My last Pinewood Derby!!!!

This was officially our last pinewood derby. After making 6 pinewood derby cars we are officially done with that chapter. As much fun as it is in so many ways I am not sad to be done. They are a serious lot of work and stress that hang over my head for months leading up to it. When will we get the car done? Will it look good? Will my kid finally win some races? Will he go home happy or in tears? and then the questions that soccer adds to it like After all that work will he have to choose between playing a soccer game and doing the derby? Will he choose the soccer game and regret it for the rest of his life? Will he choose the derby and loose all his races and then resent that he missed a great game? There are many more but for me that is much of what a pinewood derby is. This year I decided it would be different. He put more work personally into the designing and completing of a car than either of my boys ever have.

We got help from another dad to help Harrison carve and sand his car just the shape he wanted it over month in advance so I wouldn't have to stress over it. Then we designed the paint job and started painting it long before we "needed to". Then we got busy and it got sat in the garage and we scrambled to get it done the night before weigh in. Oh well, last time I have to do that. He loved the look of his car. It's a 2007 porche gt 500 or something like that. I'm not a car person so you'd have to have him correct me. He just laughed at me as that isn't even a car. It's a 2009 Corvette Stingray Concept. What was I thinking??
The pinewood derby timed out to be the two hours right in between his two soccer games so we could get there get the car racing, would leave before awards and then be a couple minutes late to soccer game but we could do it. Unfortunately all the best laid plans don't work. With a late start to the races he only got to see it race twice but he was happy with that and scored in his soccer game and even more happy with that.

He loves his car and has fond memories of the day even if he didn't get to see it come in any place but third out of three. I trust that it won at least one race at some point and he had confidence in his car and trusted that would do well in his absence and believes that it did.

I am happy we can end on that note in the pinewood derby history of our family.
So we have a happy conclusion to this chapter in our lives!