Tanner and Ashlyn do Science

Just before school let out for the summer I was presented with a flyer for a FREE Engineering and Robotics camp at ISU for students who just completed 7th or 8th grade.  Not only was the camp FREE, but they would come to Blackfoot and pick up the kids, feed them lunch every day, take them on a epic field trip to Utah and out to eat at a restaurant, and bring them home.  Not to mention learning about engineering and robotics and competing in fun games and challenges every day.  Of course, that sounded amazing and Zac and I convinced Tanner and Ashlyn that they needed to take advantage of this opportunity.  They were a little hesitant as it would require them to give up their first two weeks of Summer freedom and didn't necessarily sound like their idea of fun.  So we talked cousin Garrett into coming to live with us for a week and participating in the camp, which made it so much more fun.

The second week of camp was learning about robots and how to build and code them.  Each of the students were placed in teams of 2 and Ashlyn and Tanner stuck together to form an awesome partnership.  For the final task they had to build a robot and program it to pick up sponges and put them in baskets.  They were trying to work with another team to get a tic-tac-toe in three baskets in a row and were working against two other teams to get the most tic-tac-toes.  The twins didn't win this particular competition, but we were amazed at the robot they were able to build!

It was so amazing to see how smart they were with all that they accomplished.  

Ashlyn and Tanner placed 2nd place in one of their robotics competitions where they had to program a robot to accomplish a certain task.

And Tanner placed first in an engineering competition where he had to build a bridge to hold the most amount of weight with the materials he was given.

Ashlyn was one of only 3 girls to participate in the camp and her attitude was so positive and she made the absolute best of every situation.  By the end of the camp she had several boys asking for her phone number, sending her notes, and bringing her cookies.  And I can't blame them... she is one cute and very smart girl.  We are so proud of these kids!