We learned some pretty cool things this week! When we visited Christina at the Art Museums of CW, we learned fun facts about beards, of all things! On Wednesday, we learned that squash can be very tasty as a soup! It was Reptile Awareness Day on Thursday, and we always learn fascinating things when we study animals. We also explored a new trail this week. Take a look!
Tuesday
We hung out with Christina at the Art Museums of CW. Yesterday was National No Beard Day, but Christina flipped it, and we had a very cool visit that focused on actual beards! First, Christina met us outside and, as always, inquired about what was new with our gang. She listened intently to all the latest news!
What we learned with her today is that beards were fashionable and worn more often in the 1600s than in the 1700s. Here, Annmarie and Patrick were looking at a map of New England, which was drawn by John Smith (of Jamestown fame!), and included on this print of the map is a picture of Smith in which he is sporting a big, bushy beard!
In the next gallery, we saw oil paintings of two kings from the 1600s, Charles I and James I (shown here), both of whom wore neatly trimmed beards. Christina pointed out to us that the kings would have likely had attendants to groom their beards. John Smith, on the other hand, would have been too busy exploring the "New World" and wouldn't have had a barber along, thus his less than neat beard!
Christina taught us a new word today, "Bartmann," which means "bearded man" in German. In the 1600s, jugs made of stoneware were popular for storing and transporting liquids. The ones made in Germany had pictures of bearded men on the necks of the jugs, and were called "Bartmann Jugs." Remnants of ones made in the 1600s (and before) have been found in Historic Jamestowne, and are still being found around the world today. Christina told us that just this week, part of a Bartmann Jug was found along the banks of the River Thames in London!
We moved on and found evidence to support that beards were not as fashionable in the 1700s. Here, we saw shaving bowls and a "knife" that was used to groom well-to-do men during the 1700s. The curved edge on the shaving bowls represents where it would rest against a man's neck. He would hold the bowl in place while being shaved. As further evidence that beards were not popular in the 1700s, Christina pointed to pictures of Washington, Madison, and Jefferson. The founding fathers did not wear beards!
We did a very fun activity after our lesson on beards/no beards in the 1600s and 1700s. Everyone was given a "lifesize" beard to color.
After coloring (and we were encouraged to be "whimsical"), we cut them out and attached a small stick to the back. We then headed outside to take selfies!
Here's our selfie with Christina! Wait...did Drew shave?!
Here are a few more pics. Santa would be proud of our beards! Thanks, Christina! This lesson was different, and fun! We enjoyed getting hairy with you today!
After our time with Christina, we headed to Freedom Park where we ate lunch outside on a very gorgeous day! We then walked to the garden to look for leaves changing colors. Here is the Japanese Maple we saw on our tree walk with MG Rick a few weeks ago. Its leaves are still very green, but we know they will eventually turn a brilliant shade of red!
We spotted some yellow and brown leaves on the white oak! But it too, was still mostly green.
We also checked on the broccoli, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts we planted a few weeks ago with the MGs. They are all still growing... We looked on the other side for the spinach we planted, but it seems to have been removed already. Maybe it was harvested by the MGs, or maybe critters enjoyed it!
The sweet potatoes seem to be growing well! We heard from Karen that we should be able to harvest some next week when we work with the MGs. We moved some leaves back today and spotted one coming up through the soil!
After checking the garden, we took a nice walk along the paved trail that goes toward the bridge. We didn't get any pictures, but we walked for a while before returning to AFCC, where we had about a half-hour of Choice Time before dismissal. We enjoyed our morning with Christina and our afternoon outside at the park and garden!
Wednesday
Today's highlight was cooking butternut squash soup and making a "dessert" (really, a side dish) with acorn squash! Patrick got us started by browning sausage for our soup since he arrived a little early today. (This was the only picture of someone cooking that we took today, too.)
We made monsters out of paper bags that we had to paint! Kevin was getting ready to glue eyes on his, and Patrick was thinking about fangs for his!
Annmarie, Sam, and Liz added embellishments to their monsters, too. We're going to use these for decorations at next week's Halloween Party!
Kate, Laura, and Xavier show off the finished products! Won't the monsters make cute table decorations?! We're getting excited about our party!
We have noticed over the past several weeks that the birds AND squirrels have stopped coming to our feeders. After spending time in the gorgeous weather outside this morning, we stopped to take a picture beside what the construction in recent weeks has left behind...or rather, what it took. So many trees that the birds and squirrels used to call their habitat are gone! We are hopeful that the critters will return now that the noise is gone, too, but we're worried about the situation.
Even though we didn't get pictures of our guys preparing today's lunch, we have a few of the finished dishes. Here's the butternut squash soup we made, using a modified version of MG Angela's recipe. Starting with prepared butternut squash soup from Trader Joe's, we then cut the sausage Patrick cooked into bite-sized pieces, and also added onions, peppers, and spinach. It was YUMMY! Even if you don't like squash (like Lisa, for example), this soup will get squash into your tummy! 😋😋😋
To accompany our soup, we also roasted acorn squash (and one butternut squash we also had) using MG Karen's suggestion of adding brown sugar! Instead of honey, we used syrup, which we had on hand, and also added a touch of cinnamon. When we scooped this out and served it, our guys were happy! Most of them asked for seconds! Squash day was a big success!
We are grateful for the partnership we have with the master gardeners and the relationships we have formed with them. Thanks to them, we have not only learned so much and had a lot of fun, but we have created some very tasty dishes! 👆😍 We made thank you cards that we will take when we see them for our final session of 2021 next week. Each card has a special touch added by our guys!
