Space Camp

 The kids had their first sleep-away camp experience this summer.  Brian and I decided to send them to Space Camp Robotics in Huntsville, Alabama.  We were all a little nervous because this was their first time away from home- and they were very far away.  I took me nine hours to drive to Huntsville.  All of our worry was for nothing, though.  The kids adjusted well to being away from us and had a a great time. 

 I dropped the kids off on Sunday.  After check-in, we headed to their dormitories to help them set up their bed.  Owen was in habitat 2, which was obviously the older of the dorm buildings.  He was in the Orion room with about fifty other boys. It sounds like he had a typical camp experience with other excited boys.  He said that some of them would cut up and make "pooting" noises after lights out and that counselors would have to come in a check on them with some frequency.  Good times.

 After setting up Owen's room, we headed to habitat 1 where Olivia's room was located.  Habitat 1 is the newer building and the rooms here are set up like suites.  Olivia shared a room with six other girls- all of whom were on her robotics team.  They had a nicely painted room, individual storage closets, and places to sit.  In other words, Olivia's room was much nicer than Owen's.  When we walked in, Owen was like "what the heck?"  Because her room was so much smaller, Olivia was able to develop friendships with her bunk mates more easily.  There's one friend in particular that she hit it off with, and they've even called each other twice since they've been home from camp.

 The kids participated in many space-related activities throughout the week, but the main task was for their team to develop robots that could accomplish a series of tasks.  The teams were set up like businesses who were trying to win a contract.  Olivia and Owen were both on team Gear, but were assigned to different parts of the overall task.  Olivia's robot had to push buttons while Owen's had to knock down a wall.  Other members of their team worked on additional parts of the overall task.  In the end, their team was successful and beat the other teams to win the contract. 

I liked that the kids worked with the Lego robotics system at camp.  They use VEX at school, and I think that it was good for them to have to try something new.  The camp also introduced the kids to binary code, working with drones, and working with SeaPerch underwater robots.  I thought that, curriculum wise, it was a very well-rounded camp program.  They also got to meet an astronaut, which is pretty cool.

 Both kids had their ipods with them and could use the Wifi to text me during their meals.  Owen apparently forgot this because he didn't send me a single message all week.  Thank goodness for Olivia- she sent me a message almost every day.  I missed them and kept wondering how things were going.  Hearing from Olivia was reassuring for me.  I think the kids took being away from home better than I did.  They may have been a little homesick at first, but got over it quickly once they got involved with all of the camp activities. Either way, I was glad when Friday arrived.  I drove back to Huntsville to attend their graduation ceremony and pick them up.  The graduation was held in the museum right underneath the Saturn V rocket.  The kids had their name called and walked across the stage where they received a folder which contained a photo of their team, a graduation certificate, and a discount coupon to register for next year's camp.  They both dug the coupon out first and handed it to me before we even left the building.  I think that's a hint that they want to go back next year.