Awana Grand Prix

Kellen participated in the Awana Grand Prix last weekend (not this past one, but the weekend prior).  He had originally decided that he wanted to make his car Superman-style.  When he and his daddy went shopping for the things needed to decorate said car, he changed his mind.

He wanted to decorate his car like a monkey.

For those who know Kellen at all, you'll find that incredibly fitting.

Matt couldn't for the life of him figure out how to make the car look like a monkey, and was trying to discuss options in Hobby Lobby with Kellen.  I'm told that after a little walking around, Kellen pointed out some thin, wooden monkeys.

And they had their inspiration.

They worked hard on that monkey....my monkey and his daddy...

They weighed the parts, trying to be sure it was heavy enough, but not too heavy...

They painted, and painted, and painted some more.  They took apart the wooden monkey, carefully cut it, glued it back together, and constructed a wonderfully brilliant creation.

My monkey and his monkey...

Kellen and Daddy took the monkey to the church to get weighed in....and realized that although they weighed carefully, the scales must have been ever so slightly off.

So they drilled holes in the bottom to get the weight just right.

And the next morning, Monkey Car raced against several other cars.

Well, truth be told, it raced against two cars, because it was a double elimination tournament.  Yup, you read that correctly....Monkey Car was cute, but very slow.  Perhaps next year they'll concentrate on the mechanics and aerodynamics of the car.

But they weren't concerned with that this year.

Their creative genius payed off, when Monkey Car won first place in the Creative Design category!