We think they are beautiful, and we know our MG friends will love them!
Thursday
Today began with an earthquake drill! The school said we had to practice, so we did. Alexis and Drew got under their table and held on, as did all of the others. It was kind of fun, but we know it could be serious were we to have a real earthquake. Not likely...but we're prepared!
Next, we learned some very cool facts about reptiles since today was Reptile Awareness Day. On our around the room scavenger hunt, we read about many kinds of reptiles. Here, Devin, Xavier, and Kate learned that the komodo dragon is the largest lizard!
Laura was reading that when a lizard loses its tail, it can grow a new one, and Patrick was answering the question on their worksheet. We learned from our video that it takes about 30 days for a lizard to grow a new one, so we hope no other predators bother it during that time!
Kevin and Liz were reading a cool fact that said when geckos shed their skins, they eat them! Eew! A few other facts we learned were that alligators have about 80 teeth, turtles have about 60 bones in their shells, and the horned lizard can squirt blood out of its eyes when it feels threatened! Reptiles are very cool, indeed!
We had a short morning movement segment that was a "Would You Rather?" Halloween edition. We like these kinds of short brain breaks, as they have fun music and give us choices as to what excercise to do.
Wouldn't you like to work out with us?!
After lunch, but before we left for the park, Michelle used some free time to go around the room and finish finding the answers to the scavenger hunt questions. There were 18, and most of the teams didn't have time to find all of them. Michelle's curiosity got the better of her and she wanted to find a few more facts! Yay, Michelle!
With the weather being so pleasant these days, we're trying to soak up lots of comfortable outdoor time. Visiting the many parks in our area is something we enjoy, and today we went to Newport News Park, which is only about a 10 minute drive from AFCC. We stopped by the Visitor Center, where Lexi's cousin Janie is manager. She gave us tips on hiking the Lakeside Trail, which we've never taken before.
Janie took our picture at this sign! We told her there are many things we love about Newport News, including the park, Lilly's college, CNU, and the Mariners' Museum!
Not too far along on the Lakeside Trail, we found this large tree that had lost its top half. It looked burned around the top, so we wondeed if lightning had struck it.
This was a wooded trail, but it was fairly level. We took our time and watched our steps so as not to stumble over roots.
It was a little over a half-mile, and with a couple of stops to look at the scenery (we saw reptiles in the lake - turtles were bobbing their heads above the water), we still completed it in about a half an hour. It was a nice walk on a beautiful day.
Today was National Color Day and National Nut Day, so we had activities to cover both! For color day, we talked about what different colors could represent, such as yellow being a color of happiness and red representing alarm. Next, we painted rocks orange. We planned to decorate them like jack-o-lanterns once they dried.
While waiting their turn to paint, Annmarie and Sam, and Abraham and Laura in the background, worked on some Halloween themed word-work.
Some of our guys worked on this worksheet, and had to use context clues to figure out what the underlined words meant. We learned that "antediluvian" means "old!"
This is how we roll on a Friday morning when Eaton work needs to get done!
For lunch, we needed grilled veggies for a side, and we've discovered that Carol's recipe is really tasty! She marinates the freshly cut veggies in Italian salad dressing, and then grills them. Today, she even brought in her tabletop grill from home. Just ask your associate if these were good!! 😋😋😋
To celebrate Nut Day, we made quinoa, which is technically a seed but has a nutty flavor, especially if it's toasted before being cooked, like it was today. We added minced garlic, too. When we served it, we added a topping of toasted pecans and Craisins! It was also very tasty! 😋😋😋
To finish our rock project for Color Day, we added jack-o-lantern faces using black Sharpies. Annmarie was focused on coloring in the eyes on her rock.
We're going to hide these cute guys at the garden next week! (The ones on the bottom row were still a little wet, so we will finish them on Tuesday morning.)
Soon, it was time for yoga. Ahhh, saying "namaste" is our favorite way to end the week!!
We're really looking forward to next week! There will be a farewell, a busy work day, and lots of partying going on at the Arc of Abilities! 🌳👷🎈🥳 👻🎃
Tuesday: It's our final session for Fall 2021 with the master gardeners. It's been a fast couple of months and we will miss seeing them regularly. We have cards ready, and another surprise for them! Shhh! After our time with the MGs, we'll enjoy lunch outside and a brisk walk, too. Please wear Arc shirts and bring a bagged lunch.
Wednesday: Today we say, "Happy Birthday to Kevin!" We'll also say it to Alexis, whose birthday is tomorrow! We're celebrating both of them since we'll be at Eaton on Thursday. We'll play games and enjoy activities in honor of our birthday friends! Our lunch menu, mutually selected by Kevin and Alexis, will be sponsored by Debbie and Lisa: pasta and meatballs, a fresh salad, and birthday cake!
Thursday: We'll spend today working at Eaton, but our birthday celebrations will continue as we salute James, whose special day is on Halloween! We made cards and a treat for him! Please wear Eaton shirts and bring a bagged lunch.
Friday: Our week of partying will culminate today with our annual Halloween Bash! Costumes are optional, and you can wear them all day or change here at the center, as we will have yoga, too. We'll play games, dance, and enjoy the spirit of Halloween all day, but nothing scary here! Lunch will be Hallo-weenies, fresh veggies, grapes, ghost chips, and bat cookies!
REMINDER: Our Food Drive to support the James City County Police Department's "STUFF THE CRUISER" event is underway. Please send in donations of nonperishable goods by next Friday, November 5th. Thanks for your support!
Have a fabulous weekend!
Lisa, Carol, Nan, and the AoA Gang
