Team Studer's 15 Most Beloved Children's Books

Let me start by saying that I have a fanatical hunger for buying books for our kids.  As a former educator and a lover of books myself, having a plentiful library for our kids is somewhat of an obsession of mine.  I want my kids to have 24/7 access to the classics and the new greats, my favorite books as a kid, informational nonfiction books, fairy tales, stories with lessons in them, and books that only come out for each holiday. The best books are the ones that keep them laughing and wondering long after we close them.

We've been reading to the kids since they were newborns, so sitting down to read together is one of the most natural things I do with the kids all day.  Our kids love listening to books because they love the stories, pictures, and our sound effects - but more so they love the undivided attention it brings with us.  In fact, when the day feels like it's all crumbling into a pile of madness; my first move is to tell the kids they each get to pick some books and we'll all take a 'time in' to read together.




As our children's library in the house is fairly large (and ever-growing!), it's always interesting to me to see which books the kids gravitate towards naturally.  There are books that I love most for different reasons (the moral in Little Blue Truck , the message in Players In Pigtails , etc) but the kids have favorites of their own and those are usually the ones that I have memorized from start to finish.  These are our Team Studer top 15 Most Beloved Children's books*

*And by our Most Beloved books, that means our most beat-up, taped, chewed, busted up books that are asked to be read over and over again.



Mercy Watson to the Rescue - by Kate DiCamillo
Kate DiCamillo is a writing genius.  This book, these characters, this world is our bedtime bread and butter (hah! pun intended if you've read this book).  I seriously might know all the words to this entire book by heart.  We also have Mercy Watson Fights Crime but DiCamillo's first Mercy Watson book is by far our favorite.  Greyson and Gemma both love this story and I know exactly what page Gemma will drift off to sleep.  It's a chapter book, but we read straight through to the end every time we read it.  Thank you Ms. DiCamillo, seriously this is maybe top favorite book in our entire home.

Sam and Dave Dig a Hole - by Mac Barnett
I love this book so much.  It's a bonus that the kids love it too because I don't mind reading it at all.  Sam, Dave, and their pup go out to find something spectacular and, oh boy, do our kids love knowing all the spectacular that Sam and Dave just barely miss out on!  They love being 'in the know' like the dog (hahah!) and then the odd twist at the end keeps us forever speculating on what actually happened on their adventure. We've only had this book since last Christmas and it's in a heavy rotation of here.

Peanut Butter Rhino - by Vincent Andriani
Bar none, the funniest book we have in our collection.  I was first introduced to this book when my little sis purchased it many a year ago in one of those Scholastic order forms you get in school.  The copy we have is actually THAT copy, so it's no wonder it's been taped up about one hundred times already.  It also helps that my voice for the Rhino is straight up ridiculous and the pages are organized similarly to a comic book.  I mean, is there anything more funny than a Rhino who doesn't know his squished sandwich is still stuck to his butt?  um, no.

Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain - by Verna Aardema
I discovered this book while teaching and fell in love with the rythm and the folktale that makes up the book.  The story is set to the pace of 'The house that Jack built,' so it's fun for the kids to hear the story grow up on itself on each page.  Greyson especially loves the idea of shooting the rain from the clouds with a bow and arrow and sometimes we go outside and try to do just that on cloudy days.

Goodnight, Gorilla- by Peggy Rathman
This nearly wordless book captivates my children with some sort of magical pull.  My kids from age 8 months to 5 years all love this book.  It's also one of the first choices when the bigger kids get to 'read' to Violet because the lack of words on each page somehow gives them the confidence to read it without being reminded that they can't yet actually read words.  This book is brillant.

Peter's Chair - by Ezra Jack Keats
Oh, Peter, we can so relate to his ache to keep his own things for himself instead of sharing with his baby sister.  We love Peter because WE are Peter.  Peter doesn't want to give his 'baby things' for his little sister because they are his, but as he finds, he doesn't need them anymore.  The struggle is real over here too with three siblings, so Peter's story is a refreshing and gentle reminder of how big kids get to do big kid things and they grow out of baby things.  Plus, Peter tricks his mom with a funny prank towards the end and the kids think it's absolutely genius.

