Last night was Fuller's third and final Pinewood derby, next year he'll be too old. He was really hoping that the saying "third times a charm" would come true. Fuller has never done too well in the derby, having disappointing finishes the last two years. This year he was pretty hopeful, he is after all the oldest scout in the group, and it's his third attempt. He had a lot of fun building his car over in Grandpa's workshop, and was really proud of how it turned out. When watching the races it's sometimes a little hard to tell where you stand. They run MANY heats, placing different combinations of racers together and placing them in different lanes. Fuller's car had placed second in at least three heats, so he thought he might stand a chance of finally placing, and getting to go to districts, but in the end he came in 5th. Only the top three cars place and move on to districts. Ironically the first place finisher was the youngest scout present, a boy who has only been old enough to be a scout for about a month. Beginners luck I guess. I had been expecting him to be upset about how it all ended up, but he really showed his maturity. He enjoyed the races and seeing his friends, and even commented at how this had been his best finish ever. I'm really proud of him for keeping a positive attitude. He's such a neat kid!
Here's a little play by play of the race action.
An anxious Fuller waiting for the racing to begin.
Proper placement at the starting line is apparently very important.
You've got to line it up just right.
AND THEY'RE OFF!
The finish line is a hot spot! Unless you're a judge it's a little hard to get a good view.
Fuller and his fifth place car. Isn't that paint job awesome?
The design team of Fuller and Grandpa. They had fun building it and watching it race.
Poor Grandma and Grandma, the pinewood derby fell right between their birthdays, Grandpa's was on Monday and Grandma's is today. So instead of a real party they just got cake and then were carted off to a noisy gym full of cub scouts. We love them a lot and appreciate their being such good sports!
5 comments:
Oh, that picture of them blowing their candles is so cool!!! I love it. The pinewood derby has been a big thing in our house recently, too. Todd and the boys have been sculpting and painting some pretty impressive cars. I'm so excited for their first race. Fuller's car looked great!
the pinewood derby is definitely serious business (I have 4 brothers so I've been through plenty of those). But hopefully this won't have to be Fuller's last (well, maybe last official one). The YM/YW are having a pinewood derby this weekend. So maybe someday -- as long as he doesn't mind racing against girls. ;)
What a fun event and you got some great play-by-play pictures. Sorry he didn't place in the top 3 but man...that is one good lookin' car!
My husband was in a pine wood derby last spring with the elders quorum of our old ward. He placed second. I never knew there could be so much involved in the whole process! You should see the books he bought to make the "fastest" car :)
What a fun experience to design your pwd car with your grandpa! Maybe he'll have better luck when he gets to the YM/YW race:)
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