Patrick

just now adam was really smart and tried to lock the door by unlocking it LOL!!!! Today we did our main challenge. Our structure was over weight be cause of the humidity. Next time we will bring a hair dryer to take out moisture!

More Practicing

Practicing in the belly of the beast

We are practicing our skit before competition.

Another Early Morning

Cecilia, Mary and Kelsea decided to watch the North Platte team. We are preparing for breakfast, a walk to the Knoxville Convention Center and then some enjoyable Improv.

Question, "How do you stop a mad improv team from attacking?"

Answer, "Throw a random element at them."

;-)

Mike

Thursday Wrap-Up

Here are the pictures for the costume ball.

Costume Ball

In this set of pictures are pictures taken by Mary (Who agreed to post to the blog in agreement for the use of the camera. I did not make her blog. I entered into a binding verbal agreement for the trading of services. Hmmm, I wonder if I should consult a lawyer on this ;-)

I took the pictures at the Costume Party including the pictures of the Flintstone's car. This was made by a team and brought to the costume ball. It was very well made.

Our team presents our solution for Central Challenge tomorrow.

- Mike

Im only blogging because mike made me.

ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.... lots of trading stuff and yeah um im meating people all around the world its really cool and i saw a team from china that were competing against us it was VERY cool so im very exited.

-mary

<<((--__--))>>

today for breakfast we had french toast.then we went and did our instant challenge. after ur instant chalenge u do a tada which is a little skit thing for like the end of the year. after that we had lunch. after lunch we looked over our props for 2morow and saw a few high school challenges. then some of us went pin trading and I went with 2 others peoples to go swimming. the pool was filled up on monday so it was FREEZING!!!!! after swimming we went to trade more pins. then we had dinner. and then we went to the costume ball (more of a party) at the party they played some recordings and then they had a live band come on the stage and play. then i came back did homework for like 15min and the went and got a snack and now i am blogging about blogging


<<((--__--))>>
-Chao (aka, bye) =)

Patrick

Today at lunch the whole group sang happy b-day to me. Then at dinner the whole cafeteria sang happy b-day to me i also got all the muddy water pins done! We went to see some challenges and I thought that the mystery one was the best. We had our Costume Ball tonight at 7:30 to 9:30. I was the first one in our team to complete the muddy water set!! =)

Our team is somewhere in there

Preparing for the Costume Ball

Now the team prepares for the costume ball. The team is making final adjustments to their duct tape costumes.

Lea has agreed to braid hair.

The adults will chaperon the team tonight.

Patrick's Birthday Supper

To follow-up on Patrick's lunch, Kelsea, Mary, and Cecilia talked to everyone in our cafeteria. They asked the whole room to sing "Happy Birthday" to Patrick.

From Patrick's Birthday

Patrick's Birthday Lunch II

Patrick's Birthday Lunch

This picture and the story behind it embody the week we had.

Jim Brunner (aka Superman)decided around 11:00 PM on Wednesday night. Wednesday night after walking all over Knoxville and campus, that is after Opening Ceremonies, to walk to downtown Knoxville to find candles for Patrick's birthday.

At lunch, Jim placed a brownie with matches on it in front of Patrick. No candles were found last night but in true DI fashion, Jim crafted "candles" from matchsticks.

We all sang happy birthday to Patrick with a few other DI'ers from surrounding tables joining us.

Mike

Mary's favorite hat

Patient parenting

More adjustments

Back at the prop are

The team is making final adjustments to their props.

Scenes from the Instant Challenge

Tada

Pin Trading

So far, who is enjoying pin trading the most?

Mary's First Trade

From Luke and Anna

Hi Mom and Adam! We are going to be there at about 8 pm on Friday night! See you there!

Instant Challenge Morning

The team will leave at 7:30 AM with some of the parents. The parents were offered to have this morning to themselves. However, I already met a few them in the bathroom this morning (obviously Ted and Jim).

Mary and Kelsea are awake noticing the "hamster in our door". We (Cecilia and Mike) have a hamster in door.

