Elder's Quorum Pinewood Derby

Our ward's Elders Quorum (a church organization for men) had a pinewood derby for the men, and the only 2 rules were 1) the cars had to start on the track and 2) no fire. Jonathan wasn't sure where his car kit even was, but the morning of the activity I convinced him to find it and make a car. It just seemed like too much fun to miss out on--plus, there was free food for the family!
So Jonathan looked up a few scientific tips on the internet and then spent the morning sanding and painting his car. He loaded it with shotgun pellets and a couple of bullets for weight. It was pretty simple looking, just plain red, and Bailey was quite disgusted with it, especially once we got to the church and saw the variety of cars there. Bailey told Jonathan he had the "ugliest, boringest car." After seeing the clever ways the men had come up with to "cheat," Jonathan didn't think his had a chance at winning. I won't take time to describe all the different cars, but it was very amusing--I recommend this activity for any ward or adult group!
Anyway, they started with timed trials, and we were pleasantly surprised to see that the "Red Bullet" took third place. After that they did a racing bracket, and Jonathan won time and again.

Here's Jonathan and our friend Zach racing their cars for the grand prize! All the kids were so proud, especially the little boys. Of course, they all wanted their daddy to win!

Zach's car had a CO2 cartridge on it, which I was very excited to see in action, but his wife was afraid he was going to blow up the church, and I guess in the end he couldn't get it to launch, anyway, so he just raced it without.....

And the winner is.....

Jonathan and the Red Bullet! Bailey went from being Jonathan's biggest critic to his second biggest fan! Colby, of course, was his biggest fan--he carried that car around and raced it down the track against the other kids' daddies' cars. And for getting first place, Jonathan won 2 movie tickets and a Costa Vida gift card--YES! Date night!