Card Club convened Monday morning and the residents played several exciting hands of UNO with Noel and also learned a new card game called Skip Bo. Jeff Halverson was the ultimate winner of the morning! Everyone was having such a good time that Card Club ran almost up to lunchtime! Lunch was enjoyed by all and once mail had been delivered, Noel was joined by Chef Jeff and Pam Gansluckner for Kitchen Corner where they whipped up Nutella Turnovers! These decadent pastries went into the oven right away and once they were cooling, Noel gathered folks in the dining room for an afternoon game of Tic Tac Toss. Herb Tschumperlin, Jeff Halverson and Pam Gansluckner all tied for fourth; Alice Brantner, Ivan Mason and Shirley Klinski tied for third and Milda Bautch came in second place. Kevin Bauer was this week’s first place champion of the game! Supper came up quick and then it was on to a game of Monday night Bingo with the help of Marie Berger. Thank you!

Tuesday morning began with Father Jojo and Terry Pelzel here for Mass with residents. It’s always nice to begin the day with quiet prayer and reflection during these dark days of winter! Lunch came and went, along with mail delivery, and then Stacey flipped the switch on the popcorn machine to begin our afternoon Popcorn Social. The kernels cheerily popped away and the enticing scent of fresh popcorn brought folks to the dining room to get their hands on a bowl or two! Later, Pastor Andrew from Pepin Immanuel arrived for afternoon church and folks gathered for the reflective service until it was time for supper. After the evening meal, Noel had a few folks in the dining room to play the card game Skip Bo. Congrats to Kay George for being the big winner of the night! 

The week rolled right along until it was Wednesday morning again and the bowlers came to play, along with Ave Maria students Danial and Cooper here to help! Bowling always draws a crowd and this day was no different. Everyone watched and cheered through three rounds as Milda Bautch came in fourth place, Jeff Halverson placed third and Larry Thompson scored second place. Kay George was this week’s first place bowling champion! Bowling took us up to lunchtime, after which we cleared the tables for Fruit Bingo, this week with Kathy Shingledecker and Marlene Zimmer here to help with the game. Pam Gansluckner was our Blackout Bingo winner this week! We celebrated World Nutella Day with Nutella Turnovers at our Mid-Week Social after Bingo. Flaky pastries stuffed with chocolatey hazelnut spread and drizzled with a powdered sugar glaze? Yes please!

Harriet Rothe stopped by Thursday morning for our Local News and Coffee group; we love visiting with her and sharing joyful stories that make us smile and laugh! Along with reading the local papers to residents, she also shared a 100-year-old Valentine decoration with the group. Lunch and mail delivery followed and then Stacey assembled ladies in the afternoon for manicures. Everyone lined up for a fresh coat of polish and sparkle on their nails and then settled in for a relaxing afternoon of visiting and socializing. Supper came and went and then, due to increasing illness amongst residents, our evening Pokeno game was cancelled.

Activities were still unfortunately cancelled all day on Friday, so we ended the week a little more quietly than usual. Stacey and Noel spent the morning taking down snowflake decorations in the dining room…maybe that will encourage spring to come more quickly! After lunchtime and mail delivery the Activity dynamic duo made a huge batch of pretty pink, bubblegum-flavored puppy chow and went room to room for Happy Hour, dressed as flashy flamingoes and playing bubblegum pop music on the radio. It was a profusion of pink as they danced and laughed with residents in their rooms! They also went down to visit folks at the Seasons to spread even more smiles and keep everyone’s spirits up! As there was no movie for the evening, supper concluded the day and everybody got all cozy to await the snowstorm that was forecasted to come later that night.