Our First Time

It was our first time.  We were new to the Derby. 

Friday night....8:00 p.m.  Pajamas on...everyone upstairs and into bed.  Pinewood Derby competition to be held the next day....weigh in is at 9:00 a.m. sharp.  One of the rules is that cars are not allowed to weigh over 5 ounces. 

Kevin and Ethan had been working on the car for several weeks...sanding, painting, and decorating.  On Friday night they added the final touches, the wheels and weights. 

The boys were in bed and asleep by 9:00 p.m.  Kevin and I settle in for a quiet evening.

Kevin places a call to his brother to chat cars  John has two sons of his own and a shelf of Derby trophies to go with them.  He is the go to man for Derby information.

Kevin:  Yeah, we're done.  It's painted, wheels on, graphite on the axles and tires, per your instructions.  What?  How much does it weigh?  Oh, we have it up to 3 ounces. (Long Silence) Oh.

Kevin ends the call and informs me, "John says we can't go to bed until we have it weighing 5 ounces."

The scramble begins.  We have no weights.  Quarters are heavy, but we don't have a drill bit to drill into the car without putting a hole through it.  My earrings don't weigh enough to merit dismantling them.  Batteries....no.   Magnets.....no.   Luckily when we purchased our house we also purchased a large cabinet full of random screws, nails and washers.  Therefore Kevin, power tool in hand, drilled screws and washers into the rear of the car.  It worked!!

The results...first place.  Ethan was so excited to win each race that I got a little teary eyed.  It's nice to see your child so elated that they are jumping out of their skin.  In each race, the car was so heavy in the back it almost did a wheelie down the track.  Everyone said, "Watch that blue car."

Here's to you Uncle John!  Thanks for the advice.  We couldn't have done it without your help. 

Parade of Champions

Ethan's Shuttle

Celebrating with Ben