Daddy Daughter Pinewood Derby

The girls made their cars for the annual daddy daughter pinewood derby. Reese made a Reese's car, and Quincy made a whale. We still had the annual tears as they attempted to put their own wheels on and the wood axle shaft on one of the cars cracked, but we slapped some duct tape on it and she was was good to go. 

I've been trying to get a hold of my brother mark for two weeks, to see if he is flying out to watch his daughter (my niece, Taylor) cheer at the upcoming BYU football game in KC. We never touched base, but decided to just buy tickets anyway when Aaron scored some for $30 online. 

Then, knowing his love for pinewood derby, I texted both him and my dad a photo of the graphite tube and four words, "this the right stuff?" 

Boom. 

My phone blew up with replies. Mark, all I've got to do to get a hold of you is ask a pinewood derby question. The conversation between Mark and my dad was hilarious, and went on and on. 

Lol all I needed to know was if the graphite I bought was the right stuff! 

These girls have derby champ tiger blood!  Luckily, the duct tape held up, as did the super glue on Quincy's pipe cleaner whale spout. 

Reese is covering the weights and duct tape with her hand in the pic. 

They came home delighted that they had won 1st and 2nd place. There go all the theories about aerodynamic shape and perfectly aligned wheels! Hahaha! We seriously can't believe the whale won, with the spout glued on there! But yay for kid-made cars. Aaron got a little crazy channeling his inner Wendell Payne (cub leader from his childhood) and ran to hobby lobby the day of the activity to buy pinewood derby legit brand weights, since the quarters we used last year fell off. He also made the girls sand their wheels down with tiny grit sandpaper. I just laughed and laughed over this ridiculousness, but then the cars actually did win, so who knows if it really helped. Reese and Quincy both agreed that Cadence C's car should have won because it had the cute LEGO girl drivers glued on top, and wished they'd done the same. I wonder how many little LEGO dudes get to go sailing down the pinewood tracks across the U.S. every year. These ages are prime LEGO years!  Next year, ladies. Next year.

Thanks to the leaders for organizing a fun activity for my daughters and husband. I admit I wished it was me who got to attend, but it was really funny to watch the dads get excited about it.  High five to whoever made the adorable ribbons. Cute! They're already pinned on the dream board in the girls' bedroom.