Hamster in the door

Our paperwork is ready.

Instant Challenge Morning and Paperwork

We eat at Strong Hall this morning.

And we are wearing our Irving DI team t-shirts (good idea, Mary, Kelsea and Jim).

Mike

Last post of the night (before it becomes morning)

Mary and Lea arrived safely.

I have attached another set of pictures from earlier this morning.

Wednesday

The pictures start with the team meeting kids from South Dakota in search of the elusive Muddi Waters' pins.

Followed by Patrick and a Powerade concoction created by Patrick.

Next is a series of maps of Knoxville that mimic micro-chips. These are found in the Knoxville Convention Center.

Finally, a Patrick of Patrick before Opening Ceremonies.

Also, the new look and feel of the blog is courtesy of Mary.

Comments from Megan after Opening Ceremonies

I apologize. This video is very uneven. It was filmed as we walked.

Megan after Opening Ceremonies

Comments from Adam after Opening Ceremonies

Adam after Opening Ceremonies

Kelsea

hmmmmmmmmm what to write. I am enjoyng looking over my pins. I have some of the greatest ever. I traded one of my two California pins for two a Guatemala pin, (the kid I traded with was nice and gave me an extra pin) the Guatemala pins are cool because they are all home-made and there are dolls and beaded animals, and they are vary cool. And then after opening-ceremony I found another Californian and got another geetar pin. Opening ceremony was cool, it was fun to see everyone in one place. I have been meeting a ton of people from various areas like turkey and Guatemala and Colombia( the colombia kids gave me some yummy coffe flavored candy). I am oober excited abbout our competition because we went to go see the place where we will be competing and It is huge and amazing and we blew up balloons for our backround, and the greatest news of the day..... I MADE THE MOST AMAZING CAPE EVER!!!! I found a trashbag and was wearing that untill we went ack to the dorms and I wanted to decorate my cape so I trimmed the edges with purple and green duct-tape and then I put a big DI on the middle. It is super cool looking and I wore it around all day and to the ceremonies and dinner and the pep-rally. We also started shouting GO BIG REEDDDD when ever a nebraska team was near, it was more fun when we got a GO BIG RED in return. We have certainly had an exciting day. and good night.

<<((--__--))>> <<((--__--))>>








HURAY!

(Adam) <<((--__--))>>

first today we went pin ttrading and then we ate break of the fast andthen we went swimming and right after that pin trading and lunch.i have all of the muddy waters except iowa, illinois, and montana. i hope to get them all 2morow so then i dont have to keep on looking for them. they would probably become hard to get after 2morow. fyi muddy waters r little guitar pins from 9 diferent states: nebraska, iowa, illinois, minnesota(go vikings!) , montana, missouri, north dakota, south dakota, and wisconsin. then we went to dinner and then straight to opening ceremonies. there were movies, fireworks, people talking (duh) and they had a handful of people from each country/state come and walk around on the floor of the basketball court. THIS STADIUM IS THE BIGGEST I HAVE EVER BEEN IN! NO JOKERING AROUND, THIS PLACE MORE GINORMOUSLYHUMOUNGOLYHUGERLYSUPERLYBIGGERESTAWESWOMELYBIGGERESTGIGANTORLYHUMONGOLYAMAZ-
INGLYBIGGERLYHUGENORMOUS! (if you can read that i am amazed.) well good bye!
<<((--__--))>>

Patrick

Today I got one of 150 pins made. It is a dancing lion that is orange! We had our opening ceremony that was cool but also boring. I like the Pewter Pins which are really cool. People on my team and other people say that I have the most Pue3ter (i am to lazy to delete Pue3ter. I meant to say Pewter.) pins that they have seen. The fire works at the ceremony where really cool!

Confetti at the end

Minutes before

Before Opening Ceremonies

Opening Ceremonies

Have a super time at Opening Ceremonies! Tristan and I will be watching for you!

