It's Derby Time!

The Pinewood Derby.  It's a big deal and right of passage for any cub scout and their dad.  Daniel's own grandfather's both look fondly back at making cars for them self or their son.

This is year two of Derby car making for Brian and Daniel.  Last year's car was "fancy", a land speeder from Star Wars that made it to the finals of the race.  It was definitely a labor of love for the two of them.

Star Wars Land Speeder Derby Car

This year, with time shortened (don't ask, long story) they discussed many ideas before settling on a car that was sleeker in design, and therefore simpler to make.  An iPhone!

Daniel's iPhone Derby Car

They had a blast making it.  Again, Brian had Daniel do most of the sanding and labor so it was truly his car.  I helped a little with getting the Angry Birds picture stuck to the top of the car.  An old pair of ear buds completed the look necessary for a sleek black iPhone Pinewood Derby car.  

They did have a little trouble adding the wheels so the boys had an inkling the car wasn't going to be too fast.  It had drag on one wheel.  Daniel really didn't care.  He thought it looked awesome!  Off to the registration they went.  

We all turned out the next day for the race.  1... 2... 3... GO!

Oops, that's the iPhone car in the back of the pack

The car didn't perform well, but our boy was really happy with his cool looking car. We had one dad mention that his iPhone must be an older model, not the newest 4s, because of the lack of speed.  He said he had that problem with his own iPhone.  Daniel thought that was funny!  

Did I mention that this was evidently the year of the Angry Birds car?  Daniel had the only iPhone car, but many had the Angry Birds theme on them.  And of course, Star Wars was still very popular.  Daniel is already dreaming about what to make next year.  

Cub Scouts Food Drive

This morning Daniel and I headed to another section of the neighborhood with his cub scout den to collect food for their canned food drive.  In cooperation with the Souper Bowl of Caring, our local Cub Scout Pack sent the boys out last weekend to blanket our neighborhood with flyers.  Today, we went to pick up any food left on porches for us.  With the recent crazy cold weather and cancelled school, most people didn't seem to remember about the canned food drive.  Thankfully, one of the parents in our group suggested letting the boys knock on doors to directly ask for food donations.  

It was a great idea because of the doors that were opened, 99% of them gave at least 1 can with most giving several.  We even had quite a few who put together a bag of items for the boys. The scouts loved running up and down the streets knocking (banging) on doors and throwing cans in the back of a dad's pick up truck.  

All in all, even the cold weather (30's) couldn't stop these boys from having a great time.  Daniel's den donated more than 250 lbs of food to the Sacred Heart Food Pantry this morning.

Joke Loving Boy

Last Saturday at Daniel's Cub Scout Pack meeting, it was his Den's turn to tell jokes.  This is right up Daniel's alley.  He couldn't seem to find his joke book (I probably "accidentally" left it at the ranch after hearing constant jokes), so we went online to find one for him.

Just a little background - When another Den told their jokes at the last Pack meeting, Daniel had his hand up every time ready to answer the jokes.  Even jumping up and down saying, "ooh, ooh, I know!" He was called on several times, but never quite had the right answer even though he was very confident in his response.  He LOVES jokes.

So after going through what seemed like a hundred jokes, he chose one and Brian worked with him on how to say it clearly.  When it was time for his Den, don't you know Daniel was the first volunteer.  I almost didn't get the camera ready in time.

Here he is...






Oh, and that's a decorated Christmas sugar cookie all over his hands and mouth in case you were wondering.