Robotics Competition and Parade

This year the competition for both girls' teams were on the same day.  That same day: William's birthday.  William was quite the sport, and allowed us to celebrate his special day on the day before, since the big girls had to be up at the school at 550am to depart.

On the last meeting of the year, I snuck in to see the robot and see Alice at work programing, since I was a parent volunteer for the twins' team, and needed to be at their competition as a leader.

Billy and William drove down to Battle Creek to see Alice and Emily's team in action, though the accommodations were too small, and they did not stay very long.

We had a slightly later start time for the twins' competition, so we had plenty of time to prep and arrived early.  I had some camping chairs in my car (they just kind of live there now, as I find them to be quite useful) and brought them in on whim.  They were very comfortable compared to the cafeteria benches or stadium seats that were avialable to us for the day.

The fourth grade team!

It was a cool set up, four tables, only one ran at a time, but the other one would be used for teams to get in place, so that there was no down time!

On the back side were the informational displays that described the process and team building elements of the team, as well as the robot features!

The high school and middle school teams were exhibiting their robots (very cool!) in the common areas.

Most of the teams brought their practice tables, and anyone could hop on to use them in between competition rounds.  It was a really neat experience!

One of the tables had these cool cookies, so I took a picture! = )

My mom came to cheer on the twins (and it was a surprise!)  She also was sweet enough to volunteer to stand in the really long concession line to get each of us a cheeseburger!  Sadly she came back empty handed, as the smell that was making our mouths water was actually beef hot dogs! = (

But, my mom takes good care of me still, and drove up to burger king to get us each a whopper, so that we could satisfy that burger craving!

Neither of the girls' teams took an award, but it was a learning experience for all!  Playing with Legos all day, but not really getting to make anything, had Grace in the mood to build when she got home.  She built a trophy.  (Notice the lack of green and brown bricks?  lol.)

Once the big girls came home, I wanted a picture of all of them in their shirts. = )

Emily has been going to the off season robotics meetings, but Alice doesn't go, since she'll be on the high school team next year if she does it.  They did have a 'float' in the parade, for which Emily offered up our wagon.  So the two of us went really early so that they could start decorating it.

It looked really good!

Alice came out with Billy and the little ones closer to start time, but she did end up marching in the parade after some convincing.

Thankfully, it was a short parade, because it was COLD!  Surprisingly, they did throw out candy!  The little ones were excited.  Sadly, many of the candy canes broke, but we were able to use them for our Gingerbread house!

Billy and the little ones left, and I waited for the big girls to return and then disassemble their float, so that we could bring our wagon home. = )

It was a good, learning season, and I'm not sure what next year will look like, but I hope that William gets to join in too!

later days