On your marks, Get set, Gooooooooooooooo!

Boys wait A LONG TIME for their first Pinewood Derby race.....

THE PREP WORK:I was pleasantly surprised to learn of John's interest, energy, dedication, desire, knowledge, and skill in building a Pinewood Derby car from start to finish. This year the race was turned into a ward event. EVERYONE and ANYONE could enter. We jumped on the band wagon and made four cars.....after all, not too often does a girl get to design and make a Pinewood Derby car. Oh no, it is strictly a Scout thing. John asked each kid to draw or find a car design they liked off the Internet. Then he cut out the general shape on my dad's fancy saw. The kids sanded, and sanded, and sanded until I could not believe it!!! They sanded several days in a row, after each application of primer, paint, etc. And then the sanded some more!!!! I cannot believe how far in advanced they began....close to 6 weeks before the race!!!! Way to no procrastinate dad. Then they painted, put on the decals and stickers they chose from Hobby Lobby, and finally they had to attach the "after market wheels" dad bought on-line. Blake wanted a blue truck. And he wanted the bed filled with clear marbles. White lightening turned out quite nice and in the end got the most creative car out of about 50-60 cars.

THE CONTENDERS: Kenzie's Flower Power car....complete with sun roof.Blake's White Lightening, top rear, and side. Seth's dinosaur/dragon slayer mobile. Brooke's Berry Cute Car.

FUELING UP BEFORE THE RACE: We had a yummy soup bar with rolls and dessert before the big race. Blake however, was WAY to excited to eat. I asked him what kind of soup he wanted and he said he'd eat later. He buzzed here and there around the track with his group of scout friends until they started calling out racers.

THE BIG RACE: Blake's car did quite well. He raced in four different heats and got 1st twice, 2nd once, and 3rd the last time. The ear-to-ear grin on his face each time he won was priceless. Brooke's car racing down the track in Lane 4!!! Kenz and Brooke were called up to race in the same heat.....the competition was more than Brooke could stand.Brooke's car was ahead all the way down and at the last minute Kenzie's car took the lead. They finished 1st and 2nd in their heat....a finish that brought tears to Brooke's eyes (she wanted to beat Kenz).When the races were over, just for fun, a loop was added to the track. Only cars of certain build could make the tight curve. Blake tried frontwards and backwards, but to no avail. Strawberry Shortcake made it to the top of the loop and dropped sending her sailing across the gym floor. Seth's Dino car was one of the few that could actually glide right through the loop without problem. So he did it again and again. His car was not the fastest by far, but he found great satisfaction in watching all his competitors drop like flies as his flew up and around the loop again and again! It was a great day! We can't wait until next year.