The results are in...

We had a great time at the Powder Puff Derby this morning. We had to be there at 8 am to check-in for our 9:30 race. Lots of waiting around and then Gracie's car didn't race until the very end. Needless to say, it was a very LONG two and a half hours until her name finally came up on the racing board.

It was now her "heat". The three cars to race were carefully positioned at the top of the track. In the first race, her car was on Track 3. "On your mark, get set, GOOOOOOOOOO..." - they were off. Gracie's car came in just a fraction of a second behind, taking second place. Then came the second race, on Track 2. Woo, hoo...this time she came in first!!! Finally, the third race. Could she take first place in 2 out of 3? YES!!! Gracie was the winner in her "heat". I've never seen such excitement!

Since Gracie was one of the last 10 cars to race, we didn't have to wait long (thank goodness) for the final results. Gracie's car came in at a very respectible 22nd place. Not too bad for a first attempt at derby car racing. This actually worked out well because if you made it to the finals, you had to report back at 1 o'clock to for the Championship Race, which would have interferred with her very busy social calendar. She would not have been very happy to have missed a birthday party and a trip to Grandma's and Grandpa's house. So, 22nd place worked for us.

You'll notice that there are pictures of two derby cars in this post. Well, that's because you simply can't build a car for one child and not the other so this is a picture of Adam's Superhero Derby Car too. When his time comes to race, he'll be an old pro at pinewood derby design. :O)

It was touch and go there for a minute, ya'll

It's been SO long since I posted that I forgot my user id and password!! Yikes! After 4 failed attempts to sign-on, here I am. Whew!

January, February and March have been pretty dang hectic around the Colwill house. As some of you know (because you were hit-up to order/buy), this was Gracie's first year to participate in girl scout cookie sales. Woo-hoo!!! As a result, we have covered just about every square mile of our ENTIRE town (well not every SINGLE square mile but go with me here for dramatic emphasis), parts of Dallas, and have shipped boxes of cookies as far as Chino Hills, CA (thank you Uncle Gary) and even overseas to the troops in Iraq. Wow!

I'm SO proud of Gracie and the effort she put into selling those doggone cookies. She has peddled over 600 boxes, 88 of which were sent to the troops overseas. On behalf of the soldiers, a big shout-out to K-K and her WBS gang! Thanks so much for all your help too! All in all, Gracie worked her little fanny off and loved every minute of it, especially when the homeowners had a dog or cat. Of course, there were moments along the way where an ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT was in order but, after a stern talkin' to, I quit my complaining and sucked it up for the troop. Hey, I didn't have on the right shoes that day, okay?! My feet were killin' me! :O)

We have finally delivered all the cookies, completed our troop booth sales, turned in the money and, as of Tuesday, are officially DONE!

Words cannot express how happy I am about this. You have no idea! I am already dreading next year as we set the bar too dang high. What was I thinkin'? In hindsight, I would have handled that MUCH differently.

As for Adam, he has been exploring the many complexities of golf. As with most sports, he is quick to pick up the techniques and has already cranked a ball from our driveway ALL THE WAY down the block and across the street to our neighbor's house, that's 6 houses down people!!

Note to self: No more golfing in the front yard, lest we have to start budgeting for future window repairs.

Did I mention that this has prompted a trip to the PGA Superstore? Yes it did and now Adam (and Gracie, right) share their very own set of clubs. I'm sure as soon as our weather is nicer, and busy season (in the graduation business) is behind us, they'll be out on the links with their Daddy.

I don't know if you are aware but tomorrow morning is the Powder Puff Derby folks and this is serious business!! Anyone familiar with the derby?

The participants (all ages of girl scouts) build a pinewood derby car and race it on a gravity fed track. The fastest car wins! Gracie and her Daddy have been diligently working on the construction and design, as well as the aerodynamic-ness (is that a word?) of her "Flower Power Derby Car", as she has christened it - a name I know all you Wii Mario Kart enthusiasts can appreciate no doubt. Well, tonight is the official weigh-in. Once the cars have been weighed in by the racing officials, the cars are impounded until the race day. Can you believe that in the past, people have actually stooped to cheating after weigh-in to make their cars faster and THAT is why they have to impound the cars?! Shameful, just shameful! See, I'm tellin' you, this is serious stuff ya'll!!

Well, gotta go but I'll get back to you soon with the derby results and maybe a picture or two of the "Flower Power Derby Car". Oh, I'll also post about our spring break trip and the beaver tail tale.

Until then.....