Wiser Derby, Take Two

I'm sure you've been on pins and needles, waiting to hear about the awesomeness that was yesterday's Wiser Lake Chapel Second Annual Pinewood Derby.  (Doesn't that sound Official and Important? ;D) 

Good news.  The suspense is over.

FYI, because I'm apparently a huge party pooper (who didn't want to take her good camera into a room full of hyped up kids), I snapped some pics of the boys "cars" before we left home, and the rest are from Kerry's cel.

Tate went for irony with the ubiquitous and ultra-slow Pacific Northwest gastropod, the slug, complete with slime trail.

Gunnar also crafted something unexpected, inspired perhaps by The Hunt for Red October.

And Wyatt, enamored by the British show Top Gear, built this Lancia.

Though he also brought along his bus (from last year) so he could see which one was faster.  Guesses?

Let's just say he proved my theory that in pinewood derby races, going for speed is a complete crapshoot, so you might as well aim for entertainment.

Tate's slug was, well... sluggish, and didn't win a single race.  Wyatt's sports car did slightly better, while Gunnar's submarine advanced further through the brackets than either of his brothers' vehicles, but still ultimately lost.

The Peanut Gallery kept creeping closer.  But I love this pic.  At least four of the women there have just come to be social.  They haven't built cars, and don't have kids in the races, either.  But they've come to be part of it, which is something I love about the chapel :D

What I didn't love, (and here I'll sound like the Grinch...) was the noise, noise, noise, noise!  See all those hard surfaces, for sound to bounce off?  And all those excited kids, cheering and shrieking?

But it was all good fun, if a bit of an ear-bashing.  Somehow we didn't get a photo of the little girl who took first place (good job, Adia!) or her older brother in third (way to go, Steele!), but Kerry snapped this pic of Jackson (2nd place) getting his trophy :D  I love that the littlest kids won all the speed trophies :D  And everyone was a good sport.

We didn't come home empty handed.  Wyatt's Lancia took the "Best In Show" trophy - he put a lot of work into the details.

Also like last year, there was a pretty good show going on outside as we all headed home.  The man-made camera can never capture what your God-made eyes can see...  although it was only a small arc of a rainbow, this was one of the brightest and most vivid I've ever seen.

It grew a little taller before dissipating.    *Happy Sigh*

Meanwhile, the boys are already scheming for next year...