Pine Wood Derby

Today was Eli's 1st Pinewood Derby! He was so excited to race his car. And I think Daddy was excited to race his car as well! This morning, Tim took both cars to be checked in, weighed and numbered. He also helped set up. The official derby was this afternoon. The guys in charge did a great job decorating making it really fun. They had banners, cardboard cutouts of drivers, tires and prizes for all the kids. The track was amazing to me. It was automated and when the cars finished, it announced the finishing order and reported the time to the computer. Then the names, times and finishing order would show on the projection screen. There were four lanes on the track and each racer would race four times, once in each lane. Tim and Eli raced together in the 3rd and 4th heats. Eli beat Daddy the 1st time (and the smile on his face was BIG) but Tim beat Eli on the rematch. Eli never won one of his heats but he was never last either. And you know what, I was (and still am!) so dang proud of him. He never once got mad that he didn't win. He was excited for whatever place he finished and just had fun watching his car go down the track. Next year however.....that will be a different story. Tim is all psyched now that he knows the deal and is already thinking of prototypes and designs for their cars. 

Once the races were over and results figured, they had an awards ceremony. We had talked to Eli ahead of time that since he wasn't fastest that he might not win an award. He didn't seem concerned - so much so that he & Cole were off playing when they announced that he got 3rd place for Craftsmanship! He had a simple wedge design but a cool blue and orange paint job (to match his Cub Scout colors!!). Tim had a very futuristic design with silver paint. It was so much fun and Cole loved watching it too. I know he's excited for the day he can participate. 

After the derby, we came home to fix dinner and Tim had to go back to help move a trailer at the church. During that time, Cole & I pinkie promised that he could watch one tv show and then we'd turn the tv off to have dinner. Oh my goodness....my sweet little boy lost it when it was time to turn the tv off. So much so that I told him he would have to go without tv for the next week. Yep....a whole week without tv. MAJOR for tv loving Cole. When Eli heard that he said "Dude, you're grounded. You're the first one in our family to be grounded." That sums it up. Guess our 4-1/2 year old is grounded!

Pretending to drive the race car

Our sweet Tiger Cub Scout

Tim setting his car on the track, 1st round

Eli setting his car on the track for his 1st race

1st round of Daddy versus Son

Eli's orange/blue car edged him out!

And made it to the screen!

That race made Eli's whole derby

The table of cars

Last race - Father / Son rematch

Tim and his silver not-so-bullet car

We were excited that Eli got an award

Craftsmanship category winners

3rd place - Tiger Craftsmanship

The parent / sibling category

All of the Tiger Cubs

I love this picture of my Pinewood Derby boys

Week Six: 2/3-2/9

Everything is Awesome!!!!  

That sums up the boys' favorite part of the week. We went to see the Lego Movie! And that song is prominent in the movie and will probably be in my head forever. It came out Friday night and we met up with Evan P. and his family for movie and dinner. The movie was so good! I had no idea what to expect but really loved the whole concept of the movie. Let your kids play with their Legos!! Legos aren't meant to be glued together. They're meant to spur imagination and let kids build things. A long time ago someone asked me if I was going to let Eli play with his Lego sets or make him leave them built. We knew that we always wanted the boys to play and not be stuck to one thing or the instructions. And we're glad we did - they come up with some really cool stuff. So the boys loved the movie, as did we and it is definitely one that will become part of our family movie library. After the movie, we went to Five Guys for dinner. I've never been there before and it was yummy. We let the little guys have a table all their own and the grown ups enjoyed dinner as if we were on a double date! 

Some pictures from our week....

The cutest big headed bear ever! This was for our friend Iris' 2nd birthday. She loved it! (I wanted to keep it for myself)

Cole found himself a nice quiet place to have breakfast. He was hiding from his brother. 

Hi Mom - I'm supervising Dad. 

Daddy's helper

So excited to be together! 

The little boy table

Cole, Eli and Evan - Evan was showing us his mean face

You sank my battleship! Sunday after church, Eli and Daddy enjoyed a friendly game of Battleship. 

Week Five: 1/27-2/2

The big story of this week was SNOW! But I get ahead of myself....

Monday night, we all went to Eli's Scout Den Meeting. He wanted us to come because he was getting more belt loops. Cole loved it and followed his big brothers lead during the pledge and the entire meeting. So cute! 

Tuesday morning, we woke up to schools being closed and snow on the ground. We ended up at home Tuesday, Wednesday AND Thursday! The boys weren't too interested in it but I made them go play for a bit and go for a walk around the neighborhood. It wasn't the most snow but enough to wreak havoc on everyone's schedules. It was though nice to hang around the house and not worry about being anywhere at a specific time. 

Saturday, we went to watch the NC State / Virginia swim meet. The boys had a make up swim lesson that morning so it was perfect to go watch the "big guys" swim. Eli loved it; Cole wasn't happy at all. He wanted to do anything but sit still and watch. The first few events were the short races and were really exciting. The entire natatorium was cheering. Eli's getting to the age of starting swim team (and his strokes are really good for a 6 year old) so we thought this might help him see what it's about. I must confess that I never went to a swim meet in all my years at NC State and I wish I had! There are so many cool sports on college campuses to watch. 

Big Bro, Little Bro

Saying the Pledge of Allegiance (serious business)

Eli getting his belt loops

All the belt loops that he has earned

Future Cub Scout

This is what we woke up to

Ready to go outside

Eli pushed Cole down the driveway on his "sled disk"

and they thought that was a lot of fun

Fun with my boys

Going for our walk

An Eli snow angel

And....it always goes back to the dump trucks - best gifts / money ever!

A Cole angel

Ooomphh!

Eli's still working on his angel wings

At the swim meet

Go Pack!

Eli did really well watching and cheering

Women's race start

Men's race start

Watching all of them made me wish I could swim fast....Gotta get on that! 

While the swimming was happening, there was also diving to watch. A lot going on!

Cole was wiped out. You'd think he competed!!