Day 5 - FIRST World Festival

Wow. Wow. Wow. Amazing. Today was the first day of the World Festival.

Pictures are available here!

We started off fairly early this morning as we had our judging. First was project, then technical, then teamwork. Janet and Patti did not go in judging rooms, we didn't want to distract the kids - but that is so hard cause all we want to do is peek in! We did hear bits and pieces at each session, and are very proud of our team. The kids talked a lot (although they do need to speak up!) and really represented themselves well. When we asked the team how they did, they told us they "rocked". Must have done well, as they have been called back to judging on Saturday! We don't know for what area - but the kids will go back and talk with the judges again.

When we returned to the pit area, everyone scattered! Visiting other pits, talking to members of other teams, trading pins, playing games, etc. Ryleigh has the pin trading down! I think she has the most - and talks to everyone!! We were really proud of Jordan and Shaylin who at one point during the day stood at our pit and encouraged people to try our trivia, add their star to our map, and gave out brochures. We took some time to visit the First Tech Challenge, and First Robotic Challenge pits. Now those are some cool robots!

After a quick lunch out in the amazing warm, sunny afternoon, we had our robot practice rounds. We did ok, not the best we have ever done - but the kids still encouraged each other and remembered to rerun when needed. I believe we had 110 and 105 rounds. There were a few 400 point rounds we saw on the score boards, and we have seen some REALLY cool robots.

One of our missions (morgan/natasha's) isn't cooperating with us even though we thought we fixed it before we left. We spent the rest of the time until the pit closed with Morgan, Sandy, and RJ working on fixing it. Not sure if we did as we ran out of pit time. It's ok, we will do our best with what we have!

The FLL opening ceremonies were after that. Several teams from around the world did songs, dance, etc. We also got free ice cream!

Back to the hotel now - showers and bed on the agenda!

Thank you all for your support and comments (you can leave comments on the blog for the kids!) So, want to see us in action? You can! Nasa is broadcasting LIVE from the event! We are in the Einstein area, and will be there MONTANA TIME - 8:25am, 9:55am, 12 Noon. They do NOT run late - so be sure to "tune in" a few minutes early!

Check it out - click here!