Apparently being 8 IS great!!

So, last night Alex participated in the annual Pinewood Derby Race for Cub Scouts! This was his first time ever going to Scouts, so it was a really neat experience for him and us! I don't really have any idea what Scouts entails, I was never a Brownie or a Girl Scout, and I haven't ever really had to serve over the Scouts in Primary, so again, no idea...this is a HUGE program!! Wow! I am truly impressed! My friend, Bonnie is one of Alex's leaders, so this is destined to be a fun program for him- he is more excited than I can begin to tell you. For 6 full weeks, he has talked about this upcoming race, knowing that since it was on his 8th birthday, he would be able to participate! He carefully chose his design for his car- KNIGHT RIDER! Dana and he worked on it for hours...I think Dana deep down really liked it and remembered the few years he spent in Cub Scouts. Here is the finished product...

The best is yet to come...his first race, he finished 2nd, and was thrilled!! Let me start over...Monday night, Dana spent 2 hours carving out the bottom to insert a 3oz weight...he even blistered his thumb (poor baby)...well, they duct taped the bottom closed, over the weight and it was done...well, when we got there last night, they had a scale, and so we weighed it, as per regulations, and it weighed 6.6oz!! We had no idea!! It is only allowed to weigh 5oz!! SO, thankfully, there were Pinewood weights there available for cars, so we took off the tape, and out came the weight, and we put official weights on the bottom till it weighed exactly 5oz! I am not sure if that was the key, but it worked!
Alex's Knight Rider won 1st place!! Yes, I am serious! There were 8 boys participating, all of them their 2nd or 3rd time, and we, the beginners, won 1st place!! Talk about exciting! I was so proud of my boys!! At times I think Dana was more ecstatic than Alex, but they both were over the moon proud and happy! Alex's car never lost or came in 2nd another race- he finished first every time. Now, I must say that he never raced against Ethan's car....which was super cool...it won all of it's first races....but, in a tragic crash, the wheel fell off, and it never performed well after that...so, somethings are just meant to be, right?!
Overall, it was a great 8th birthday for Alex! He got really fun gifts, and lots of money from his Aunts and Grandparents in California- talk about a happy kid! He is saving for additions to his new race car track.
So, now we can only hope that all birthdays from here on out are as fantastic and great as 8!
We can only hope!

That's his car in the 2nd lane right before the final race...Go Knight Rider!

These boys worked really hard on these cars...the yellow one was the one to beat! Go Ethan!

He really loves that trophy!

What a proud moment...Dana shares in Alex's spotlight!

Okay, Mommy was proud, too!!