Start your engines

Last weekend I experienced my first ever Boy Scout Pinewood Derby. For those of you not familiar, a few weeks ahead of race day the scout is given a kit with a plain chunk of wood, wheels and axles to create a derby car. The idea to sculpt and design whatever your aerodynamic imagination dreams up (within a certain weight/size limit of course). Dad helped our scout with the sculpting and construction of the car. Brendan then marched up to my studio and together we planned out design.

Ed Emberley a.k.a. the master of children's how-to-draw books provided major inspiration for "Frankensteins Fury" or "Fury" for short. Brendan painted his car monster green and rendered Frankenstein the Ed Emberley way.

After that, I introduced Brendan to my ever-growing rubber stamp collection. Going with the theme, we picked a cool skull and a spider to add more spookiness. Next, I showed him how easy it is to paint a spider web. The little wire+fiber antenna thingamabob was my idea..not really sure of the purpose, but it seemed to me that the Frankensteinmobile should have something weblike blowing in the breeze. Brendan searched for a lego steering wheel and put together a creepy little Lego driver from the lego surplus we have going on around here. After we attached those with hot glue, we were ready to burn rubber.

Race day was a complete S*H*O*C*K to me. Unfortunately my husband couldn't attend, so with three kids, Frankenstein and numero uno cup of coffee we headed off for the race track. I left the pot on as I was expecting we'd be home from the festivities in a half hour...45 minutes at the most...really...how long could this last? I slowly began to get the gist that I may have underestimated things just a little when we walked in and saw the metal track running the length of the cafeteria. PLUS the electronic finishing system, the computerized standings board on a big screen and an eager Dad announcing that lunch would be served at 11:45 over the loud speaker. Definitely not in Kansas anymore Dorothy. Welcome to the Indianapolis Speedway. Even without my beloved second cup of coffee, I'll admit that it was a thoroughly entertaining and exciting morning. As far as the standings, my little guy managed to finish sixth for speed overall (after 6 rounds of racing) and captured an honorable mention medal for best design. Not too bad for a rookie. Next year we'll really be ready. And I'll be bringing my second cup along.