The Derby

Oh my goodness, there has been a lot of excitement at our house these past couple of weeks.  It all started when Tanner brought home a Pinewood Derby kit.  Oh, what sunshine filled our souls.  Poor Tanner missed the Pinewood Derby when we lived in Rigby because he wasn't quite 8 yet, then we moved to Shelley... into a ward who had already just held their Pinewood Derby and when the next one was coming up, we moved again... into a ward that just held their Pinewood Derby.  So here we are with Tanner almost 10 and his first chance at the good 'ole Derby.  Don't know which of my boys was most excited (and that includes their dad!)

The first thing Tanner did when he got home with his kit was to take everything out of the box and begin to pound the wheels with axels into the wooden block... and soon the spot for the axels on the block was chipped away and would no longer hold the wheels correctly.  Zac couldn't fix it without making the car "illegal" so Ian became the proud owner of his own Pinewood Derby car (slightly destroyed, but still functioning) and I had to head into the Scout office to buy a new kit.  This time it was opened under parental supervision and Tanner spent several nights with his dad designing and building his Fire Chief Pickup Truck.

At the Derby

This is getting ridiculous, but I can't stop posting Bronson's "Me Cheese" pictures that occur every time I whip out the camera.  I just can't throw them away.  His little chocolate brown eyes melt my heart (and also make me crave chocolate).

Ian also decided that pickup trucks were the way to go and was very hands on in helping his dad build his derby truck.  I laughed when I realized that he had matched his clothes to his truck for the big race day.

Weigh-in is a scary time because we don't have the proper scale at home to weigh the truck.  We found out that we were 1/4 of an ounce over (not bad for guessing) and we easily fixed the problem by removing some accessories.

Does he look excited or just slightly scary?

The finished product

Though Ian couldn't legally race, the scout staff was good to let him test his truck out on the track a few times and at the end of the race, he got to run it against the other boys in a loop d' loop competition.

Bronson was mesmerized by the whole event.

Tanner was on the edge of his seat.

Lining up for the big race

And watching as they came down the track.

Each car/ truck/ vehicle got to race a total of 8 times and then the times were averaged together to determine a winner.  Though Tanner didn't win overall, he didn't do bad and even won his heat 3 different times and second in his heat 2-3 times.

And though the girl's didn't quite get as "into" it as the boys, we all still enjoyed the all you can eat cookie buffet at the end.  Scouting is great!