Justin's Survivor Birthday Party

Check me out- two days in a row! About time I blog about Justin's birthday party- since it was about 6 months ago. Please be forewarned- there are more pictures of me in a bathing suit than I would normally consider appropriate for public viewing, but alas I bite the bullet to tell the story.

Justin is a fan of the show Survivor. But let me clarify- he has no time for any of that talking stuff. He loves the challenges and asks me to fast forward through the rest. During the Spring season, the "Heros vs Villians" season, we began to hatch a plan to turn Justin's party into a Survivor party. His party would be full of challenges and no tribal councils (he did have some plans originally for voting people off but was talked out of that plan).

We decided to split the guests Heros and Villans- as they arrived they had to grab a bandana. Red= Villian and Blue = Hero. Justin was captain of the Villians- due to his love of Boston Rob and Coach. Jessica was captain of the Heros- a J.T. fan.

So here is the first challenge. Villians on the left and Heros on the right. Each team had to build a one foot high free standing structure built from Legos. Each team had to assign runners to run to the bucket of legos and bring back the bricks. Here I am explaining the rules.

Team Villian working hard...
The Runners scooping up the Legos....
The Heros....
The Heros had already won but the Villians completed their tower as well. Sarah was heard saying to the team, "pride in finishing!". This sadly was a bad start for the Villians- and it didn't get any better for them.
The next challenge was a coin collecting challenge. I threw coins of all denominations into the pool, and the kids had to collect all the coins.
We threw some on the steps for the littler kids to collect.

They were instructed to bring their coins to their team mascots- for counting.
And then something horrible happened- something that anyone who is hosting an outdoor party dreads the most. It poured!

I mean it POURED!
Marc and I quickly pulled out Plan B. We moved the kitchen table into the Family room and brought everyone inside and put them on the floor (Martha Stewart I am not).
It actually worked out fine, since our next challenge was the dreaded Food Challenge! In every season of Survivor there is a Food Challenge where they need to eat something really gross. In fact as people RSVP'd to the party the parents almost all asked if there was going to be a food challenge. Now I was not about to blend up some worms and bugs for the kids to eat- well not really. Each team would send up to contestants. Each contestant would draw a slip of paper out of a cup. One cup was frozen options like sherbet or ice cream flavors. The second cup was the liquid cup- milk/ juice/ silk/ sprite. The third cup was the syrup flavor- chocolate/ caramel/ fluff. The fourth cup was the food cup- fish (chocolate goldfish)/ bears (teddy grahams)/ worms (gummy worms)/ nilla wafers. Wish I had a recording of the gasps of shock and horror when Fish was read off the paper- too funny. Once all the chosen ingredients were gathered Dee and I would blend them up into a yummy smoothie. Here is the thing- EVERY child stepped up to participate. [Well actually let me clarify- only one child did not even try and that was Justin.] We made it clear that it was by choice, no one had to do this. What really cracked me up was the littlest ones stepping up so brave. A few kids even got in line more than once.

Then we offered an adult challenge. This was something we used to do at Camp Jewell during Carnivals and it was a huge hit. I put a piece of Bubble Yum on each plate and covered it in whip cream. Then without using our hands we had to lick all the whip cream up and blow a bubble- first bubble blown wins.

I think this picture perfectly captures what happened. The whip cream somehow interacted with the gum and made it dissolve. No bubbles were blown and I believe the gum was swallowed. It was so funny all the adults looked up and gave each other these looks and then started laughing. Of course even after our description of what happened- the kids all lined up to try.
By then the sun had returned and we went back outside to partake in one of our favorite Justin party activities- the water balloon launcher! Matt and Jason are veterans now at holding the launcher. Our new neighborhood is kind of fun for the launcher, being at the top of a hill- those things can take off!

We set some targets out in the cul de sac- and by targets I mean Marc. They got extra points if they could actually hit him. He did take a hit on purpose and had the bruises to prove it for a few days. Didn't take long for the kids to realize that the fun was out where the balloons were landing.

The final challenge was a combined kid and grown up challenge. We decided to steal from our FV past and put together a bit of a beerienteering challenge. Hidden in the woods were 3 drinking stations for each team. At each station was a beer for a grown up and a juice box for a kid. They needed to complete their drink, and run their trash back out before the next group from their team could go. Here are the Heroes ready to go.

The Villians looking villianous.
And they are off!
The kids only had a 7oz juice box and the adults had a full beer bottle. This meant the kids were done WAY before the parents. This resulted in the kids screaming at the parents, "DRINK! DRINK!". And yes caused me to laugh.

Now all the kids can put straws into juice boxes. But with the pressure being on they were freaking out. Marc was busy chugging his beer and Addie and Julia were SCREAMING at him- it seems they couldn't get the straws into the boxes. And yes that made me laugh too.
The winning team, The Heroes, got to push an adult of the losing team into the pool. Mrs King was a great sport. No swimsuit- white shirt. But it was so hot and humid after the sun came out that truthfully I think she was happy to have an excuse to jump right in the pool.

It was very fun, and even with the rain I think the kids had a great time. Marc and I have decided that we want to host a real Beerienteering Party- adults only- in our backyard this Spring. Hopefully we can pull it off.

Then I left to go take pictures at a client's house and I left BeckyMatt and Marc in charge- not really sure what happened...