First Lego League Regional Competition

 Nathan, Samuel and Elisabeth participated on a Lego League Robotics team this Fall with several of their friends from co-op. They were excited to show off their hard work at the Regional Qualifier at Bishop Kelley.

We spent a lot of time at the Toaster the week leading up to their competition. Nathan and Samuel especially are very hard workers who desire to do the best possible job. I love their enthusiasm and work ethic, but gosh it was a tiring week! We are all excited for the competition though. 

The kids ran through their presentation on Friday night before the competition to work out all the kinks. 

These three were ready for an exciting day on Saturday morning. 

Our prayer is always that these kids would shine for Jesus in whatever they do. I'm glad we are all unified in that goal among the team. 

The judging presentation was early in the competition, so they did a quick run through. 

The team presents an innovation project to the judges and also presents on their robot design. 

This year the theme was submerged, so the team's innovation project was a way to protect seals from getting injured or killed by boat propellers. They designed a buzzer inside a capsule that emits a sound to deter the seals. 

After the judging, it was time for the robot matches. Those are always stressful, because no matter how hard the team prepares, there's always something that doesn't go as planned. 

Their best run was their third match which landed them in sixth place overall. 

They regrouped and tried to improve after each match. 

They had some downtime too!

I think everyone was a little anxious for the awards ceremony. The team placed sixth out of thirty for their robot performance, but it was hard to compare in the other categories. We really had no idea how they performed compared to the other teams. 

We waited anxiously, while they announced every single award and never called Riptide's name. I kept thinking that they would place in a category. Their core values are awesome, I thought their innovation project was solid, their mentor said their robot was pretty innovative compared to the other teams. But no. We just kept waiting. As the awards continued on, I could tell the kids were pretty defeated, and I was feeling it too. We had hoped to advance to state and compete again. 

In my head I was thinking about the conversation in the car on the way home with some pretty sad kids- How could I encourage them, what lessons did they learn, etc. 

And then this happened!

They announced the very last award, one we were all sure we had no chance of winning, the champions award.

I recorded every other award, but then I stopped because I thought there was no way they'd win first place champions award. I'm so thankful another mom captured the moment. 

We were shocked -sure that a team who had one other first place awards, would win the first place Champions award. That moment of shock, pride, and joy will stick with our family for a long time. I love the genuine surprise on their faces. 

Then we heard the news everyone was hoping for- Riptide is going to STATE

Those kids worked so well together even through frustrations. They all prepared their speaking parts, coded and designed building attachments, and had the best attitudes and enthusiasm. I'm so proud of each of those ten kids and blessed that my kids could be on the team. 

We celebrated the big day with ice cream on the way home. 

WHAT.A.DAY