Grand Prix 2020

This past weekend, we had the AWANA Grand Prix at our church. It's a pinewood derby race that we've competed in for many years. The kids love it and look forward to it almost as much as their daddy does, ha. Leighton lets them choose any design for their car that they want. In years past, we've had a shark, police car, Hershey bar, monkey, shoe, a Camaro and "My Little Pony" Mustang, and various personalized designs. 

Leighton does a fantastic job with the cars, not only because he's a skilled craftsman, but because he's teaching our kids those skills, as well. As they get older, he expects them to complete more of the work. Drawing the design, sanding, painting--all the way down to cutting out the shape and polishing axles. It gives them a stronger pride in their cars and teaches them valuable skills.

Here are our 2020 Grand Prix cars!

  

I always love seeing their creativity. Anything can be made into a race car. Sometimes the kids know immediately what they want, other times we brainstorm until they decide, but we always have perfect designs in the end.  

Nicky suggested a few crazy ideas before he settled on Blaze from the television show (quite the resemblance, right?!) He actually wasn't involved in the design process since this car was a bit more involved, but he made a convincing project manager as he reminded his daddy of important missing details. He needs paint! Where are his wheels? In the end, he was quite pleased to drive Blaze across the gym floor and send him flying down the hallways.

Tyler had initially drawn two different ideas for his car. We all fell in love with his sub sandwich, so that became the winning choice. Tyler painted his buns and cut out felt for his fillings. It looks good enough to eat! He also made sure to have lighter colored slits in the top bun since that's how a real loaf bakes. Smart boy. He does love his momma's homemade French bread. 

Zac wasn't too concerned about a fancy car this year; he wanted to go for speed. He drew his design, sanded, and painted. He even added a number 18 on both sides, but soon realized they were covered by the wheels. Oops. His effort paid off though as he won 1st place for his group and competed in the overall race winning 2nd there. 

  

Alyssa took the longest to decide on a car. I personally suggested at least a dozen ideas (Leighton vetoed my Mount Rushmore suggestion, even though a group of perfectly carved presidents would be a guaranteed trophy). She eventually chose a hot dog, complete with ric rac mustard. Not only did she win a first place trophy for design, but for speed as well. That little hot dog can move!

Jake made his car completely by himself. Leighton gave suggestions and walked him through certain aspects, but Jake did the work. Not bad for a 14 year old! One of the wheels popped it off the track the first couple times down, but after it was angled differently, it really picked up speed. The adult group is only for fun, but I think his design was trophy-worthy. I'm sure there's no prejudice influencing that opinion either, ha. 

Leighton made his car by himself, too, ha! He put his engineering knowledge to work to design a fast car. He won every race in his group, won the overall race, and even beat a car that had never lost a race in many years. His car had hit 205 mph. I think to say he reached his goal of crafting a fast car and one that made his kids proud.

It was another great year at the Grand Prix! Designing, detailing, racing--it's all part of the fun! The trophies are just icing on the cake.

Or mustard on the hot dog.