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? - by Eric Carle
We have three copies of this book and read all of them, but our favorite is the interactive slide&find book.  This book has lovingly grown up with our kids from babies (beautiful colors and repetitive words) to toddlers (they love the funny voices I add to each animal), to preschoolers (who find this book easy to 'read').  Eric Carle is wonderful and we have several of his books.  Our second favorite (almost made this same list!) is The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

There's a Mouse About the House! -by Richard Fowler
This book may come as blast from the past - my sisters and I loved the crap out of this book when we were little.  I randomly saw it in a bookstore a year or so ago and had such a feeling of nostalgia I bought it on the spot.  Now my kids are loving the crap out of it.  We've lost and then found the mouse in our own house multiple times.  We've had to packing-tape the mouse up twice now and also the mouse holes in the book.  It's not a great wear and tear book for little ones - but they don't care, it's all busted everywhere and they are still constantly pulling it out.  It's seriously the most fun book ever.

Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale - by Mo Willems
If it's by the amazing Mo Willems, you know its going to be good.  Knuffle Bunny makes our kids laugh and they love knowing Trixie's problem while her Daddy keeps walking totally clueless about the missing bunny.  Knuffle Bunny is our favorite Mo Willems book, but certainly not our only.  We also have the second Knuffle Bunny and two Pigeon books.  My next Mo Willems book that's on my wishlist is Waiting is Not Easy.

Smart Kids: Predators - by Roger Priddy
The kids LOVE these books.  I LOVE these books.  I want all of the Smart Kids books (we already have three of them).  They have just enough information to totally delight the kids, but not overwhelm them.  And if the kids are restless and need something to hold them over until dinner time, I tell them to go get a Smart Kids book and look through it, to which they happily do.  Huge full page pictures of the animals up close and cool graphics to tell you how dangerous and how big each predator is.

Chloe, Instead - by Micah Player
Another sibling book that lends to the fact that having little siblings is both hard and fun.  We originally got this book to read before Violet was born, but it's been heavy in rotation long since then.  The illustrations are bright and beautiful and the kids love Chloe and her hilarious, mischievous nature.  The ending is so sweet, I almost cry every time we read it (hah), and it's such a nice reminder that being a big sibling takes a lot of patience and kindness.

This Jazz Man - by Karen Ehrhardt
I bought this book because of a Intro to Jazz class I took in college when I fell in love with Jazz music and it's history.  To my sheer delight, this is one of our kids' favorite books.  It's set to the rhythm of 'This Old Man' and each page portrays a famous Jazz musician.  We usually end up looking up the real life musicians on youtube after reading the book.  There is a little mouse that hidden somewhere on each page too, which is a big draw for the kids to point the little guy out.

Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You? Book of Wonderful Noises - by Dr. Seuss
This book has the wackiness of Dr. Seuss without the length.  I love it because it is both fun to read and also short enough that keeps the kids attention.  I can say it with my eyes closed and the kids like to try to 'sing' the last page with all the noises.  We have the tiny sized board book, so it's easy to carry in the diaper bag (one of the reasons our is so beat up).  It's our favorite book to read while we wait for our food to arrive at restaurants.

A Lot of Otters - by Barbara Helen Berger
This book will forever be held in my heart because it is a favorite bedtime story for my kids while they were still young enough for daytime naps.  Each page has beautiful, almost drowsy, lyrics and honestly lulls the kids to quiet reflection.  Maybe its the beauty of the otters drudging up stars from the bottom of the sea, or the peace that comes when the worrying Mother Moon finally finds her lost child who is safe floating in a box.  I don't know what it is about this book, but we all cherish it.

My No No No Day - by Rebecca Patterson
We all love this book.  Bella is having a crap day and she just wakes up with a bad attitude.  The rest of her day, she goes on to describe all the things that go wrong (spoiler alert: everything annoys her today) and then finishes with her apologizing to her momma before she wakes up to have a better day the next day.  There are some negative reviews on Amazon for this book because Bella doesn't get any consequences all day for being cranky - but we use the book as a way to see how sometimes we all have hard days, life is like that, but it doesn't mean every day is a hard day and it also doesn't mean that every kid who is cranky in public is a bad kid (including our own)!  I also always point out Bella's momma in the book who looks so ragged and tired (so much like ME! Hah!) and how even after Bella is not very nice all day, her momma still comes to tuck her in at night with her favorite story and forgives her - because that's what parents do, they love their kids, even on the hard days.

