Seattle Robotics

Last weekend was the robotics competition in Seattle.  Matthew is the head programmer ~ the only programmer really ~ and he did a great job.  The robot kept having problems so they would do well 1 match, then nothing the next.  It was a little frustrating for the team, mostly making dumb errors that could have been avoided.  The easy one to blame is the programmer... so Matthew was under a lot of pressure and after working so hard for weeks and weeks most nights til the wee hours of the morning {on school nights} and getting up for seminary the next day at 5:30... he was on the breaking point.  He handled the stress well and Kurt made sure he was there to stand by him and stick up for him.  This year there are more mentors on the team than ever before, which is great, but a little intimidating for Matthew when 5 or 6 grown men are all asking him what went wrong all at once.  So Kurt made sure he was there to point out what went wrong just about every time ~ hardware problems, not software.  So yay for Kurt being an awesome dad!  : )  Our robot is awesome and when it works, it's a lot of fun to watch.  We were picked for the final matches, but didn't make it out of the quarter-finals.  One thing I love about the program is how they teach the kids good sportsmanship.  In the pit {where the teams all work on their bots} if any team needs a battery, wires, tools, etc the other teams jump to help.  Our team made 5 or 6 phenomenal minibots and gave out most of them to teams that didn't have one.  As a result those teams did really well, some winning the whole thing.  There are 3 awards given out at closing ceremonies that send you to nationals ~ Regional Engineer Inspiration award, Rookie All-star, and the Chairman award.  Because of our minibot design and helping other teams, our team won the Regional Engineer Inspiration award!  So April 26 Kurt, Matthew and I head to St. Louis for the national competition.  I was on the fence about going because the day after we get back Kurt and I head to Disneyland with our friends for a week... but it's Matthew's last year and I think it'll be a fun time with my boys.  I can nap on the plane right? 

Here are some pics of last weekend...

 Hard at work...

 Matt & his friend Jordan

 Our team was the largest and the kids all wore capes.  It was fun to see the yellow capes all over the stadium
{with Matthew's logo!  : }

 Watching a match

 The pit

 Workin' hard

 Off to the next match

Kurt and Matthew are down in Portland right now getting all set up for tomorrow and Saturday's competition.  We head down Friday morning with my parents, sister and nephew on the train.  It's always a fun, exhausting trip but I'm looking forward to a little vacation.  Go Bear Metal!