Get Your Derby On!

Last week, before we headed down to San Antonio, the girls and I went to our very first Pinewood Derby. Did I say Pinewood Derby? I meant to say, Outlaw Kicking Butt Derby! True to his wonderful daddy form, Nathan helped Charly with the carving of her very first pinewood car just days before he had to head out of town for some training. Normally the gals don't get to participate in the actual derby, but this year all the girls from our church 8-12 participated in the after race called 'Outlaw'......don't quote me on that though. My knowledge on all things scouting is in the negatives. Hey, I have all girls you know!  Well, did anyways. I'm taking the eight years I have to prep for scouts very seriously, which is why I didn't look up a single rule for the derby this year. I figured the only rule was that the kids design the cars, carve them with some help from dad and then paint the heck out of them to resemble a cheetah, the FASTEST land animal. Naturally.

I had a rude awakening when dining with some lovely friends the night before the derby. All the stops were pulled out for their children's cars after dinner. It. Was. On. I'm talking weights, graphite powder and some major drill action to get it all race ready. Meanwhile, back at the Campbell house, Charly's car sat perfectly painted, wheels on and not a drop of weights, powder or special sanding to give it the extra push it needed to crush the opponents. What the heck? I hung my head low knowing that Charly's thoughtfully painted car had not a chance of winning. Oh well, there is always next year, right? I seriously could not believe all the extra enhancements these cars had when they showed up for the race. How did Nate not know about this? Isn't that in some sort of man code? 

The night of the derby, we arrived early to help with set up. There were a couple of other kids there and they were racing their cars. Just as I expected, Charly's car was seriously lagging behind. Not only were the wheels not sanded, but her car lacked the weight to keep up the big guns. As a friendly gesture, one of the dads hooked her wheels up with some graphite powder. This helped the spinning tremendously, although clearly she was still lacking the 1.5 ounces to be up to par with the others. The next thing I know Charly has some spoons and a quarter literally taped to her car. Not only did this bring her car up to the 5 ounces weight limit, but it also seemed to be the trick to make it the swiftest car around. Charly's cheetah car with spoons, blue tape, and a quarter dominated the competition! She took first place! What?!! Tell me now if you have ever heard of a cooler underdog story! The competition was fierce! Look at these kids cheering, they took it very seriously! Charly, I mean "Spoons", was stoked and completely shocked!  

 

This super awesome adoptive grandpa was the mastermind behind her super aerodynamic spoon mobile. I loved all the help/support she got, and totally wish Nate was there to see her victory, but I'm sure he is grateful as I am to have our kids surrounded by love even when he is away.  Happy Derby, ya'll!  Next year, I'm not sure if we will make a spoon replica or get our hands dirty while melting metals to weight our car down. Nate, let's get the game plan started now!