Our friend Laura at the DigIn! community garden also leads a local bird watching group. They go out to this open pubic space in the Burnsville area that is being developed by local authorities as a sports complex for families. We decided to join the birding enthusiasts to learn about birds around here. The hummingbirds have stopped coming to the feeder- I guess they have migrated- but we do hear and see many birds around our cabin, especially in the morning. So far, we haven't spotted a red cardinal on our road, named the same, but we hope to one of these days! Anyway, walking with the birders was an interesting experience. They were very knowledgeable and happy to share their knowledge and expertise with us beginners! We spotted pigeons, song sparrows, Carolina wrens, and maybe a couple of jays. And we got to visit a "new" part of Burnsville- the Sports Complex, which we think we will use more when the weather gets warmer.
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We are thankful to be where we are right now- and thankful for this special year which we will always have fond memories of. We woke up to a white thanksgiving morning. A big blanket of perfect snow had settled down over night. It was really powdery, not so great for snowballs, but definitely a win for sledding. Ri made a SAS snowman and we went up and down the hill dozens of times. We even had a family sledding race, which unfortunately Mom and Dad won. At around four o'clock we went down to Keith and Angela's place. They had very graciously asked us over for dinner. It was wonderful to meet new people and talk to everyone. The dinner was delicious! There was all the Thanksgiving favorites, gravy, mashed potatoes, stuffing, corn casserole, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce and of course a big turkey! Overall it was a great first Thanksgiving in the U.S.A.
Aneka performed as a "Hotbox Dancer Doll" and "Crapshooter" during performances of Guys and Dolls, Jr at the Parkway Playhouse Theater. She's been a part of the local junior theater, since we arrived in the area back in August, and is loving being a part of this community! Aneka has been in musicals before in Shanghai and has enjoyed the singing and acting. This time, she had the chance to learn some dance too! The two shows went really well, and was enthusiastically received by the audience. The musical, which is a classic that dates from 1950, was both funny and sweet. Our favorite song was "A Bushel and a Peck", which has a special significance for Aneka since her grammy has been singing that to her since she was little. The hard work of weeks of rehearsals paid off- it was a pretty slick production! Well done, everyone! The show will now be condensed into 15 minutes (!) to be entered in the Junior Theater Festival in Atlanta, GA, in January! So, the show goes on...More on that later! The day has finally arrived! After an early start in the super cold (my water bottle in the car froze overnight!), we arrived in Boone, all ready to go. Aneka and Rigel's team were amongst the first to present their project, their robot design and answer the judges' questions and play a co-operative game. This part was done behind closed doors. Then, after lunch break, the robot rounds started where they got to show off what their robot could do! The more challenges they meet in 2 1/2 minutes the more points they score.There were 17 teams from all over Western North Carolina. Unfortunately, their robot didn't do half as well during the competitive rounds as it had been performing during practice rounds. The team was a little bit disappointed but they kept up their good attitude. The three robot rounds were soon over and the judges started to give out awards, trophies and certificates. Time went by and hopes of winning something were diminishing,and everyone was thinking that they might have won something but in any case, the experience was a valuable lesson in itself... Then, the last award of the afternoon- the FLL Championship award- was announced. This award was for a team who had, maybe not excelled in any one category but had consistently done well in all! It was the Crazy Constellations- their team! There was much excitement and emotion. This means that they are automatically in the next level up- the state FLL tournament will be held in Greensboro, NC, in January! Way to Go, Crazy Constellations! So, this week, the excitement is robots! The First Lego League competition is in Boone this Saturday, November 15th. Aneka and Rigel are participating in a Burnsville team, called Crazy Constellations. There are three parts to the FLL: Core values and teamwork, project and research and of course, robot design and programing. Here is a link to the official website, which explains more, including their challenge: http://www.firstlegoleague.org/challenge/thechallenge A part of their project is to present their research on the challenge, which this year is "World Class". "Your Project mission this season is to find a better or more innovative way to help someone learn." With this is mind, Crazy Constellations decided upon a question so that they could find an innovative way to teach the answer. Their question was: How do the constellations change positions in the sky during the different seasons? And to help answer this question they had the idea to enhance an already existing app (SkyView) to teach about the constellations. They decided to present their idea through a Fashion Show- of the Stars! Yesterday, the team went to several local schools and churches in Burnsville, to present their idea and to practice answering questions from the audience before they present to the judges on Saturday. I wanted to post a short movie I made about their presentation but its taking forever to upload onto YouTube so here are some photos instead- for now! |
The Happer'sHi! This is Preeti, Jim, Rigel, Luna and I (Aneka). We have recently left our home in Shanghai, China to Somewhereinthemountains, North Carolina. Preeti and Jim are both international school teachers and Rigel, Luna and I are homeschooled. Categories
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