Our Activity Days leaders hosted a fantastic Daddy Daughter Pinewood Derby for all the girls who will be between ages 8 and 12 this year. I love that Quincy and a couple of her friends didn't miss out because of late birthdays.
They had one night where they designed and cut out the cars together with Aaron. Then they sanded and painted the cars at home, and added the wheels on race day.
The attachment of the wheels was not a good experience. Having never done a pinewood derby myself, I didn't know what a pain those little nails would bento stick into the precut shafts. I was hoping the girls would be able to hammer the wheels in themselves but the nails did not fit and Aaron and I didn't know the tricks that it's necessary to to sand the nails down or drill the pilot holes larger. Both cars cracked along the wheel shafts as we tried to follow the directions to put the wheels on. The girls were both very upset and crying that their cars were ruined. Aaron managed to semi get the nails in and we called it good enough. The wheels were not aligned or even parallel to each other. Whatever man, we just hoped they wouldn't fall apart on the track. At least the cars were creative and totally adorable!
During the stressful hour before they left, I asked Aaron why he didn't remember the hassle of attaching the wheels from his own Cub Scout days. He just threw me a look like, "uh you think I made my own cars?" In the great tradition of scouting and pinewood derby, he had not attached his own cars either. They say boys get to make a car when they turn 8 and join the wolf den, but it's more like their 30's when they get to make their son's car. For some, it's not until they're a grandpa that they get a real turn to be the craftsman. I'm proud of Aaron for letting the girls do most of their own car labor and not being obsessed with whether the design was fast. We didn't even apply graphite to the wheels or use legit weights (quarters taped to the top). The girls loved their wobbly cars, because they got to make them. 
Reese made a penguin sliding on its belly. There are two little feet on the end of the car. She used glitter paint to make it shimmer. She even painted the belly and named her penguin, Raceway, because it sounds like Reese way. The car is absolutely adorable.
Quincy made a replica of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (a fairly new favorite movie discovery around here). She called it the Quincy Quincy Bang Bang.
After we glued the wings on she was very satisfied with her creation and admitted to not wanting to race, "why would I need to race my car if it can fly?"
Makes sense to me!
The girls and Aaron came home SO happy. They loved racing their cars.
I love the pinewood derby. I think it's a great opportunity for parents to teach winners to be gracious and kind, and losers to be good sports, supportive of competition, and not sour losers. There were 30+ girls that came to race and Quincy's car took 9th place and Reese's car took 19th place. Aaron loved watching YouTube videos with the girls on how to make a pinewood derby car, and he made a few calls to my dad (the family grandpinewood derby sensei and master of teaching pinewood derby carpentry skills to his posterity. I don't think he's ever had a son or grandson take anything but first place at these things.) Aaron reported that it was a lot of fun to cheer for the girls last night and help them doctor up busted wheels and get them to the correct weight.
Quincy's car was awarded Most Aerodynamic! And Reese's car was awarded "Best Animal Car". Both girls have already put their cars up for display on their bedroom shelf with the certificates. Well done girls, and well done Dad!
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