Today the RACE was ON!
|23.Feb.2008Today was a very long day. I say was, because as soon as I hit publish on this post, I’m off to dreamland. “Oh Mr. Sandman…”
As you’ll probably remember, today was our AWANA Grand Prix (also known as PINE DERBY DAY!). We registered the cars at 9:00 a.m. and the race started promptly at 10:00 a.m.
As the rules and guidelines were being read off the kids listened intently nervously frittered about until each grade’s heat were called out and they could run and grab their cars for the race.
Cars were ran youngest to oldest. The youngest group being Cubbies (Pre-K and Kinder) – Kenny is a Cubbie and he was ready with his car.
Each of the cars were run four times. This meant that each car ran on each color of the track. Then, the time totals were averaged together for their actual competition time.
First race, Kenny started on the blue lane. I loved how delicately the cars were set on the track to ready for the race.
Let me just say that those who volunteer for this race are Godsends, really. It takes a lot of patience and a love for kids. Most especially, it takes those with an encouraging spirit. If a child’s car hits the finish line last, they aren’t so excited and peppy when they hand over their cars for the next race. More than once I saw a frown turn “upside down” after just a few words from a volunteer. That’s a gift…truly, it is a gift.
After Kenny’s car raced, it was time for the Sparks to race. Meredith is a Spark, as is her friend, Jenna. The two of them were having a truly funny conversation about how it was SO HARD to race against FRIENDS.
They settled between themselves that it’d be okay if one of them got first and one of them got second. They need to write suspense…the foreshadowing was amazing.
Meredith and Emelie wait at the finish line to see if Mer’s car crossed first.
Emelie was a great support to both Kenny and Meredith. Her races were on the other side of the tracks, but she sat on their side until their races were over to cheer them on.
Soon it was Emelie’s turn to race – she’s in T&T and raced against other 5th and 6th graders in her heat.
Her car won the first two heats, going for a third. Do ya think she’s nervous any?
Once it was all said and done, all the times had to be averaged across the age groups, so we all chilled out and chatted a bit.
As the announcers came to the microphone, they stated that every kid would get a participation ribbon. I’ve gotta tell ya…participation ribbons are a bit hoakie to me, but okay…whatever.
Can you tell how excited Kenny is about his participation ribbon?
The awards for Design and Speed were then announced. This is the first year we didn’t have at least one child come home crying. And let me tell you, with birthday parties and baby showers only minutes away from the Pine Derby race, we were appreciative for the tearless morning.
So what’d we win?
Well, the KIDS won:
(Kenny) 2nd in his division for Speed
(Meredith) 2nd in her division for Speed
(Emelie) 1st in her division for Speed.
A few new trophies rest on the shelves and dresser tonight, alongside a bit of pride.
Well, a little bit of pride never hurt anybody, eh?
17 Comments
Mrs. Wilson
Oh so fun!
You’re amazing at capturing moments.
Jean
Glad you guys did well and no tears this year. Sadly we are wallowing in the agony of defeat this time. I think the CubScout version is way more competitive than you can ever imagine. I think the AWANA version looks more our “speed” no pun intended.
seven
I was in Awana when I was in 5th-8th grade… I made a car that looked like a pencil for our Gran Prix. I had so much fun painting that sucker… I hope your kids had a ton of fun.
Mommy Cracked
Good for them!! The cars looked fantastic. Sounds like a great way to sepnd the day!
Shawna
Congrats to all 3 kiddos! Enjoy your snooze!
FireMom
How exciting! I don’t even know if we have anything like this in our area. I’m sure we’ll find out if we do someday in the not-too-distant future! Great shots!
bethany actually
Woohoo! Congrats, Em, Mer & Kenny! I hope you all survived the rest of the day’s events and got a good night’s sleep. :-)
Busymomma66
Congratulations guys!! Those are always fun races.
Jules
Sounds like everyone had a lot of fun. Congrats to Kenny, Meredith and Emelie!!
familymclean
Catching up on me reading here…that post you did for Angella….fantastic, it was so in depth, thank you!!!!!!
You rock!
Aimee
We have our Pine Derby Race on Saturday. We’re busy painting a pink car! :) Great pictures!
Angie
Lessons on winning and losing are a lot easier when you win SOMETHING. I am glad your kids’ efforts paid off today.
KEEP BELIEVING
OMSH
Angie – Bwahahaha! Right? Last year we had 2 losers and 1 winner. I think the lesson was learned much better and we were able to bring it up this year when they actually won across the board.
moosh in indy.
Looks like the OMSH home is very good with wood.
heh.
Congrats little OMSHers.
Atomic Bombshell
Congrats to them, and especially to DAD, for a fantastic finish.
jennyonthespot
Fun stuff! We just had ours last week – it looks like your AWANA gang does a bigger, brighter job of it! I thought about posting about it, but my pics are no quite so fun as yours…
feefifoto
Congratulations! My nephew won a prize at one of those pinewood derbies a few years ago for “the best car obviously not designed by an adult.”