Pinewood Derby

This year, as in years past, we got a late start on pinewood derby cars. We started thinking about it well in advance, but we were so busy that we didn't start fabrication until two days before the event. This year Trevor was able to participate (since he goes into Cubs this year), so we had two cars to build again.

On Tuesday Kaden and Trevor looked on the internet to find a car design they liked. When Chad got home from work, they cut the design out of the block of wood. Next came the weights. The weights are always odd shapes, so this year Chad decided to melt the weights. That way they would fit the car perfectly. The boys really liked the melting process!

Once the weights are on board the cars are ready for paint. Chad and the boys have the process down to a science. They suspend the car in the air by a nail attached to a string. Then the car can be completely painted and left to dry in one fell swoop!

On Wednesday the wheels were attached. This process is very delicate. You don't want to mess up the nails. If you do the car won't run smoothly.

The final step before putting the car away for the night was making sure the car drives straight. Trevor's car did well, but Kaden's car needed some tweaking. After several attempts his car was ready to race!

Thursday was the Pinewood Derby. The boys were very excited and wanted to play with their cars. Kaden knew not to touch his, but Trevor did not. Trevor picked his car up played with it a little, that is, until he dropped it. Luckily, not much damage was done. We had to re-test the wheels, but then it was good to go.

When we got to the church the boys headed over to the weight check. We weren't worried because we checked the weight at home on our scale (but scales can be different). Trevor's car was the first to be weighed. It was almost a pound over weight (they can only be five ounces). Chad wasn't at the church yet, so I got a little nervous when they asked me if we could take any of the weights off. Remember, Chad melted the weights. Next, Kaden's car was weighed and it too was a little over weight. Luckily, when Chad arrived he had his drill with him. He was able to use the drill to fix the weight problem. That was close, nice save Chad!

Everyone was really looking forward to this year's race because we got a nice new shiny track! The old one was wooden and, I believe, over eight years old. It was time for an update. The only down side was the boys weren't allowed to touch the track. In previous years, when a boy was to race he was expected to get his car and place it on the track, then an adult would release the cars and the race would begin. This year the adults did everything. The boys weren't as involved, so it wasn't as exciting as for them. Don't get me wrong, they still enjoyed racing their cars, they just missed being able to do that part.

A nice feature of the new track was the screen that told us who was racing and who would be next. It made the race a little more exciting and easier to follow. The boys always knew when their car was going to race. Kaden and Trevor both did very well. They both made it into the final round.

They had tough competition in the final round. Ironically, it was made up of six boys from three families (two boys from each family)! Again, the boys did really well. Kaden ended up coming in first place and Trevor came in fifth place. Trevor was a little disappointed with his place, but when we reminded him that he beat out boys who had been in cub scouts for a while he got excited!

Congratulations Kaden and Trevor!

When the race was all over the Cub Scout leaders let the siblings race. Tanner brought one of his old cars so he could race Kaden and Trevor. It was a fun little rivalry! There were happy faces all around. What a fun night!

One, two, three Monroe Boys!