Pinewood Derby 2009

Our stake's pinewood derby was two weeks ago. It was a fun day for us all. Taylor worked so hard on his car so it was fun to finally see it race down the track. The boys also received awards at the derby, so Taylor got the badges he has earned over the past couple of months. He earned his Wolf badge, a gold arrowpoint, and a silver arrowpoint, as well as the bowling belt loop. He has been one busy little boy!

Here he is with his awards!

This is Taylor and one of his friends Caleb.

The boys are busy at the "pit". Every time they would race, they'd grab their cars and go running back over to the pit for more graphite.

Here's Tay getting set for his first race of the morning. The stake recently bought this new metal track, and it is so fast compared to the old wooden ones!
Okay, Matthew was in little boy heaven. He got front row seating at a car race! He just kept saying "fas car! Fas car, Tay!" He was so cute.
Here are a few of the boys' cars. Taylor's is the one with the tool on it. I don't remember what that tool is called. Anyway, Tay's design was way too light, so they had to make some last minute alterations...which consisted of Andy finding the right sized tool from his toolbox and taping it to the top of Tay's car. Amazingly, it was still fast...thanks to Andy finding a streamlined tool. Here's the lineup. One of the boys put a skateboarder made from wire on top of his skateboard-designed car. It was funny to watch come down the track.
After all the races, they were giving out a certificate to each boy. Taylor waited and waited, and as each boys' name and car were called, he looked more and more worried. He thought that he didn't win anything, but he was being such a good sport and cheering for everyone else. Finally, his name was called dead last, and he and his car were awarded "The Judge's Favorite" award. He was so excited!
Andy had to leave early to go take a computerized section of the boards, so I stayed with the kids and helped take down and put things away, and also stayed to direct where to put tables and chairs for that night's YW recognition night and general YW broadcast. The kids were good helpers, but by the time we were on our way home they were all exhausted and all zonked out...except Taylor.

He was still so excited about the day. He looks so cute in his uniform, and now has been patiently waiting for me to get time to sew on his new badges.

Way to go Taylor! We're so proud of you!