The Race is Over...For Good!

Last Thursday was our family's sixth and final Cub Scout Pinewood Derby. I recognize that, for some, this realization might evoke feelings of melancholy. And, to be fair, our kids might feel that way. However, for Jen and I, it was a day of celebration.

Don't get me wrong...it's a nice father/son experience to go over to Grandpa's house and use his table saw to cut the car to whatever design your son has created. The relief in knowing you've completed the cuts without either destroying the car or eliminating any digits on your hand feels nice as well.

But the night seems to last FOREVER! And I don't mean the lasting feeling you get from a first date or from the night you proposed or anything sappy like that. I'm talking about the feeling of waiting in line for two hours to ride It's a Small World or sit on Santa's lap. Anyhow, this post is in celebration of all the cars we've raced before and, more specifically, that we won't be racing again.

Here's the line-up of cars for this year's Pinewood Derby. Conner's is the blue & white striped car in the middle -- you know, the one that actually looks like a 10 year-old was involved in its creation (and, coincidentally, the one that looks like the Dad involved in its creation must be an accountant).


Here's a picture of Conner in his seat, waiting for his next race. One reason the night lasts forever is each car is involved in 12 races. Well, actually, at least 12 races. In reality, several races each year have to be re-run for various reasons so it's more like 15 races. And that's each car, which is only involved in about 1 of every 4 races. You get the idea. The saving grace is, of course, that Conner clearly seems to be enjoying the night.

In the first race of the night, Conner's car finished 3rd (out of 3 cars), so we got a little worried. However, as you can see in the picture below, Conner decided to race his car backwards the rest of the night. Would you believe he ended up winning race after race from then on? So much for aerodynamics...

After adding up all of the times for the 12 official races per car, Conner's car ended up in 3rd place (out of 10 cars)! Not a bad way to retire from the racing circuit. Also, Conner's car was nicknamed the "Iceman", as shown in the certificate below.

OK, so I did exaggerate the euphoria of being done with the Pinewood Derby at the beginning of the post, but I'm fairly convinced I won't have withdrawal next January when another Derby comes around. Nice work Conner...and, gentlemen, turn off your engines!

P.S. Jen asked me to take care of this post -- it took me a couple days to get to it but I eventually agreed to do it...with the caveat that this would be a short post. Clearly, brevity is not my forte. Oh well...I wonder how much money I just added to this year's blog book?