A Little Getaway

A while back we planned to have our friends the Wrights come down from Jacksonville and join us in Ocala for the last weekend in April. And then Parker qualified at the District Pinewood Derby and we found out that we would need to be in Jacksonville that same weekend for the Council Pinewood Derby. So we reversed our plans and the Allens headed for Jacksonville last Friday afternoon after work and school.

Everyone had a good time that evening, playing games and with pizza for dinner and later popcorn for a snack! Parker and Wesley seemed to do very well with the big dogs this time - Ella and Blade and even Simba the cat hung out hoping the new boys would share food from the table.

The boys had a slumber party in the living room and we were all up early on Saturday morning. Tanya went to help her mom with a yard sale and the rest of us headed off to the Jacksonville Baseball Grounds for the Pinewood Derby.

We entered through the third base gate like last year and
headed up one floor to where all the action was. 

Checking in and getting the car inspected and weighed. 

 

It was an entirely different track this year.
All elevated, a small incline and an incredibly long straightaway. 

We had to check in at 9am but the Bears didn't run until 10am.

 So we watched the Webelos run and wandered around a bit. 

A beautiful old church adjacent to the Baseball Grounds - it houses the Historical Society now. 

Veterans Memorial Arena across the street. 

And on the other side of the field and the parking lot - the Jacksonville Jaguars stadium. 

When it was time for the Bears to run, Parker got to sit inside the rope to watch. 

There were 24 heats and he ran 4 times, once in each lane. 

His first race was Lane 2, and he won it with a time of 3.7451.

Second race was in Lane 4, and he came in 3rd, with a time of 3.7726.

Third race was in Lane 1, and he came in 3rd, with a time of 3.7398.

And his final race was in Lane 3, and he came in 2nd, with a time of 3.6926.

That put him 16 overall out of 24 racers with an average time of 3.7258. 

They called all the kids up for a picture, and 

then each Bear received their certificate of participation and their uniform badge.

We headed out to celebrate with some play time at Dave and Buster's followed by lunch there. 

Then we headed back to the Wright's to change into our swimsuits and
hit the neighborhood pool for a bit. 

The boys loved the slide.

We don't have any slide pictures of Wesley because he panicked
when he came off the end and forgot to swim. 

Daddy was very close, and he never went completely under, but the lifeguard scooped him up first. 

So we had to sign an incident report, but he was thankfully, absolutely fine. 

And everyone went back to playing and having fun. 

We pulled out of Jacksonville about 4:30pm and made it home by 6:30pm to get unpacked, unwind and get ready for Sunday. It was a nice little break and a great chance to spent time with friends who feel like family.