What are some of your family's most beloved and worn out books?  You know I'm always trying to grow our library over here!

If you're in need of some fresh ideas, you can check out some of my favorite instagram accounts who catalog children's books with reviews.  I basically build my Amazon wishlists off of the accounts of The Little Book Collector, Kid Lit BookaDay, and The Littlest Library.



Disclaimer:  This post includes affiliate links to Amazon.

is there more fun to be had than countdowns?

...but is there anything more fun then squeezing every last drop of anticipation out of an upcoming event by counting that thing down?  Over here at Team Studer, we're going to go with Nah, there isn't.

We love us some countdowns, we do countdowns for anything and everything in the upcoming future that us parents accidentally mention too early which then causes our sweet, curious children to ask incessantly on the half hour daily "Is it time now?"

And so, as we now have sufficiently stuffed ourselves with delicious turkey and thanksgiving merriment - it is time to move into the holiday season.  Which means our favorite jolly elf friend, Marco arrived again at our house on November 30, under the tree in a sparkly box all the way from the North Pole with a note from Santa.  best.day.ever.

We have been talking Marco up for the past few weeks actually, because Grey could barely stand himself in how much he was hoping Marco would come stay with us again.  He's mentioned quite a few times (read: approximately 7500 times) which of Marco's antics are his favorites (underwear in place of stockings -obviously; potty humor never goes unappreciated in our house).  So, with Greyson's favorites in mind and a little help from Pinterest - I've created another 24 days of Marco Mania in our house for 2014.

If you're a regular around here, you already know that we do Elf on the Shelf a little differently than the book goes - so Marco has spent his last two days here with us in the arms of my kids most of the time.  He's sort of like just another person in our family and we find him all over the house participating in our normal routines; at the dinner table, watching movies with the kids, and snuggling up at naptime.  Marco is our Christmas Countdown helper and someone that helps our kids to remember kindness, patience, and love is what the season is about.

While I was thinking about Marco and his tricks a few weeks ago, I got to thinking about how much effort goes into the whole countdown.  Every night, setting up these little scenes and making sure I have the accessories for each on hand for the right day.  I mean, it's not elaborate or anything but it is an effort and such a fun way to make it through the crazy weeks leading up to the season....and I got to thinking....Sheesh, what if we put this much effort into something special for Brandon and I every night?

And thus, our grown-up advent countdown was born.    This is not revolutionary - see this beer advent calendar, this sexy one, and this lotto ticket one.  But it is for us because we are notorious for putting our alone time dead last (like laster than last).

So - Quick, funny story -
B texted me last week "I have a surprise for you tonight" and I literally thought, "oh, I hope it's a chance to get an uninterrupted, unnecessarily long hot shower when he gets home and we go to bed early."  not.kidding:  this is my current fantasy with three kids under the age of 5.  super sexy.

Anyway, the surprise was actually our first solo dinner out at a fancy-ish restaurant in a reeeeeally long time (i'm talking like months...a year?  oh God).  So, I put on a dress and heels (!!!), ya know the whole nine yards, Gigi&Pappy watched the kids (thank you!) and just the two of us got to go to a restaurant where the floor wasn't sticky and there were no kid's menus.  it was delightfully disorienting.

Then the waiter comes over and starts telling us the specials using phrases like "pan-seared" and "resting on a bed of arugula" and I kid you not, I was smiling so wildly that I was near the point of giggling.  The 'Shouldn't laugh in church but now I can't stop' sort of stuff...all because I was honestly holding back moans of ecstasy at the sound of grown up food that I wasn't in charge of making and that no one was going to try to steal from my plate.  It was ridiculous. There must be a stay-at-home-Mom specific version of Stockholm's syndrome...no?

Okay - Back to our grown up advent calendar
It's super duper fancy and elaborate.

just kidding.
it's on post-it notes
and we had one rule: we aren't allowed to buy anything new to complete the activities.

The point is to set aside time after kid bedtime to do something together that we don't normally make time to do.  Some of the activities are short & sweet:  hand massages for each other, or slow dance to our wedding song - and some more time consuming like a game of scrabble with wine or our favorite Christmas movie and popcorn.

Tonight?  I'm taping The Voice to watch while we enjoy a beer together on the couch when he gets home from practice :)

Is your family fans of countdowns too?
Yes?  How are you counting down the season?

