Ahh...the infamous Pinewood Derby Race

It's official...we've entered into the world of Cub Scouts and pinewood derby races! And with three boys, I've got many more years of BSA bliss to come. Dylan joined Cub Scouts a couple months ago and came home from his first den meeting so excited. With Scout Expo, the pinewood derby, cub day camp, etc.. all just right around the corner..what's an 8 year old boy not to love? He also informed me after his first meeting that he's going to need a uniform, wolf book, patches, scout expo ticket, and a pinewood derby car...by next week :). He and his Dad went down to the Scout Store to buy his stuff and when he got home he ran inside to tell me.."Mom I'm on page 38!". He was reading his advancement wolf book page by page in the car on the way home and proceeded to tell me how the advancements work, how many achievements he needs to complete to earn a bead, etc.. It was fun to see him so motivated and excited.

Mark and Dylan went to work on his car right away. As many of you that are parents of boys know, the pinewood derby race is supposed to be about spending quality time with your dad building your car not about winning....but hey, winning doesn't hurt either :) Grandpa Cox even provided a personalized color brochure with expert tips on how to make your car run fast (Grandpa builds real race cars and has been through several pinewood derby races with 5 boys...unfortunately, his first car didn't make it to the end of the track, so he's definitely learned a lot over the years). He was even willing to provide free phone consultations if needed :).

I love these pictures. He looks so grown up.

Of course Luke was not going to just stand by while Dylan had all the fun. He had his own car and had a blast painting and putting his wheels on.

Dylan was a great big brother and helped him with each step. So..remember how this is supposed to be about the father-son thing and spending quality time together? This is Mark checking the wheel alignment after Dylan was in bed. He also spent several evenings searching the internet for any possible derby secrets that might give him (I mean Dylan) an edge in the competition. My Job? Sew the patches on his new uniform. Simple enough...I even felt very maternal doing it. There's something about sewing patches on my son's uniform that made me feel like a good mom. I thought I did a pretty good job too until we got to his pack meeting and realized I had sewn his pack number patch on the wrong sleeve! I don't think anyone noticed but I did feel pretty dorky for making that silly mistake :)....especially since I worked for the BSA for 7 years and should have known better.

At last it was time for the race to begin! It was great to see Dylan so excited. I was pretty nervous and had heard horror stories of kids crying because they didn't win or because their car didn't even make it to the end of the track. My expectations were pretty low... I wanted his car to finish the race and to see no tears.

Before the races began, Dylan got his first award for earning his bobcat. I guess it's tradition to put the bobcat pin on upside-down until they do a good deed and then they get to turn it right side up, so the cubmaster decided to make it easy for mom and just hold Dylan upside down.

On your mark.....get set...go!! Dylan got to compete in a few heats and even won one or two. The goal of no tears? Well...Dylan did great in that department but Luke? Not so good...he had about 25 tantrums throughout the night when he wasn't allowed to put his car in the middle of the track when the scouts were racing.

He did however enjoy the refreshments.

Dylan finished a strong 7th out of about 20 cars which for his first time..we'll take it! Hey the car made it down the track and Dylan showed no sign of tears...I was happy. Now next year will be a different story....mom's competitiveness will probably kick in :). Mark learned a lot too...like make sure you know what kind of track you're racing on. He assumed the track was going to be a little steeper with a longer run out which I guess makes a big difference in the design of your car. I told him he should build his own track for practicing purposes. It might be a wise investment since he has at least 12 more cars to build not to mention the boys would love it!

Overall, the goal of male bonding was accomplished and they're already talking about what kind of car to build next year!