Pinewood Derby

I have recently been initiated into a new club that has brought with it many amusing surprises. That's right folks, I am now a cub scout mom. At first the whole idea of scouts was a little intimidating. There's an entire culture that surrounds this great program for boys. Now, it is just fascinating for me to see this tradition carry on to the next generation.

Here are the boys from Caleb's pack lined up ready for the most anticipated pack meeting of the year -- the Pinewood Derby.

On Saturday, the boys had to surrender their beloved car to the cub master so that it could be weighed, measured and given a 145 point inspection. This is the first chance the boys got to see each other's cars.

This is Caleb's inaugural year at the Derby and he had so much fun watching the races and laughing with the boys.

At one point, a parent noticed a slight problem with the track. Within about 10 seconds, all the boys raced over to see if they could put their scout skills to use.

After placing his car at the start of each round, Caleb ran at top speed to wait at the end of the track and see how his car did.

The red blur on the track is Caleb's car -

- racing to victory!

This little car won 13 of the 15 rounds it raced in! Caleb designed the shape and picked the colors and style for the car. Ryan provided the manual labor to get the shape right and added enough weight to get it to the 5 ounce limit.

And the results?

1st place overall winner!

Nicely done Caleb!