Soapbox

On Saturday we ventured into midtown for the Atlanta soapbox derby.  We didn't tell the boys where we were going- only that it was to see something they'd never seen before.  They were pretty excited when we told explained that a soapbox derby was like the pinewood derby, except you ride IN the car.

After Eric did some pretty impressive navigating around street closings and other obstacles (an ability that never ceases to amaze me, since I lack it completely), we made it just in time to see the last few cars leave the pits.

No engines were allowed, but other than that, pretty much anything went.  Each team did a little skit to introduce their car, and then they pushed it onto the course, which was lined with hay bales and included several jumps.  Some made it to the finish line and some didn't.  The fastest car we saw was shaped like a giant fish and popped three or four wheelies during its run.

I liked the Goonies car (below), but I don't think that one did too well.

Brigham's favorite was the Monopoly car- since that's been a favorite game of his and Eric's these past few weeks.  We even ran into the missionaries, who were lamenting the fact that they had not thought to enter a "Mormon car".  I'm sure they could have come up with something very creative- though I'm not sure the mission president would have been on board:).

If I'm being totally honest, leaving the house on a hot Saturday with four children was kind of a nightmare.  There were A LOT of people at the race and I constantly worried that we were not going to make it back to the car with all of our kids.  I forgot the sunscreen and we all got a little pink.  I packed tons of food and water, and still there was talk of starvation and severe dehydration.  But I look at these pictures, and think- we had fun together.

And it's got to get easier from here, right?  Please tell me it gets easier from here....