A Tale of the Pinewood Derby

Well our first pinewood derby is finally over.  I would love to tell the tale of Trevor's car going so super fast, the fame, the glory, everyone asking how did you do it??  But alas, this is not that kind of tale, but I get ahead of myself, let us start at the beginning.

In a land far far away there was a humble housewife who did her motherly duties without complaint (for the most part)  Until one day the man of the house handed her a small bag with a block of wood, some metal rods and some round wheels and said "This will become my greatest masterpiece....or I mean this will become my son's greatest masterpiece!"  He went on to explain how in 2 short weeks this simple block of wood would become a fast car that would win in a race against all the other local men's er boy's cars.  The humble mother had heard of these races so she was not surprised.

The son created a design...."It must be pikachu!" he said.  So a lightning bolt theme came to life.  This will not be to bad thought the mother.  Little did she know that not only would it require a new saw, and as much time as the father could spare, but much of her time as well.   The entire family slaved away until finally the night of the race arrived.  Stress and worry began to build up inside this simple mother's heart as she looked at the car with no wheels, and no weights.  The father tore apart the garage, but with no luck, there were no fishing weights in the house.  "RUN to the store....quickly GO" counseled the mother.  So off they went arriving home only 10 minutes before they had to leave for the race.  

The father quickly drilled some holes for the weights and the mother hustled all the children into their carriage.  As they traveled the patient mother super glued the axles on and placed the wheels.  Only 5 minutes late...."surely they have not started" they thought.  (luckily they lived in Mormonville where everything starts late)  There was still time!!  Lubricate, add weight quickly now sit down and watch the magic!

As the boy's turn to race came everyone watched.  Oh no!  A false start, the boy's car left several seconds before the other racer!   Wait...what is this, the boys car STILL lost???  Oh NO!  This is not going to be pretty.  They restarted the racers and with no surprise, the boys car lost.  There was still one more chance for him, but everyone knew....he would not win.  With a sad heart the father went to check on the car.  Some other fathers who had witnessed this sad event came to help as well.  "Wait....what is this....you used the axles that they gave you??  No No", the fathers said, "we all used nails to keep our wheels in place, the axles are to small and make the wheels rub!!"  WHAT????   Quickly the fathers worked, they pulled off the super glued axles and nailed some better wheels in place.  It was to late to win the prize, but something had to be done to raise the boy's spirit.  When they raced again his car actually beat some of the other boys!  Amazing.  Everyone was happy....and just wait until NEXT year!

At least he won the prize for the most creative car (and thus the mother smiled as well)