I am finally back home from Ames, Iowa. WHAT a wild whirlwind of a trip! Ben's team was competing in the Odyssey of the Mind World Finals in Ames, Iowa at Iowa State University. I was really dreading going to tell you the truth. I mean...seriously...IOWA?! WHO in their right mind would want to go to Iowa?! The corn fields were certainly present. I mean...LOTS and lots of corn fields! But I have to say that I was genuinely surprised by everything else! Iowa was quite pretty. VERY very green. And the campus was just beautiful! I was dreading staying in the dorms after Michigan two years ago...but I was pleasantly surprised by the dorms. They were clean and reasonably nice. They reminded me a LOT of my dorm days at Florida State. The only bummer was that I had to go down one floor to use the bathroom. The only women's restroom was on the floor below us...but it wasn't a big deal really. The food was SO much better at this campus, the boys were two years older and we knew much better what to expect. All in all it was an awesome trip! Our boys totally rocked it also, placing 18th in the World Finals out of 52 teams. We were so proud of them! Here are some of the fun times in pictures!
Closing Ceremonies
Slope Sliding on their cardboard props...only kids from Arizona would love sliding down a grassy hill this much!
Sparklers in their p.j.'s
Corn field
At their competition performance with the team
Ben with his Hong Kong buddy after his buddy presented him with a t-shirt from their team!
2009 World Finalist TEam for Arizona Teach Yer Creature Division 1
Hong Kong Buddy Team with Ben's Team
Meeting the Hong Kong Buddy team for the first time
Ben makes his very first pin trade with a Hong Kong student...the first of MANY rounds of wheeling and dealing over pins!
What a fantastic and fun trip! My second trip to World Finals. Each year gets a little better!!!
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