Monday, September 28, 2015

The Great Zucchini Race

I'm three four days late posting this, but I'm finally here to tell you about The Great Zucchini Race.  Now, you might not have realized that zucchinis are capable of racing.  They have no visible legs, and I've never yet seen one wriggle like a worm.  However, an annual tradition at Rowan's school is, indeed zucchini racing.  Rowan decorated a lovely zucchini.






















All the kids were given their zucchinis on Monday.  The race was held Friday, which meant we had four days to get this guy ready.  Naturally, we put it off until Thursday evening.  I am not an artistic person.  Craft projects send me into panic overdrive.  I kept hoping someone else would volunteer to help him with it, but when no one stepped forward, I knew I had to do my motherly duty.

Nail polish! I thought.  Surely nail polish would give it a nice, hard coating, while also making it smooth and streamlined!  I thought maybe a few racing stripes.  I wasn't factoring in Rowan, though.  Rowan wanted a CAT wearing PANTS and a SHIRT.  Yeah, if you can't tell that from the picture, you're not alone.  I think it looks more like a pig.  ("Rowan, if it's a cat, where's the tail?"  Rowan, disdainfully:  "It's a Manx.")

FYI, if you ever decide to use nail polish to decorate a zucchini, here's a helpful tip or two I could have used:  Buy 10 bottles of the same color.  Pour them all into a container.  Get a larger paint brush and dip in.  I really, really wish we had done that, because OMG, it took forever to paint that thing with a little, tiny polish brush.  Grandpa did the wheels, which were awesome.

Friday we sent him off to school with his zucchini in a box.  Savanna, Henry, Grandma, and I went over in the afternoon to witness the event.  Rowan's was first on the ramp.  It went a decent distance, but was nowhere near the winner.



Actually, not all the zucchinis really raced.  Only the ones in the Fastest and Furthest Distance categories got sent down the ramp.  Other categories included Prettiest, Sparkliest, Tallest, and Heaviest.  Here are some of the other contestants:



I bet you never imagined you could do so much with a simple garden vegetable!  Anyway, it was a lot of fun, and everyone had a good time.  (Apart from the kindergartner who broke down in tears when his zucchini failed, but he was soon comforted with Twizzlers.)  So far Rowan's school has done an exceptional job of Making Learning Fun, and that is very encouraging.  I hope it continues to be a pleasant experience for him!