Megan and Ted arrive

I received a call from Ted and Megan. They are in Knoxville.

Nebraska Crew

Nebraska team managers at the Team Manager meeting.

Pep Rally

Well, this is not the pep rally. It is the team manager's meeting :-(.

The rest of the crew is attending the "fun" pep rally.

Mike

Pictures from Patrick's phone

These pictures are primarily from the bus trip so they are out of order with regards to date and time.

They are still fun.

Patrick

It would seem from the last few pictures that Patrick likes trees and making faces.

For Kent

Trading pins with the Korean team.

Muddi Waters' Jam in the Knoxville Convention Center

Team at the Prop area

This is the team at the prop area.

Adam eating at Smokey's

Adam likes Smokeys the best

Scenes from the pool

Here are some videos of the kids enjoying the pool.

Diving in Knoxville

Heading North to Go South

Megan and I are up, the coffee maker with automatic timer has performed its magic, and we're off to the Lincoln airport and ready for leg one of our route to DI (Lincoln Airport to Minneapolis-St Paul naturally). See everyone soon.

Patrick's pins and his room

Here are Patrick's favorite pins.

I am also very impressed with Patrick and Adam's room. It is very neat and well maintained.

Patrick's Pins

View from the registration area

This is a major area of pin trading. This is also where the pizzas are being delivered.

From Wednesday Cut 2

Adam comments on DI

From Wednesday Cut 2

2000 pizzas

At registration, DI was serving Papa John's pizza. I was curious as to how many DI ordered so I asked.

Here is the response

Pizza Interview

It is so much fun here. I had forgotten how exciting it is here! The dorms are really different for the hotel. Here is a summary of our day. We woke up in Tennessee! After driving a little bit we were in Nashville. We ate breakfast and got back on the rode again. After a long time we arived in Knoxville! We checked in, witch took hours, and went to our dorms. Then we checked out the swimming pool and went back to get our swimming suites. On the way there we ran into my dad Mike who had shown the driver his room he said we should eat then go swimming. So we went back to the dorms and got our pin books and went to dinner. After dinner we came back to our dorms and got our swimming suits on and went swimming. We all jumped off the hight diving bord except the parents. After we swam we traded pins. It was a great day. I can't wait tell opening ceremonies.

Dorm Life

Folks,

Here is dorm life in all of its resplendent glory -

Dorm

No wi-fi. I am still existing on Steve Kiene's generous donation of his Verizon card. The beds are not made. I made both of ours (very nicely, I might add).

There are loud and obnoxious kids running the halls (curfew is at 9:00 PM).

Despite it all, it is wonderful. We are on campus and in the heart of everything.

It is great.

There is no turning back Lea, Ted, Mary and Megan ;-).

Patrick

Coment from Adam: "drinking foutain on our floor tastes bad."

In the dorms the pillows are plastic! The covers are really hard to get on. I got some really nice pins. Some weird teenagers are howling to be "cool." It is really annoying. There are a lot of bird calls i don't know if they are people or real animals. There is only a TV down on the first floor. I wish that they were also in the rooms. There is no radio or entertainment in the rooms also (besides my DS and other people's electronic devices).

From Adam

we started pin trading today! i have a ton of new hampshire pins and 2 muddy waters. 2mrw i am hoping 2 get some intrenational pins. i have 1 '08 pin from china w/ the great wall on it. it is cool. the dorms we r in dont look very bad not (nescerarily good) but they dont look 2 shabby. were on the 7th floor of 8. but a really nice thing is the curfew inside the courtyard is 9-9 so pchycho high schoolers cant wake us up when ever. and the pillows that they give you fell like the stuff the dentist's put on you, the little bib thingermabobs. OH! it is 9:07 and i just heard some pychos again. hopefully they will be taken care of (dun dun dundun) well c yall later! <<((--__--))>>

Kelsea Interviews

I tried creating an uploading a video. I hope you enjoy it.

From Kelsea interviews

Comments and Pictures

I located a few more pictures.

