Pinewood derby

Last year's pinewood derby occurred two weeks after Cole became a cub scout. Not having done one as an adult, J didn't realize how much work went into them (especially when you don't have the right tools and are left to carve the shape with a dull handsaw), so it was last minute when the boys put the car together. We scrounged around the house for things that we could tape to the bottom as weights just trying to get it finished on time. And the time we spent on it showed at the track when poor Cole Buddy didn't win a single race. So we've been talking about it all year about what we were going to do different this year and how we needed to leave adequate time to complete. We were given the kits a month ago and we started coming up with ideas, but you know, time is always scarce around here. The biggest concern again was that we just don't have proper tools to carve the car. I had seen some derby stuff and Michaels and decided to take Cole there for decals and other fun stuff. Well, we hit the jackpot. On clearance, Michaels had cars that were already carved for you, so the biggest obstacle was gone. So I picked up a few other things to decorate and a few sets of weights. Then J went and picked up another kit that is designed to make a speedy car, not to mention spent a lot of time on the internet researching how to make a fast car (for instance, he's read that most people think to put more weight in the front for faster takeoff, but it's actually better to weight the back to give it more speed). And I have to give J props because, as frustrating as it must have been, he did have Cole there with him every step of the way helping him make this car, so this really was not a mom and dad project (although I have to say I did provide the paint job, with lots of direction from Cole, as we were running out of time).

Our pack did a really great job, the cultural hall was decorated really cute and the kids each got a pit pass as they checked in their cars and everything.
The track we used was really cool. I don't know if they bought it or made it, but a sister from our stake primary presidency provided the track and was the judge to make sure it was all fair. Her track had a sensor in the finish line for each lane so it would begin timing as the cars were released and then it would sense when they crossed the finish line so we would know who really won. So then to make it really fair, each car raced on each lane six times (since each track always has a faster lane). The track was also hooked up to her laptop so the computer calculated the average time (and mph) of the car, which ultimately determined the overall placings.
If you see with the results, our hard work paid off as Cole came in third overall and (only lost one race). The kid who came in second place had the same average mph as Cole and only came in at 1/1000 of a second faster than our buddy. We had so much fun cheering him on and seeing him get so excited about winning. And then of course we had treats after, which Lindsay enjoyed the most I think.