Pinewood Derby 2013

 Last night was the Pinewood Derby. Our house has been focused on it for the last two weeks. Every year the Scouts come to our garage to design their cars and have assistance with all the major cuts.
This has become an annual family project, with even M. and S. designing and painting their own cars. Cory builds them out of 2x4s and buys official BSA wheels at Michaels. After the official racing is done, there is a free for all race, where M. usually beats all the Cub Scouts with her pink car.
 Cory takes the cutting and shaping of the cars very seriously, but the kids design them and paint them themselves. I'm hoping next year K. and T. will be more involved in cutting, shaping, and sanding their cars.

 Our 2013 Models:

K. had a modern Batmobile. Cory added the weights on either side of the top, which gave it a very sleek look. 
T. designed and painted a comet. He was the 2nd fastest Cub Scout, and quite confident in his skills. "Watch and learn," he told the Scout leaders.

M. has a low, sleek vehicle. She wanted her Littlest Pet Shop figurine to ride in it, so Cory drilled a while big enough for it. Every time her car got to the end of the track, the raccoon-kitty flew out, which everyone thought was awesome.
S. requested a remora. We had to look that one up. It's a sucker fish that attaches to the bottom of sharks and sea turtles. The googly eyes took it to 11.

The Fishing Pier

Well, I guess I should have checked the weather report.

It had been mid-70s all week. We finally had a chance to go to the beach, so we grabbed the kids and left. 

Turns out the weather had dropped, and it was very windy at the beach. We walked out on the fishing pier, just to say we had done something, then took the kids out to pizza instead. Maybe we'll try again in a few weeks, after I check the weather report.

S. found a great windbreak in the high back of a bench.

Shivering on the fishing pier.

Family Fun Saturdays

Last Saturday we went to a local swamp. My favorite part was our canoe ride through water-lily infested waters (seriously. you get mired in the lilies). The water is black from the tree sap. It isn't really that deep. I saw one wild alligator in the distance, but it quickly submerged and all the family could see were the bubbles.

Guess who was sure we would sink. 
He's the one not smiling.

We walked through the gardens, enjoyed the butterfly house and reptile "zoo," and watched the captive alligators get fed. It looked like the keeper was throwing whole, raw, chickens into their pond. Do they ever choke on bones?