I also changed the settings for comments. Anyone can add a comment, so please add comments. I will read them to the team.

More Pictures

I apologize for the blurry ones.

Even More Pictures

Nashville

89 people descended upon a McDonald's outside of Nashville. We were minutes from the airport so Kristin and crew, and Lea and Mary, the crew awards the McDonalds on exit 216 a big thumbs up.

Jim, Patrick, Cecilia, Kelsea and I walked to a gas station advertising a "deli". We award the "deli in a gas station" a big thumbs down.

Kelsea purchased a syruppy chocolate milk (480 calories).

I snaped a few more pictures.

I changed the comments' settings. Anyone can post. You do not need to login. I will read comments to the kids.

Bus 3

Adam

we r watching some movie about a river and stuff . i am getting bored. i have nothing to do. i am really hungry really

Patrick

Well we are in tennesse and the bus is cold by the window but warm by the aile. We are watching The River Goes Through It. So far so good. It is kind of violent but it is about two brothers they like to fly fish. One day I will learn to fly fish. Tennesse has a lot of trees by the roads. uh oh! Some one got pulled over by a cop car. Darnet my DS is dead. We are going over bridges and they are very bumpy. We just got in Nashville YAY!!!!

hi, we are in TN. yea! we are watching a river runs through it. It is 6:35 in the morning, no one got a good sleep on the bus we all woke up with sore backs and excitement to be closer to our destination. excitement was aroused early this morning when we drove by the St.Louis arch.

Tennessee

"Tennessee, Tennessee, there ain't no place I'd rather be,
Baby won't you carry me back to Tennessee."

We crossed into Tennessee 30 minutes ago. The bus stopped in a rest area. Tennessee is a gorgeous tree happy state. It makes for great traveling but poor cel connectivity.

We have one breakfast stop and roughly 4 1/2 hours of driving.

After approximately 5 hours of sleep, the DVD player is running, Nintendos are nintendo'ing and with a litle luck batteries are charging. I should be able to share more pictures soon.

Mike

from <<((--__--))>> (adam and patrick)

Adam
now we are watching National Treasure number 3.next er are watching elf. not much has happened yet it is still light 'cause we r going east so it is not dark.

Patrick
Well ummm...... I am listening to my mp3 player and playing the DS. It is very boring in the bus. I want to play mario kart but i dont know anyone that owns it. The little <<(-_-))>> adam made is supposed to be yoda. It is 7:59 and we just hit a really bumpy spot. OH! We picked up a Plattsimth team in Plattsimth common sence to pick up plattsmith team in plattsmith. LOL (for you people that dont know what lol is it means Laugh Out Loud just a FYI) ( if you dont know what FYI means then you are a lost soal. FYI mean for your information) Oh it 8:04 and another big bump in the road. Dang potholes!!! Everyone tell your "friends" about this blog.

From Kelsea

We are sitting on a bus watching National Treasures, and playing Mario Kart with a team from North Platt. We have been riding for around three hours and we are now in Missouri. We really like the bus, its "awsome" but a bit chilly. We are all very excited and cant wait to get there, I wonder if anyone is going to sleep tonight.

From the Bus

Well, I had hoped to have a bit more battery but it appears that my plans to pull juice from the bus did not work.


Oh well, here are some pics from the bus.

Bus to Globals

Irving DI Parents

As our team prepares to compete at Global Finals, I'd like to thank our parents. You have all been wonderful and have been very open to every twist and turn that participation in Destination ImagiNation entails.

You have also helped to ensure that our first year of DI at Irving has been a resounding success.

But more importantly, by allowing and supporting your children in this endeavor, you have given them a very special gift. Global Finals is an amazing experience. As much as your children have grown through this year, expect them to continue to grow this week in Tennessee.

I can't wait to hear their tales!

The Adventure Begins!

Part of our team left Irving today just before 5 pm. They met several other middle school teams, and they are all traveling to Knoxville together. Energy and enthusiasm were high!

Safe travels everyone.