Pinewood Derby...

Tuesday night was a blast! Why? Pinewood Derby!

This was Sam's second year participating in the derby and second car designed with his Uncle Jake in mind. This year's car theme was "Don't Tread On Me." Mike found a picture of the flag on the internet so, he printed it out in color and cut around the edges and inside the snake's coils. Then, after making the car by cuting off excess wood and sanding it down smooth, he painted it the flag's colors: black and yellow. Oh, Sam did help sand the car.
After the paint was dry, Mike installed the tires and it was ready for the detailing. I simply mod-podged the lettering and symbol on the car and let it dry. By 6:00pm on Tuesday, it was ready for weigh in. The car happen to be lighter than standard weight so a few weights were added to the bottom of the car. By 6:30pm the car was ready to race. Grandma Whetten was right there with us in the first row cheering Sam on. It was so cute to see his siblings cheer him on, especially Sarah! She is his biggest fan.

There were 13 cars racing in a total of 78 (?) heats. Sam was (almost) consistantly in 2nd place the entire night. He didn't win, place or show in the finale, but he didn't care. The night was AWESOME.

Oh - the little kids had a blast, too, because one smart mama (not me) brought a mini race track and cars - just perfect for Hot Wheels!