Pinewood Derby 2011

The Cub Scout Pinewood Derby was this week.

Jason, helped Treyson, execute the "Cubola Crayon" derby.

Pretty cute, don't cha think? ...or cool, I mean.

The night of the Pinewood Derby, we discovered that our irrigation pipe, in the back yard, had broken. Gallons and gallons of water sprung out of the back corner of the yard. Jason, and a team of neighbors, worked on getting the water shut off and investigated the problem. Somewhere, some how, there was a broken pipe or valve or something.

As Jason was working on solving the problem, Pinewood Derby time was approaching quickly. I had been sick on the couch, most of the day and still had several details to attend to for Taylee's party. I had not planned on going to the Derby. At the very last minute, it was decided that Jason couldn't go. So I dropped Treyson off at the church and asked a favor of a ward member to bring him home. It was a bummer we missed the Derby, but Treyson came home all smiles with a "Jamba Juice" in hand. I don't think he missed us much... or "Jamba Juice" made it all better. :)

He was happy to report, that his car came in second......

at least once. :)

Pinewood Derby

Thursday, Treyson participated in his first Cub Scout Pinewood Derby. It was the same night as Daisylyn's party, so we had to divide our efforts. The guys went to the derby and the girls went to the party.

Looks like there were some really cool cars there. Treyson was quite impressed with one that looked like the Batmobile and one that had Spiderman decals.
On your mark.... Get set..... GO!

Treyson's award was the "Hold on for your Life" award. His car was a luge guy.

Along with the certificate, each boy received a cool plaque. It says, "Pinewood Derby 2010" , has a place for the car to sit and can be hung on the wall.

While walking out to the car to go home, Jason thought how well Treyson had done, that night, about not dropping his car. And then just as he finished his thought, he heard *SPLAT* "Dad..HELP!" and then saw a derby wheel roll across the parking lot. With the drop, a piece had chipped off and broken the wheel axel area. The wheel will no longer stay on the car. Oh well..... it almost made it home in one piece.

Cousin Party- Smullin Grand Prix 2009

As we arrived at the "Smullin Grand Prix 2009", we "registered" with Cathy. We provided our team name and car numbers and were shown a map of the "facilities". Once registered, we got to work making our cardboard box cars for the upcoming "drive-in theater" experience.

It was fun to see all of the different team flags and names. There was, "Old School", "The Green Derbies", "Animal Planet", "Black Burning Beetles", "The Polsten Pistons", "Tough Guys" and of course "Orange Crush". Everyone did such a good job!

Jessica and Taylee entertained us with a little impromptu cousin song, as we got ready for dinner. They had come up with it, the day before, with David as their "choir director". It was so cute and fun to see them work together.

Pizza was on the dinner menu.

Then it was time to get ready for the night. Kids got into their pajamas, sleeping bags and pillows were arranged in tents and play money was distributed for concessions for the movie. The cardboard box cars were lined up, treats were "purchased" and when the last of the cousins straggled in, the movie began. The movie of the evening, was created by Grandpa Smullin. It was a video of last year's Cousin Party. It was fun to see how much each kiddo had grown in only 1 year!

After the movie, it was time for bed... notice I didn't say sleep. Boys in one tent, girls in the other and a few adults scattered about the yard too.

Let the Races Begin!

After a mostly sleepless night, (too much fun and chatting to sleep)we started the day with a pancake breakfast. The "Opening Ceremonies" were complete with the singing of the National Anthem and introduction of the racing teams.

We worked on "Cousin Conundrums" (brain teasers/puzzles) while waiting for the races to begin. There was a cousin name word search, a cousin b-day crossword, and a cousin order sort (placing each cousin in the order in which they came into the family.) These were fun and a good way to get to know our cousins even better. Especially our "new" cousins that were just married into the family.

It was time for the official weigh in of the derbies. Each team captain was in charge of making sure their cars did not exceed the 5 ounce official weight. All kinds of weights and adjustments were made to the cars to get them ready to race.

Off to the races! Each car competed in several heats; against different derbies, on different lanes of the track. The kids were generally good natured and good sports about how their cars were doing. This was supposed to be all about fun, right?!

When it started to rain, the party was moved inside for sack lunches. As the rain continued, we moved the party to the nearby church, for more fun and more games.

The first of the games was called, "Roadkill Pick Up". The kids raced to see how fast they could pick up the "dead" (stuffed) animals and put them in their cart and make it back to the finish line. Next were "Go-kart Races". With a partner, you raced against time to weave in and out of the cones and make it to the finish line. "Spare Parts Shopping," was the next game. Each person quikcly found the "spare parts" in a box full of newspaper. -The car key was the hardest to find and proved to be a time killer almost every time. If it got stuck in the wadded up newspaper or in the bottom flap of the box, significant and precious seconds ticked away. This was quite upsetting and frustrating for some racers.

Next, we had a yummy BBQ dinner. We enjoyed hamburgers, hotdogs, salads, fruits, veggies, chips and cake for dessert.

We also played "Baby Who?", where we had to guess who the baby cousin was, in the picture. This proved to be challenging with 29 cousins! (Number 30 and 31 are on their way.)

Lastly, we had "Closing Ceremonies". Each racer was presented with a certificate and each team a candy trophy. The "Champion Racer" of the day, was Adam (4 years old). His car was the fastest and won the most races of all. His mom said that when making the cars at home, he actually had to be talked into "wanting" that car. None of her boys wanted that car. Poor little derby had to prove it's self worthy of wanting.

Thanks to Cathy and Nate for all their planning, hard work and wonderful hosting. The Cousin Party was a success and so much fun.