The Big DumpTruck

Okay, maybe not the world, but they are invading my life. You see, I signed on to coach Junior's FIRST LEGO League Robotics team. They started a league at his elementary school this year (and one other in town - it will expand out next year) and he's on team Funny Bones. Our team, plus the 4 others from our school and the 4 teams from the other elementary school attended the Mindstorm Madness tournament in Shrewsbury yesterday, 6 weeks or so after our team formed. We were up against 17 other teams, some of them middle school teams who had better robots and competition experience. Our plucky little robot soldiers, after 9 challenge rounds, were seeded FIRST(!!) for the playoff rounds. FIRST! Our average score over the nine rounds was the highest! Was that even possible? I can tell you, I almost cried I was so proud of these kids, and so shocked. When I went into the gym during the break and saw the list of teams, and saw #7 listed first, I refused to believe it was a ranking. But it was.

So we explained to the kids that really, that was the highlight of the tournament, because that's the REAL show of who did the best. Anyone could get knocked out of the semi-finals by just having a robot malfunction.

Except they didn't have a robot malfunction. They won each of their semi-final rounds, and won the final against a team from the other Leominster elementary school by a mere 5 points. We won the tournament, the whole thing. And we also got the robot performance award. Our simple little last-generation robot was a tireless little engine that could.

To say I was beside myself about the whole day is an understatement. 7 of the 9 Leominster teams made the elite 8, and 3 of the final 4 and both of the finalists were from our schools. I don't think I'll ever see such a thing again, and I will be happy HOWEVER they do at the Leominster Tournament this week. Funny Bones rule!

Labels: Lego, Leominster, Robots, school

Junior has to write an essay over the weekend. His first big-boy homework! The subject is "My First ____". They had to brainstorm ideas for a topic, then they had to fill in a sheet that basically was a way of drafting the essay. He was actually pretty far along with it already, so I have no doubt this one is in the bag.

His essay is "My First Red Sox Game" which happened to occur a month or so ago. That's right, my son, the nine year old, had never been to a game, mostly because it's impossible to get tickets. These were the crappy seats you get for free (one game) when you join Red Sox Nation.

Anyhoo, he and I got to talking about First Person Narratives that you just don't want to read. He and I started a list, and I will continue it for you.

My First Diaper Rash
The First Time I Ate Peas
My First Poo
The First Time I Watched Blue's Clues
My First Big Boy Underwear

Labels: essay, humor, junior, school

Sorry for the lack of posting. Did you notice? I was giving myself a little break from the computer, and when you do that, well, all hell breaks loose.

I could blame it on the Red Sox sweeping the White Sox in grand style. I mean really, if we can't win 30-3 in one game, we could have four 10+ games in a row. I'm okay with that, really I am. If you're looking for more in-depth analysis, of course, I defer to my resident expert over at Red Sox Soul. I'm just a back seat driver when it comes to this stuff.

School starts this week, and I think we're more nervous and excited about it than Junior is. He's moving to the LEAP program at the newly re-designed Southeast Math and Science Elementary school. We're bummed about leaving JA and all his best friends there, but I think this is going to be an amazing year for him. One way or another.

Labels: junior, Red_Sox, school