Pinewood Derby

 Cole has enjoyed Tiger Scouts (Boy Scouts- 1st grade level) for many reasons this year. One of them is the Pinewood Derby races.  This is of course a long standing Boy Scout tradition and one that has been going on for many many years! In fact I remember lots of years when my brother used to do it.  

Brendan and Cole had a great time together designing and building the car.  Everyone starts out with a block of wood and they get to design it the way they way. Cole wanted a race car inspired car- with a wing on the back and everything.   I was very proud of Brendan for working on this project- since he doesn't do wood work at all!

Brendan reminded Cole that they were doing this for fun and it would be great to win but not to count on it.  I think Brendan wasn't sure about how the car would turn out and didn't want to get Cole's hopes up too high!

 Once they had the car, they planned out the colors and the design. 

 Cole loves green and so he painted the car green. He also wanted flames on the front which he asked Brendan to point for him.  Also the number five which we are not sure why he chose it but whatever! 

 One tip that Brendan found was that it was allowed to "load" the car with lead weights.  The car can weigh up to 5 ounces and no more.  Cole's ended up being just shy of the perfect weight which I think helped a lot in the races.  Besides the weight requirement, the car also has to be a certain length and width.  There were so many different designs among the 35 cars-  the Black Pearl, an Angry Bird, the Yellow Submarine and lots more.  Very creative!

 Before races started, Cole had to sign his name to a form that said that he made his car himself (with a parents help of course) and that he would have good sportsmanship no matter what happened with the races.

 Pre race photo and then the car was "impounded".  Once it weighed in, we had to relinquish it so we couldn't make any other changes to it.  Very serious business.

 The track!  This thing is very cool.  It has sensors on the finish line so the computer system knows the exact time and who placed first, second, and third.  The computer system also randomized all 30+ cars so that everyone raced 9 times with different cars.  The time of each car was averaged and that is how they knew who would win overall.  Very good system I think.  I assume over the years at different locations they have had cheaters and poor sports who have made all of this technology necessary.  Oh well, it's more accurate any way!

 Cole and Caden had front row seats right by the top of the track.

 So excited!

 There goes Cole's down the middle!

 Excited he won.

 Here we go again!

Cole's car ended up doing really well and he was beyond thrilled. He was excited but didn't gloat.  I was really proud of him.  At one point when a friend lost a rac we saw Cole, unprompted, put his hand on the friend's shoulder and say, "It's ok."  

 Every time a race started all the boys shouted, "3..2..1...Go!!!"

 Getting the participation trophy was really cool.

What a good team!  Cole ended up winning for his den and coming in tied for 4th overall!  We couldn't believe it.  It's incredibly cheesy to say, but I loved watching Cole and Brendan work together and strengthening their bond together.  These are things Cole will remember!