Weigh In

What? Our structure weighs 1.2 grams more than it did back in Maine? Hmmm……. And the competition floor is covered with artificial turf? Oh dear! How do we tap dance on that? Time to solve some problems once again!

Hi-ho Kermit the Frog Here!

Hey! Is that Kermit the Frog and Jim Henson? What are they doing here? We’ll leave this as a bit of University of Maryland trivia!

R & R

Spent Sunday morning catching up on our sleep (sort of!?), pin trading, and relaxing by the pool – thankfully the sun is out! Some got a little “pink” enjoying the very summer like temperatures. There are about 9,000 kids competing so with approximately 9,000 adults chaperoning the total number of people here is around 18,000! Amazing! Good thing we have matching shirts! There is even a coach’s competition that looked pretty fun!

Opening Ceremonies

At the opening ceremonies, all the states and countries send some children from OM to represent their country or state, to march in a small march around the stadium where it was held. There was a small OM clip about how Odyssey totally rocks!! After the March and clips, we were really tired and needed rest for the next day for the competition, so we all left. Some of the girls traded pins with a security guard and went back to the dorms sleepy and happy!
By Michaela Sprague

Pin Trading

In pin trading, what the teams do is they find someone who wants to trade with them and then trade the pins with each other. There are many pins from all around the world to trade with. All the teams are enjoying the trades because they learn new things the whole time! So far we only have a small collection of pins, about 5 or 6, but there are still many to collect and to trade while we are there!
By Michaela Sprague

Singing in the Rain!

While Coach Peabody checked the team in, the girls and moms spent time getting to know some of the other participants and dodging rain showers! By the time we found our dorm, we were thoroughly soaked to the skin so much so that it was comedic! We learned the shuttle bus routes, located the Student Union, tried out our “swiper” key cards, and arranged our rooms. Coach Peabody attended the Coach’s meeting and then brought the team up to speed on all the “doing’s” on campus. The University of Maryland is beautiful – lots of open green space, brick buildings, and fragrant trees. Let’s hope the sunshine returns tomorrow.

It's 4:30 a.m.!

Squeals of delight greeted a BIG white limousine, making our 4:30 a.m. departure time a bit easier to accept! What did the girls say was their favorite part of their "ride in style?" That's hard to say! Maybe it was the sparkling cider served in fancy glasses? Or the TV? Maybe it was the radio that the girls had full control of in the back? Or perhaps it was the rows of sparkly lights on the floor of the car...