Cub Scouts

Since John has turned 8 years old, he is eligible to join Cub Scouts through our church. His very first activity was the Pine Wood Derby Race!

This is my favorite picture! I love seeing my two guys working together.

John's Hot Rod

His first race. Lane 3. 2nd place.

Waiting for another race to start!

One happy Cub Scout!

Receiving his certificate for "Best Hot Rod".

Standing proud with his good friend Ryan McBride.

Having grown up with girls, I had never been to a Pine Wood Derby race before. It was so funny to see the boys having fun with each other while they waited for their next race. I think these races are more for the dad's then the boys. The men were all grouped together talking about how they sanded, glued, measured just the right angle, weighted, and graphited their cars. I mean how their son's did all that. Some even went as far as telling the judges that a particular lane was not exactly the same as the others. This was all done in between grabbing their son's car to add more graphite to the wheels. Graphite makes the wheels go faster. I learned this. I have also learned that you can't just use WD40 or some other type of oil because that is heavier than graphite and that would slow your car down. So now we know.

John was very apprehensive. It was a new experience and he did not know what to expect. He kept me glued to his side. Seriously. They have all the scouts sit in a row together inside the roped off race area. They were nice enough to let the "rules" slide and I sat by him until he warmed up. Fortunately, he was in the first race. Watching his car drive down the track was all it took. After that I was able to move to the other side of the ropes and watch the races with the rest of the parents. The leaders really went all out to make it special for the boys. They had monster cookies, trail mix, and antifreeze punch for dessert. It was a lot of fun.