Pine Wood Derby

Last weekend was the much anticipated Pinewood Derby. It’s pretty much the best part of cub scouts. Building a car with your dad and Grandpa, using real tools. It’s a kids dream. My husband always did pretty well as a kid because his dad is a natural with cars. The hubby couldn’t wait to help Gandalf make his own car. Last year Gandalf got 1st place and was pretty stoked. Naturally he was looking forward to his 2nd race as a cub scout.

Gandalf with his car The Black Falcon and the neat stand our Weblos made for each cub scout.

We were able to get our car before Christmas so we could work on it with Papa who happens to have a great shop filled with fun tools. (If you are in Orange County in Southern California and need your car taken care of by an honest mechanic check out Glenn’s.) Unfortunately my in laws were sick and Gandalf’s car wasn’t finished in California. My hubby and Gandalf finished up his car when we got home. Gandalf loved it! He wanted a Falcon because they are known for being fast. Using my Cameo Silhouette I was able to make Falcon for his car. He loved how the gold sparkled in the sun.

Cheering for brother! Myself with my awesome co-leaders.

As we approached the race I took time to prep my son on a couple things.

It was important for him to realize just because his car was really fast last year and took first place it might not win this year. In our new pack we have twice as many boys. Numbers wise (which he totally gets) it’s going to be more competitive. Sometimes processing things can be hard for my son and I didn’t want him to be too disappointed if he didn’t win.

Pinewood Derby last year

We went over if he does win how important it is that we are humble. Saying “That was easy” or “I knew I would win!” isn’t being a good racer. My son is blessed to have a dad who loves to research how to make a car fast and loves spending time with him. It was hard to make that time as my hubby is working so much and going back to school right now. So this was a great excuse to have some one on one time.

The Black Falcon winning a race…

Like everything in cub scouts our motto is “Do Your Best!” We should strive to do our best. And competition can be fun. But we shouldn’t compare ourselves to others. It’s great to be proud with how your car turned out. But saying your car is better than others is being prideful. And that’s not what we are about. So do your best. And be proud of yourself. Being proud, but not prideful is important. And when we do our best we feel good about ourselves even if we aren’t the best.

This is a great opportunity to make new friends. Cheer for your friends! Give the other racers compliments on their cars. Notice their great paint job or fun car name.

One of my favorite pictures!

As a wolf leader I had to work the races as they keep them pretty fast paced. I really only saw his car race 2 or 3 times. I knew it was doing pretty well, but I knew we had some pretty fast cars this year.

My favorite part of the race was seeing our family support Gandalf and his car. Draco is such a great brother. He cheered passionately the whole time. They had a little table where siblings could make pendents with paper, tape, and plastic straws to wave. We did miss having Grandparents there. Ginger wore black and gold to support her brother’s car. And Yoda waited to the end to fall asleep.

This great boy didn’t place this year but I am so proud of him! He handled it so well. He was thrilled with his award “Fastest Flying Car” and thought it was funny. And he loved the candies in the mini trophy cup. He did a great job complimenting the boys who did place. He was a great sport. Even when his little brother asked him what place he got. Draco didn’t understand and continued to ask, “What do you mean you didn’t get a place? How come?” He simply told him he didn’t win.

We celebrated a fun race with ice cream and playing Legos. And we are looking forward to the next 7 years of pinewood derby races. Yoda already knows he wants to call his car the “Cheetah of Death”. Thankful for the race we won and the won we didn’t. Gandalf is already planning new ideas to win next year.

I made our Pit Passes from this great site. Check out their blog for more ideas!

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