Pinewood Derby

Lately, (and by lately I mean for the last few months or so), there's been so much going on. I do not have the energy or strength to think through very much or plan our events...but somehow they just appear. This past Sunday a friend asked if there would be a good time to call this week, and I thought, "well anytime!" But between that thought and Monday morning, somehow every morning has been scheduled, along with most of the afternoons and some evenings. How did that happen? I really don't know, but I am thankful. God has filled our lives with good things.

I am grateful to God also for making sure Mac has been attending his AWANA meetings in the midst of all of our eventfulness. The other week when I picked Mac up, I heard them discussing the pinewood derby. Pastor Bobby, who leads our AWANA group, was kind enough to give us a kit and even cut the car for us. I imagined that Mac and I would place a few stickers on there and maybe scribble with a marker a little...hey, as long as it could roll down (or slide down - I don't know how to put those wheels one) the track we'd be happy.

On Friday we got our car and I told Ellis about it. The race was Sunday. I was not expecting him to get so excited! Next thing I knew, Ellis was off to the church to cut and sand the car down to a perfect specimen of aerodynamics. Big Mac, Sue and EJ visited this weekend, and the pinewood car became a family project for us all (well, I didn't do anything but take pictures and videos...I don't even know how to put the wheels on, remember?)

Big Mac helped little Mac put the stickers on the car. This interaction was so sweet that I had to record it. It's a bit long, but I am posting it for little Mac to watch when he is older:

Later Mac got to help Daddy put a clear coat of spray paint on the car. I think the expressions in this video are priceless:

Even Corrie had her hand in the process; helping Grandpa make the wheels faster

Before we knew it, it was time to head to the church for the big race. We grabbed the finished product, which Mac named his Yellow Arrow Car, and we were on our way!

True to form, we barely made it to the derby on time. And by "on time" I mean we were about 15 minutes late. My friend called us while we were on the way and said "Where are you?! They are already inspecting the cars and they aren't waiting for you!" 

Yep, that was us in the silver minivan screeching up to the church doors at the last possible second. Ellis and Mac jumped out while I parked and came in with Corrie and Davey. As soon as I stepped in the gym I saw Mac's car already on the track to race it's first heat. Phew! We made it!

You can see Mac's car on the bottom left of the picture below. I couldn't believe how creative and amazing the cars were on that table. Apparently this race is the big event for the entire year, and many of the kids are planning their cars all year...yep, just like us!

I got a little distracted looking at all of the other cars and then I thought, "wait a minute...I brought Davey, right?" Phew! I looked over to see he was well-cared for. I love our church family.

Mac's car actually won its first race by a landslide. He made it through the next few heats quite comfortably, too. It wasn't until he had to go up against our neighbor, Gage that he had some real competition. Each car is allowed two losses, and Mac's first loss was to Gage. In between races I heard Ellis say, "Hey! He's graphiting!" (He was pointing to Gage's dad, who was applying graphite to the wheels of his car to make it go faster). Ellis ran out to the car to find our graphite. This whole scene was so funny to me. Is this derby for the kids or the parents?

For Mac's final race, he was matched up with Gage again. This time it was the elimination round, and Gage won and advanced on to get third place overall. We got a video of this race. I love Mac's enthusiasm for everything that he does! He was so excited to see his car race. After he picks up his car you can see his excited/happy skip that he does. As you can tell by the ending of this video, he was quite happy with the results of the race...pretty funny. 

Yep, it was a pretty memorable and wonderful experience, our first pinewood derby. Ellis was listing the improvements he was going to make for next year's car the whole way home. "And the best part," he exclaimed, "Corrie will have a car to enter, too!"

Looks like we have a lot to look forward to :)