Derby Days!

So on Saturday, Jay and Jon Owen participated in "Derby Day" with some of Jon Owen's new "Rowdy Raiders" Adventure Guides Tribe members.  He had never participated before, so none of us knew quite what to expect -- but basically each participant is given a block of wood and some wheels, and is supposed to create a car to be raced. 

So a few days before the race, Jay and Jon Owen went out into the garage, sanded the wood down with sandpaper, and Jon Owen painted it with kids paints.  The wheels got put on after the paint dried, and a single star sticker was placed on the car.  They were ready to rumble.

So apparently, Dads get REALLY into this derby thing.  Some of the cars looked like they were professionally made -- they had been mitered and sawed to within an inch of their aerodynamic lives, painted with pinstripes and camo and all sorts of craziness, and weighted with itty bitty lead weights to make them travel faster.  It was clear that this was not so much a Father/Son activity as it was a Type A Father gone crazy activity.  But Jon Owen raced his car proudly.

You'll have to click on that picture to get the full effect of what some of those cars looked like...

And in the end, he won some races, earned a blue ribbon and a red ribbon, and won the "Judges Choice" trophy which is given out to the participant that most displays the spirit of the activity.

Can you believe the size of that trophy????  He was so proud of himself, it was a great thing.  Also making a great showing, from his tribe -- Andrew Sincovec won "meanest car" and Andrew Rich won the grand prize for fastest car (look at all those blue ribbons!) and "most patriotic car."

In the end, a fun afternoon.  Lots of smiles to go around.