Pinewood Derby Delight

Hooray! Johnny's turning 8 on Saturday and he got to participate in his first Pinewood Derby! He selected a design, sanded it (boy, does he love to work the sandpaper!), painted it all black, added some blue designs, and put the wheels on. Then he borrowed Joe's old scout shirt and eagerly went to weigh in his little car.

It was fun to see how excited the kids were. My own children were excited to see Johnny's car race. All in all, it was a study in opposites. There was order and chaos, happiness and disappointment.

I enjoyed watching Johnny get into it. He analyzed the tracks to see which one was faster. He watched to be sure his friends' cars were winning, but not TOO well, because he himself wanted to win. He eagerly ran to put his own car on the track, and watched me as he ran back to make sure I was watching. It was WAY too cute.

At the end of the contest, Johnny's car had won twice and lost twice. He won the "Best of Show" award, 3rd place. And he ate two cupcakes, a candybar and several cookies. I think he's looking forward to being in Scouts!

As a side note, I asked him this morning if he wanted to stick with just a family party after the baptism, or if he wanted to have a friend party next week sometime. He misunderstood and thought I meant he had to choose one or the other. Before I realized that, though, he told me that he really, really wanted to do the baptism thing. When I finally got it, it brought tears to my eyes that he would rather be baptized than have all his friends over for a party. How sweet!!!! When I told him he could have his friends over AND still get baptized, that I really just wanted to know if he wanted a friend party this year, he was very surprised.

Yup, I've got a good one here. :-)