Pinewood Derby, Again

You may or may not recall, but last year we were kind of embarrassed at the Pinewood Derby.  It all started when Craig freaked out worrying that all the little kids' dads were going to build crazy fast cars and if Bentley lost every race, he'd be a mess and hate it all.  So Craig began doing research, buying weights to put it in the car, drilling holes for the weights, polishing the wheel shafts and all sorts of stuff to make the car as stream-lined, smooth, and fast as possible.

And then Bentley went on to win every single race, win all the races for the entire pack, and have to go to the district level to race (where he placed 1st for his age division).  And it was embarrassing.  We had inadvertently become the annoying parents that make their kid's car impossible to beat, even though Bentley didn't really do much of anything (except insist that Craig put a tiny R2D2 on top).  And although Bentley was thrilled to have won two huge trophies, we worried that we hadn't taught him a thing about how to lose gracefully, a lesson he could have really used.

So this year Craig was determined to not go quite so overboard.  And he held himself back pretty well, I thought.  He still did most of the work (Bentley's only seven, after all), but encouraged Bentley to do more.  And this time, if Bentley got bored polishing wheel shafts, then that was it and they were done.  And we were pleased with the results: Bentley won three of the four races in the first heat, and none in the second.  And then it was all over!  And he handled himself very well, which made me a lot more proud of him than last year, actually.

Overall it was a good experience!

And now, the pictures:

Watching his car race

Racing against his best pal, Peter

Ryder was very excited about it all

Colton was more interested in sucking his thumb and trying to scratch my face off

Happy after a win

Watching the 3rd heat with Peter, after they'd both been eliminated

His car received the award "Most Adventurous," which he was thrilled about

A close-up of his car, the Prime-8.  (Get it?)  Craig very sneakily didn't tell me that they were spending money to put a monkey on it.  Aren't chimpanzees just the creepiest things ever???  {Shiver}

Smiling with his Pack Leader

Now that I know what to expect from these things, I think it's all pretty fun, too.  Last year, when it was way longer (thanks to him winning so much), I rarely could find a chair, and I was super pregnant and not sure what was going on or what I was supposed to be doing, I didn't really love it.  But this time around when I knew what to expect, I found it all very enjoyable.  And I think there are a lot of great lessons to be learned here about winning and losing and sportsmanship.  Especially for the grown-ups.