Had to come up with some alliteration in my title for Scott and Mandy.
Yesterday was supposed to be our "down" day. No competition for Ethan's team. I spent the day playing taxi driver in the van, and I know the ISU campus pretty darn well by now. The kids spent the day buying souvenirs, swimming and attending the "Creativity Festival" which was a stadium full of fun activities and games. . .climbing walls, bouncy things, face painting, etc, etc. Ethan was so exhuasted he did not want to do any of it. He spent some time shooting hoops by himself, and we visited the NASA booth and stocked up on free stuff (read *souvenirs for the little kids that we didn't have to buy*). By the time we went to the "parade" in the coliseum at 7:30, Ethan and Lauren were totally ready to crash. They were both on the edge of tears with exhaustion, both not feeling well, and when the rest of the team suggested going out for ice cream they fell apart. The team was thoughtful, and decided to post pone ice cream and return to the dorms for bed. Fran just spoke to them and they are all doing much better after a good night's rest, and Ethan is happily leading the rest of the team around campus using his map reading skills (thanks, Grandpa!).
We're off to pick up some pharmacy items for some of the kids and make a stop at Panera (do the hotel people not know this coffee is just water??) and then spend the day playing taxi again. Hopefully tonight Fran and I will take Ethan and Lauren to a movie and just have some time together.
The kids do their spontaneous competition today at 2:13, so be praying for them. I'll try to update later.
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.