Baby Raising Competition: A third baby celebration

There are lots of things my third baby won't get that her siblings did:  lots of new clothes (we love handmedowns!), parents that aren't shared with two other kids, a crib that doesn't already have bite marks all over it, board books with clean, unchewed corners and no pages missing....

==Although there are lots of things she will get that her sibling didn't too:  a big brother and big sister who can't wait to meet her, parents that are far better experienced in parenting, a mother who has watched two other children grow too fast and will hold a little longer and cherish all the small moments a little more consciously. ==

Knowing all this makes me feel both a little bad for her (on all the things she won't get) but also grateful for her (for all the things she will get) and as I was filling in the initial pages of her baby book, I flipped to the page that announced at the top "My parents had a party in honor of me" and I thought, 'No, somehow she will not miss out on this one thing.'

We definitely don't need any more baby 'things' to prepare for this girl - we have bins and bins of girls clothes until she and Gem are about 7 (thank you Kate & Tausha!) and all the blankies, swaddles, bottles, slings, and strollers a new mom can care to dream about.  But I did want to have a party in which we could celebrate her impending arrival.  A way to bring our family together, include our young kids and her future cousins, and for it to be fun!! (and funny if possible).



The inspiration for the party came from 'practicing' with our kids about baby related activities (diaper changing, swaddling) and the thought (hope!!) that we will be experts this time around with our third.  Plus, we love competitions and making grown-ups play funny games - thus was born our Baby Raising Competition party to celebrate our newest addition.

Our Baby Raising Competition:

We invited our close friends and family to our house on a Sunday afternoon - boys and kids too! to spend the day together in honor of our new girl.

Our Baby Raising Competition included a delicious spread offered from our amazing guests.  (thank you, all!)  That's what happens in our family - you tell everyone not to bring gifts and they all show up with food, dessert, and diapers!  (we are so, so blessed).

We all lounged around and ate and completed a few little activities at the start of the party.  I had a  Guess how many M&M jar set up (simplest game ever), and some fill-in-the-blanks for our new girl (inspired by this pin) for her to read someday when she's a teenager and needs a reminder how much she is loved.

And then it was time for the Baby Raising Competition to Begin!  We had our guests pair up with a partner to complete a set of Baby Raising related activities to earn points (tallied on our poster size scoreboard).

Our first game was Blindfolded Pudding Feeding:  Feeders were blindfolded and knelt in front of their partners who had to sit on their hands.  The top three teams were selected for having the least amount of pudding on their faces and/or bodies (we supplied napkin bibs to protect shirts).

Our next event was Baby Food Taste Tasting:  the partners each had a chance to test five different baby foods and give a guess as to which fruit/vegetable it was made of.  We didn't blindfold them so they were able to see the color & texture which actually didn't seem to offer much help (hah!)  Teams were given +2 points for each correct baby food guess.

Then we had partners Fill in the Missing Words to our Favorite Nursery Rhymes.  I selected four of my personal favorite songs/rhymes I sing to the kids and we had the partners complete the papers to earn points for each correct word.  Greyson and his partner cousin Ariel were the only ones to get a perfect score!  Way to go Booboo!  (hahha, he had a little bit of an advantage obviously).

Afterwards, I had all the teams watch as I slowly went through the steps to swaddle one of Gemma's babydolls.  Afterwards I asked if anyone had any questions, (no one did), and then I announced that our next event would be Grown Up Swaddling using a moving blanket to which laughter erupted from the crowd.  Partners needed to decide who would be the 'baby' and who would be the Swaddler and the event was timed.  Teams had to follow the exact steps of swaddling for it to count as a complete swaddling.  It was absolutely hysterical.  (Brandon and his partner Aunt Pam won this event!  Yay Daddy!)

Finally, we finished out the competition with a relay-style Baby Raising Obstacle Course:  At the start of the timer, the first partner was asked to diaper a baby doll, put the baby in a carseat, run a set of hula hoops, and then crawl under the trampoline.  The second partner then had to remove the baby from the car seat, change the baby's diaper again, place the baby in a front carrier, and push our play vacuum along a long line.  The obstacle was completed with a 'family' photo finish!

After a close competition, our winners of the Baby Raising Competition were Aunt Uch and Kevin!  (ahem.)

