gardeners, we'll continue a tradition started long ago...celebrating our friend Coach Teri's birthday!  It's on Cinco de Mayo, so we're having it a bit delayed this year, but she's still treating us to soft tacos, fixings, and "fun activities" for lunch, as she's done for years!  The theme is "Flower Power & Peace" and we're celebrating a milestone birthday for our dear friend and Sam's mom.  Thank you, Teri, for this wonderful tradition.  We appreciate your thoughtful generosity!

Wednesday:  It's GCOC volunteering and CSL flower arranging day, so we will work those service projects this morning.  We'll also celebrate Dance like a Chicken Day, so prepare to cluck and boogie!  Please wear Arc shirts.  Lunch on your own.  JRES Cafeteria is serving Popcorn Chicken Bowl (haha) or Yogurt Combo.

Thursday:  We'll keep our eye on the forecast, but hope to visit Yorktown today for a walk, picnic, and trolley ride, followed by a visit to see our friend Tessa!  She's working hard to return to our program and we want to encourage her to keep up the good work.  Please bring a bagged lunch.

Friday:  We are working at Pet Supplies Plus today, so please wear PSP shirts.  We're also welcoming Mike from the Watermen's Museum for lunch today, as an appreciation for his support of us.  The Cooking Crew will prepare Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad with a side of Fruity Jell-O for lunch.  We'll end the week with a wild animal themed yoga segment with Jaime as we celebrate Endangered Species Day.

🏌🏌COMING SOON!  The Women of the Moose (WOTM) Annual Charity Golf Tournament that benefits The Arc and The Arc of Abilities!   This year's tournament will be at Williamsburg National Golf Club on August 2nd.🏌🏌

Moose Patti and her WOTM team are hard at work gathering sponsorships and registering teams.  PLEASE consider playing or sponsoring (as many of you always do!) this year.  It's the 10th annual tournament!  

Can you believe, Moose Patti met us shortly after we opened the AoA in March of 2016, and by August of 2016 she had organized a golf tournament in which The Arc and AoA get to share in the proceeds!  It's become bigger and more successful each year since, so let's get behind Patti and make this the best one yet!

Let Lisa know (the sooner the better) if you need more information for registering to play, or if you are ready to sponsor at any level.  Sponsor info is listed at the bottom of the registration form shown below.  She will send you the information you need!  Thank you in advance for your support of this FUNdraiser that is very close to our hearts!

Thank you, Patti and WOTM.  We are grateful for your support of The Arc and The Arc of Abilities!

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Have a great weekend,

Lisa, Carol, Nan, and the AoA Gang