You have not lived until you spend a weekend in Clemson, South Carolina at a Lego League State Competition......for your 11 year old son....with two younger siblings in tow. We were up and at the Littlejohn Coliseum by 8:30 a.m. and left no sooner than 6:30 p.m. ......with not one coloring book, video game, song to sing, or pillow to sleep on for the younger ones. Although there were some Star Wars characters walking around that they found entertaining....for a minute. Mother-of-the-Year here learned something very basic this weekend. Be prepared. Although, I must say I didn't know what to expect but apparently the team members did because they all had their heads in a Nintendo DS or PSP during their down time.....to sum it up - Hurry up and wait.....and wait.....and wait.
I was delighted to catch a rare moment of affectionate support in a three-way hug between my children....interesting how supportive they get when you get them out of their element.
The Buist Academy Knights - a/k/a KNOWBOTS - did GREAT.....they were one of the youngest teams out of 82. Each team ran 3 missions throughout the day (that's right, 3x82.......) and they ranked 17th out of 246 which I think is FANTASTIC. The basic idea is that they have built and programmed their robot to run certain tasks on the table shown....each team runs on the same exact table - each just brings a different idea to the mission in hopes that they earn more points with their different robots running different tasks.
In addition to their missions, they also had to take part in a team interview and perform a skit. I was very proud of each one of them by the end of the day. The enthusiasm was constant and I think they all learned a lot about hard work and team effort. Congratulations Knowbots! (Again, check out the crossed fingers.....love em.)
So proud of you Randolph!
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