I'm in Ames, Iowa with Ethan and the Chattanooga Christian School Odyssey of the Mind World Finals. It was a very busy day yesterday, but we survived it. We left at 1:30 Tuesday afternoon and drove to Champaign, Illinois, where we spent the night. Left there around 8 am Wednesday morning, ate lunch at the World's Largest Truck Stop (which has a mall, a dentist, a theatre, a barber and so much more), and arrived in Ames at around 4. Wendy got us registered while the kids went bizerk trading pins and meeting other kids from around the world. Then we checked the kids into their dorms. . the two teams are staying on opposite sides of campus, so it took longer than we had hoped, but eventually got everyone where they belonged. They also had different dining halls to which they were assigned, and since the Jungle Bloke coaches had not yet arrived (they were flying in later due to 5th grade grad), Francois Edwards and I became temporary coaches in charge of getting the Jungle Blokes to their dining hall, fed, and to the coliseum where the Opening Ceremony took place. The Opening Ceremony resembled that of the Olympics, and Ethan was one of the two kids from his team who walked with the TN reps in the opening parade. It was big and loud and crazy, but the kids had a good time. Myra, Alice and Tony got stuck in St. Louis and didn't arrive til around midnight, so the kids had a party at Wendy's dorm until they arrived. Fran and I got checked in to our hotel around 11, and collapsed in exhaustion.
The kids are all doing well, being well behaved and good ambassadors. Elijah Lubben was sick most of the evening, but everyone else is okay, so far. Right now Fran and I are off to the campus, and will return sometime tonight. If there is time I will try to update then.
Ta ta for now.
Posted by willa at Mayo 25, 2006 11:19 AM | TrackBack