June 03, 2010

seventy dollars well spent

I choked a little... when we found out that the trading pins for Odyssey of the Mind were going to be $70. I felt a little better when they arrived... and saw how far the $70 had gone. So many of the pins were really cool... and when she pinned them all to her towel, I realized how heavy they were. Really heavy. At least I was not toting them to Michigan in my purse. And still... $70?


And then... we came upon a crowd of kids sitting in the grass under the trees. The breeze was blowing and the air was just about perfect. But these kids were not just enjoying the day... they were pin trading. Their towels were spread before them displaying their own treasure trove of pins... and before I knew it I was mesmerized by the process and totally in love with it. I was also kinda wishing we had bought a few more pins...






The pin trading continued all day... every day... into the evenings... and probably into the dark of night! But these kids weren't just trading pins... there were Hellos and Where are froms and Have you performed yets and Good lucks... and not necessarily in English, or even in words. What a way to meet people!
Laura came home with pins from Japan, Korea, Singapore, Poland, Mexico, Hong Kong... and a whole bunch of US states. But more than that... she came home knowing that she had made the most of her opportunity and met people from all over the world.
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8 comments :

Pam said...

That sounds amazing. Waaaay better than the pin trading at Disney any day of the week, IMO. Love it!!!

Busy Bee Suz said...

This is so wonderful. I am sure she will cherish them for a long time too.
We did this for some of our big softball tourneys...the kids just loved seeing all the different pin styles. It is a great way to meet others.

dawn said...

that's cool--my kids have loved trading Disney pins at the parks....but this sounds way cooler!

Dayle ~ A Collection of Days said...

How special is that? Such is the essence of memories.

paige said...

what a fun collection!!

Unknown said...

How fun is that Dawn! What a fun activity. Sometimes pricetags don't really matter at all. Look at what she got : )

Kelli said...

What an amazing experience!! I know you were so proud of Laura!!

jenn said...

Wow, what a super cool thing to do! Looks like she had lots of fun!

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