Off & Running!

We have had a fabulous 2012 so far! We have been so busy, in fact, that we haven't had time to keep up the blog as much as we would like. But-there's no time like the present! Lets get everybody cuaght up with some of what we've been up to!

Skip Bo is one of our favorite games! And a little peeking never hurt anybody...

We're keeping our brains sharp! Each week, a new word puzzle is set out. Residents complete the puzzle and return it for Funny Money. We have had a blast with our word puzzles!

Wii bowling is one of our favorite pass times! We have to say, we're getting pretty good!

Valentines for Vets is our current Service Project. We are creating Valentines to be given to the Veterans at the Veterans' Hospital. We are so passionate about this program! It is wonderful to be able to do something that can make some of our Country's Heros happy.

Stay posted-we will be having lots of new pictures and videos and news of the excitement at CCV coming to you soon!

Happy Turkey Day!

As we join around our tables with our friends, family and neighbors, we would like to wish you a very happy and blessed Thanksgiving! 

[url=http://www.wishafriend.com/graphics/][img]http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/gg294/wafpaf/graphics/thanksgiving/thanksgiving101.gif[/img][/url]

We hope you Gobble 'Till You Wobble!

Trip to Isle of Capri Casino!

On Monday, we all woke up early to make the pilgrimage to Mississippi to play at the one and only-Isle of Capri Casino at Lula! 

Unfortunately, it rained cats and dogs all day long!  We didn't mind-we were in a wonderful bus with TV's!

When we got to the Casino, it didn't take us long to find our way to the machines!

This beautiful waterfall was right at the hotel entrance.  We were shocked to find that people had actually been putting in change AND paper money!

Linda was quite proud of her winnings!

Verna won over $20 at one machine!

Jonnie, Tom and Juanita found some luck at the Blackjack Machine.  We had the most fun here!

Hank took a moment to celebrate small victories.

We even enjoyed a wonderful buffet lunch!

Everyone had a fabulous time!  Despite the rain, wind and lighter pockets, we cannot wait until our next Casino trip!  Our next gambling adventure will take us to the great state of Oklahoma!   After the holidays, we'll load the bus and head north-you should join us!

Hug a Veteran Day!

At CCV, we love and honor our Veterans every day of the year, but each Veterans Day, we take special time to show them how much we truly care.  This Veterans Day, we were elated to have the ROTC from Hot Springs High School preform a Presentation of Colors during lunch.

The young men did an excellent job and we were all deeply moved by the presentation.

A few of our Veterans joined together in front of our Veterans' Wall to take a group picture.

Remember, love and honor your Veterans and their families.  Without them, the lives and freedoms that we so enjoy would be nonexistent.

Happy Veterans Day!

Staying Well With Tai Chi!

Kathy with The Oaklawn Center on Aging came by yesterday to teach us Tai Chi!  As part of our Wellness program, we are always focused on new (to us!) and exciting ways of staying healthy.  Kathy has been studying Wu Style Tai Chi for years and shared her experience with us. 

Janet was showing Pat how to stay centered.

When Tai Chi is practiced regularly, it will drastically reduce the chance of falling.

We had a great turnout!

The beauty of Tai Chi is that it can be practiced standing or from a chair!

We all had a wonderful time!  The class lasted an hour, and when we walked out everybody felt great!  We are looking forward to seeing Kathy again next week!   With regular practice, we are all excited to being Tai Chi experts!

Queen Wilhelmina Fall Color Run

Queen Wilhelmina is the second highest mountain peak in Arkansas.  At the top is a beautiful lodge and some of the most amazing scenery in the state.  We loaded up the bus last week and made a trip to see the wonderful colors of the fall leaves changing.

This is the view from the mountain.  At the bottom, you can see a set of train tracks.  During the week, a small train shows tours around the top of the mountain on those tracks.

This is the lodge where we stopped and had a wonderful buffet lunch.

Bill did a fabulous job of getting us up and down the mountain safely!

The Pasmans had a wonderful time!

This is some of the amazing scenery we saw along the way.

We truly do live in a beautiful state!

We stopped on the way down and braved the wind and cold to get some great group pictures!

A better view of the tracks that run around the top of the mountain.

"I am going to take a picture of YOU, taking a picture of ME!"

After lunch, we all sat down for a rest and enjoyed the lodge.

This is the few from our window at lunch!

Part of the group waiting to go and fix their plates.

On the way home, we stopped at the Lum and Abner Museum. It was on the National Register of Historic Places and most of us on the trip remember listening to the Lum and Abner show on the Radio!

WATCH OUT!   Those drooling machines are really guard dogs!

BILL-WATCH OUT! 

There was an entire hallway of pictures of Lum and Abner.

In Arkansas, you can't call it a museum unless it has a deer hanging up!

This old saddle was donated to the museum and was part of an entire room related to Arkansas farm equipment.

We all had a wonderful trip!  The leaves were beautiful, the food was fabulous and we couldn't have asked for better company!  Thanks to Bill's wonderful driving, we were all even able to take a nap on the 2 and a half hour drive home.  We are planning another trip to Queen Wilhelmina next year to see the leaves again!

Join us tomorrow-we're heading out again!  This time, we're going to go snag some lunch here in town at The Purple Cow.  See you tomorrow!

Oktoberfest!

On Saturday, we all got in touch with our German Roots and celebrated Oktoberfest in style!  Everyone dressed in their best German outfit and settled in for an afternoon full of festivities!

We started out the afternoon with this wonderful meal that was prepared by our amazing Chefs!

Tom took a moment to enjoy being a blond...with pigtails!

It wouldn't be Oktoberfest without (near) beer!

We even had a German Wine Tasting!  A speaker came in and explained the different kinds of German wine and even explained why the bottles are colored differently.

A HUGE thanks to our Wine Sponsors for providing us with so much wonderful information!

Our own, Professor Mike Millewood, explained the history of Oktoberfest!

We had a packed house for lunch! 

Linda was thrilled at the chance to serve Ginger Snaps!

We had a GREAT live Polka band!   They were WONDERFUL!  We all got to dance the Polka!

Mike and Jeanne made a great dancing duo!

Stay tuned for more pictures and videos!  We all had a wonderful time and are looking forward to our next big event-a Hoe-Down in November!