CA Science Center and FLL Competition

Last Saturday we had a fun day at the CA Science Center in Santa Ana. The class that David has been taking this year at the Riverside Student Center is also a team for the First LEGO League competition. They have been preparing for this all fall and had their qualifier on Saturday. It was a fun, exhausting and rewarding day.


Riverside Student Center Lego Squad

The LEGO League competition has two parts. First, they had to research a transportation problem in our city. They had to come up with a solution and present it in a skit form. They also had to answer questions about their research and solution as well as talk to the judges about what they would be doing in part two.

Part two involved making LEGO robots. These robots are then programmed to complete a series of tasks. Each team is given a few minutes to successfully complete as many tasks as they can in the given amount of time. The tasks are carried out on a board with a LEGO obstacle course on it.

At the end of the day our team had qualified to compete at LEGOLAND on December 5th. We are very excited, but they have a lot more work to do between now and then, too. We were disappointed we had left early and missed the announcement. The younger kids were getting pretty tired and my Aunt and Uncle had already been waiting at our house for about an hour for us to arrive.

The entire family enjoyed the Science Center and Grandma Allen joined us there. We enjoy the fun times with Grandma, and we love having the extra pair of hands.

Elizabeth takes Melody on her first slide.

Joel & Elizabeth in a submarine

Grandma & Joel and the giant chair

Elizabeth in a Dinosaur

Dino Scavenger Hunt

The thing we enjoyed the most was a scavenger hunt. The wand you see Elizabeth holding makes things light up and talk to you when you are on the scavenger hunt. There were 6 different quests in the dinosaur area and we only completed 3, much to David and Hannah's dismay. They were into it the most. You would search for your items, wave the wand at them and collect them. Then go to your computer and wave the wand again to see if you had completed your mission or get more instructions. It was very fun and creative.

Joel on the Dino Slide

David and a "Duck"

We returned home and enjoyed a visit from Aunt Liz and Uncle Bob Long. They were able to stay overnight and go to church with us the next day, so that was very special.

We were busy Sunday as well, so I have been pretty tired this week. I'm really looking forward to a week off from school next week. The family is already looking forward to a full day at LEGOLAND, and I'd better start storing up energy now.