Night Rocket

We survived Andrew's first pinewood derby.  Boy is this cub scout event intense.  You have to have it not too long, not too short, and just the right weight.  It's all official with a measurement and weigh in.  Andrew was super excited to race

He told Jeff what design he liked and exactly what he wanted.  Jeff had to take the heavy tools to cut it down to size but Andrew helped in the sanding and painting of the car.  Megan even got in the action helping add the rocket and stars.  Andrew's first idea was just plain black but then decided he needed more and that's where a helpful big Sister came in.

It was fun to see the family work so hard on the car and really hope they had the fastest one.  Andrew was so excited that when he got home from school he decided to test it out on the counter in the kitchen.  I tried to tell him not to play with it but I was too late.  It went sailing off the counter and crashed on the floor.  The result was the loss of a wheel and a bent rear axle.  He almost had a meltdown right then.

I don't think any of us were too happy with the damage that got done right before the big race but what do you do.  Jeff got home in just enough time to do a quick repair job but we did have one crazy rear wheel.

There were lots of men around to help get the race cars ready.  Some needed last minute adjustments.  We had one car that was a bit too heavy and had to have some wood cutting and so on.  After all was sorted out and the boys had their fun with the practice runs it was time for the real thing.

Andrew was so excited for every race he ran and he did pretty good.  We were probably towards the end of the pack as far as wins but that didn't matter.  He just wanted to race as many times as possible and loved hearing when it was his turn.

In the end we learned a lot about our first pinewood derby.  Andrew got the award for the most colorful.  He even got a gold trophy that he gets to keep.  Andrew had a blast with his night rocket car and can't wait to build the next one.  He already has some ideas of what he wants and we'll have to see if Jeff is able to pull them off.

Great time for the whole family.  The scouts do get to do some pretty cool stuff.  We are super happy for all that he is learning in scouts and how much fun he has.  We can't wait for the next big event.