Pinewood Derby

Oh, yes. The infamous Pinewood derby. The pinacle of Cub Scouts - the event of the year that everyone looks forward to...or at least that's what I'd heard. Our story goes something like this: 

Tate brings home this little box from Scouts. I'm not even sure what's in it until a couple nights before the initial "inspection." Hmmmm...a rectangular piece of pine wood {origins of the name Pinewood Derby, I presume}. Looks like there are some wheels and nails axels. Perhaps we should have opened this box sooner since we have to somehow shape this block of wood into a car and there are only three - yes, three - "axels."

Tate decides he doesn't want to participate, and I being the kind and caring mother that I am tell him, "Tough luck!" He's a Scout and as such he must compete in the Pinewood Derby. Okay, maybe not. I told him it was his choice. But I did remind him that we would be attending that Pack Meeting just like any other Thursday night, so he may feel left out while all his friends are racing their cars. After a bit of solitude and thinking about it, Tate emerged from his room ready to build a car.

I am one of those moms who thinks that the kid should do all the work. The pros reminded me that I might not want to take my sweet boy to the ER with a chopped off finger and suggested we help him cut the block into his chosen shape. So, Tate designed his car and...did I mention that we don't own a saw or any wood working materials? Oh, dear. Todd took him to a friend's house. I'm not sure what they used to cut this wood {some sort of saw}, but Tate was happy and that's all that matters. The night before the race Tate painted his car "colorful." Everything is colorful these days. He even wants a colorful Star Wars light saber. And you should see the colorful hat he had me make him. I digress. The car. It needed weights to make it fast. Super sast {that's not a typo, just a silly family joke}. Apparently you can buy special weights, but if you're using poor man's weights {ironically that would be quarters}, you can't attach them to the bottom of the car or it will scrape the track. So this is what Tate's car looked like on race night:

Each car was assigned a racing number and Tate's number was eight. Yep. Tate was eight. And he ate. It was great. You probly hate. This.

Quit rhyming and I mean it! Does anybody want a peanut? {name that movie!}

It was all a bit of a blur - just like this picture. They do everything so quickly! They just yell out the numbers, and Boom! They're off and yelling some more. {That's Tate's car in the middle, by the way}

As you may suspect, it was kind of intense around the track.

Tate after one of his wins

 

Did you see that?! This face right here is pure excitement!

Tate kept track of what place he got in each round and recited them to me.

We've documented them here for posterity {that's a joke, by the way}.

2-1-2-1-1-1-1-2-2-1-3-1

It was loads of fun and the cherry on top was the second place ribbon he got for his age group.  Way to go, Tate! I'm proud of you for doing your best and having fun with this project even though it wasn't something you were excited about at first. I'm glad you had so much fun with your friends!