Well, lots of things have been happening here in Tucson! James got the very first stitches of all the guys -- only one actually, but it was spectacular. He was running down the hall and looking back behind him when he ran into the corner of the wall and got an "L" shaped laceration in his eyebrow. Brigid and I took him to Urgent Care right away, and they agreed that he needed a stitch. The doctor put the lidocaine in, and it was a very bad scene. The screams that James let out could have cracked glass. The doctor then put in one tiny stitch and we were out of there -- 40 minutes for the entire experience! It was fantastic.


In other news, this past weekend was the Pinewood Derby! The guys were totally excited about this, and they all made cars and designed them down to the last detail. The whole purpose of this exercise was to beat another scout family -- not to foster friendship or anything else. That family has swept the awards for the last two years and Ron and another dad decided that they were GOING DOWN! Now, last year, the scout in that family told Andy that his dad had bought all of his pinewood derby gear online at a special pinewood derby store. Well, Ron and the other dad did some research and both of them bought their stuff online. The big day finally arrived, and Ron did not beat that other family. BUT! The other dad DID!! He was really really fast and beat that other family big time. What he did to win (and, by the way, this is perfectly legal), is he polished the wheels of the car with graphite. The car was also very aerodynamic and had been shellacked and polished to a high shine. It was truly impressive.

However, the BIGGEST news on the pinewood derby front is that Benjamin got SECOND PLACE in his age group!! He got a huge trophy for this -- the very first pinewood derby trophy I have ever seen. He was thrilled.