1 post tagged “pinewood derby”

It is almost the end of January now. We have had a ton of snow in the past month, and it has made for great skiing. Actually I don't really ski much anymore, my skis were lost/stolen when I was in college and I never really bought another pair. When I needed skis I would just rent. That was until I borrowed a snowboard set up from my brother, because one of my friends wanted someone to go boarding with him. 

I never got his board back to him, so one year at Christmas he just gave me the board. It worked out good for both of us, as he didn't have a lot of money that year for Christmas gifts and I wasn't planning to give it back anyway. That was about seven years ago. 

Anyway, following another tradition from my father - I took my kids up the hill to Brighton where we went skiing. (except me - I went boarding. see above paragraph for details if you have already forgotten.) It was an adventure and something of an exercise in patience. My oldest daughter is pretty good, and the two younger ones are getting better all the time. If I only had more time to take them more often.

And we have another snowstorm again today. It is coming down like it is Wisconsin out there. Unfortunately I am too busy to be able to take off for a day or two right now. All that good snow will have to have someone else enjoy it.

My son and I are building cars for his first pinewood derby. When he joined the cub scout pack, I volunteered to be the leader. I figure that this way I could spend some time with him and we could have adventures together and that I would know what he was learning. Some of my fondest memories were of Scouts when my Dad and I would go do things together. It helped that he was the scout leader at that age. 

As for his car, he is having a blast at it and his older sisters are a little jealous. Alysen and Jenny would take the scraps of wood that we cut off and sand them smooth. I don't know what the purpose of the odd shaped wood is for but they at least feel like they are creating something too.

Jon (age 7) drew the design on the block of the car, then we cut it and he started sanding. Then he would get bored and wander off, and his sisters would take turns sanding it smooth.  This week we have been applying model paint to it. It was a pretty splotchy paint job, done in a bright crimson on the top and dark green on the sides. It looks a little like a Christmas theme but it is his car. I think I will have him put another coat or two on before we apply the sealant. 

In order to keep from this really becoming a project that I made for Jonathan, I also did my own car. This way he has a car, and so do I - and we can work on them together. We have made other models together as well. A number of model rubber band powered airplanes. And Lego models. He likes to make Lego spaceships and have me help (to a minimal degree).

I decided to model my derby car after my little green Jeep, of which I am rather fond.