This year's theme was games. Each participant had to model her car after her favorite game and write an essay explaining why she chose that particular game. After much thought, Bop settled on The Game of Life and opted to design her car so that it looked like one of the car-shaped game pieces. In her essay she explained that she liked Life because it was fun to get married, have children, buy a house and pay taxes. Something tells me that as she gets older she'll amend her last statement.
Littlest took a bit more time deciding which game to choose but eventually picked Battleship. Her car, which she named The Sally Sinker, was to look like one of the battleship game pieces. Littlest's essay stated that she like Battleship because the pieces looked like the boats the Marines used.
As luck would have it, J was out of town the week that the cars needed to come together and be officially weighed. I have never claimed to be handy with wood though I would say I'm crafty. The visions the girls had for their completed cars were beyond my realm of realization and limited wood shop skills. The most I can claim to have made out of wood was a 7th grade shop project that was a tic-tac-toe board with a built-in marble storage compartment. I'm not even sure I got an A.
Bop's car was shaped like a game piece, but I didn't bother with drilling holes to sink her pegs. Littlest's vaguely resembled a ship, but once it was painted it was passable. Faintly.
Both were a bit of a slapdash job, but we were the lot of us proud of our handiwork. Our bubble was soon popped at the official weigh-in.
Folks, the GS mean business. An entire workshop was set up so that cars could be modified on site if they fell under/over the official weight. Cars were weighed several times on a digital scale to ensure an accurate reading. The Sally Sinker and Bop's Life car were severely underweight. I was directed to a tool bench and told to drill a hole and sink a weight (metal bits and bobs) to help the cars make weight. Several dads were busy shaving, drilling and countersinking as I got in line with the girls. I looked at the cars being worked on and noticed that all of them were quite professionally done. Our pitiful cars were Maters next to rows of Lightning McQueens.
Bop's car required only a slight bit of weight and was easy to modify. Littlest's needed quite a bit of weight, and I was handed two hinges to add to her car. I couldn't bring myself to whittle out the necessary holes fearing I'd split the wood and instead convinced Littlest to glue the hinges on either side of her ship to act as 'torpedoes.'
Next, some powdered silicone like substance was added to the axles and the wheels were tapped in to the body. The girls were pleased enough, but I didn't harbor much hope of their placing.
Next day, J came home and took the girls to the derby. Upon seeing their cars, I think he decided never to let me help with a home project.
Miracle of miracles, the girls' cars raced passed the glossy, elaborate ones and went on to place in their brackets. In fact, they placed so highly that BOTH girls ended up racing their cars in the FINALS! Bop's car placed third OVERALL while Littlest's Sally Sinker took fifth OVERALL out of about 40 entries. The girls were awarded trophies and certificates and were quite pleased with themselves.
They weren't pretty, but they were fast!
Bop's red Life Car; J thinks her life must take place in the ghetto!
Littlest watching her first race
Here comes The Sally Sinker (grey car in foreground)!
Life is good for Bop; she blows the competition away!
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