Just the Five of Us: Junior FLL Competition

Hannah and Joshua joined the Junior FIRST Lego League (JrFLL) team at Barnard during the 2013-2014 school year. The theme of the exhibition that year had to do with how to prepare for, stay safe during, and how to rebuild in the aftermath of a natural disaster. They enjoyed building Lego models of rescue scenes and learning about natural disasters with their friends. They got a visit from a local police officer who discussed with them what to do during a natural disaster. The real highlight of the season, however, was the exhibition at Legoland in Carlsbad in February of last year.

We had looked forward to this as a family trip since the start of the school year, but unfortunately Rebecca had to stay with Ivy in the hospital when she came down with RSV. I was so sad that my wife couldn't be with me and that our poor little newborn was suffering in the hospital. Hannah, Joshua and Eli had looked forward to this trip for such a long time, so we did our best to make the most of a difficult situation.

We got to the park early on a Saturday morning and got checked in for the exhibition. Half of the teams went to see the other teams' exhibits for about an hour and then they switched places to allow the other teams to view the exhibits. At the end, they had an award ceremony where the teams received ribbons and certificates for their participation. Joshua was on the Firestorm team with his first grade friends like Keenan and Hurley and Hannah got to be on the Lightning Legos team with her friend Isabella. After the exhibition was officially over at around noon, we were free to attend the park as regular guests.

The Firestorm Team

The Lightning Legos Team

I had each of the kids pose next to the Lego Star Wars character that they most closely identified with. Hannah chose Princess Leia because she was the only girl, Joshua chose the Ewok, Wicket, because he likes all things cuddly, and Eli chose Master Yoda because he thinks it's funny when I impersonate his voice.