The day was a fun (and hilarious) way to celebrate our third baby's upcoming arrival.  I am so grateful to have family and friends willing to spend a beautiful summer afternoon playing silly games that make me giggle.  I can't wait to show this baby girl how her favorite people in the world spent a day swaddling each other and tasting baby food in her honor someday.  Oh how she will laugh and also think her family is a bunch of weirdos.

We closed out the evening with more lounging, chatting, and laughing.  We are so lucky to have family and friends that help clean up and take extra food home (thank you!!) So as always, parties are easy to manage when people show up early to help and leave late to help.  (honestly so blessed).  And we had very sleepy kids that night after so much fun and playing all day.

Dear baby girl,
We love you, darling, so much.
We just can not wait for you to be here with us.
love you already
and then forever and ever after that,
your family

6th Annual Studer's Invitational Beer Olympics

A few weeks ago, we hosted our annual Invitational Beer Olympics - our sixth!- and it was another fun, hilarious, and awesome year.  I will say it again and again:  we could not host this event year after year if it wasn't for the generous and dedicated participants that set up, donate, play, and clean up that weekend.   (thank you guys so much).

We kept our participant list to a max of 32 people to give us eight teams of four.  This is our ideal number so that we have even competition brackets and still a manageable group; more than eight teams gets too be too difficult to keep everyone focused.

We were lucky to have The Hunting Daddies co-sponsor our event and purchase the kegs for the day, so that allowed our participating fee to be lower in price this year.  The Hunting Daddies were also the inspiration for our donation this year which the event raised $572 for Hunt of a Lifetime; an organization that arranges and pays for dream hunting and fishing trips for children with life threatening illnesses.

If you're solely here to see a highlight reel of all of the days' awesomeness and why you should host one yourself (or wish you came to ours! hah), please check out this amazing recap video created for us by Anchored Films of this year's events.  (Thank you, Anchored Films!)


6th Annual Invitational Highlights from Anchored Films on Vimeo.

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Now, if you are sufficiently pumped up about our event and would like to learn more - read on for a more in depth look about our event and games...

The day started as all Beer Olympics do; players and refs arrive to set up their pot luck contribution (roasters, salads, cookies, slow cookers line our garage walls) and then they get signed in with their participation fee, receive their tshirt, and sign our accident & release waiver.

After getting checked in, participants ease into the day by catching up with each other and playing a casual game of Sloshball in the yard (kickball/baseball but with beer). While the players are involved with Sloshball, the refs and I organize the teams for the days event - keeping only last year's champion team as the same.  Our reigning champs this year was Team Joker. 

This year, we decided to try something a little different; in the weeks leading up to the Beer Olympics, we chose 7 confirmed participants as Tributes that would not be placed on a team, but rather be up for selection through an auction prior to the start of the games.  Our Tributes were selected for their years of veteran beer olympic experience and special skills.  Each Tribute would be an asset to have on any team, but could bring a special talent to teams that might have been lacking a particular component like fast chugging, agility, or team motivation.  

On the day of Beer Olympics, teams of three were announced and then we had our Tribute auction.  Tributes were announced one by one along with their skills and an opportunity to show off their talents.  We obviously had selected entrance themes for each of them too - hahaha.  Teams had the opportunity to spend up to $15 dollars ($5 from each participant) to purchase tickets to place in Tribute bags for a chance to have them join their team.  

One by one, our tributes were auctioned off to teams until each team had a total of four players.  Team facepaint and hairspray were applied and it was time to get the games started!

Our first event is always a Beer Pong Tournament.  The first game is played like regular beer pong (house rules) and the winners move on to a winner's bracket while the losers from each first game move onto a loser's bracket for the next round.  

Every year, Beer Pong has taken a huge amount of time up for our event, so we decided that after the first round of Standard Beer Pong, we would play subsequent rounds using the Hungry Hungry HipPong version of the game from College Humor.  This decision turned out to be a big success and also kept the Beer Pong event to a more reasonable time frame.

Following Beer Pong, we play Dingbat relay which is always hilarious.  The game is played relay style with each player of a team chugging a beer than spinning around six times before (attempting) to run around a post to tag their teammate.  We were too busy filming Go Pro footage of the Dingbat relay to take any actual photos (see highlight film above)!

Following Dingbat relay, we play Do or Die Ice Cube Tray Canoe Race Tournament.  This is a funny event as some players don't mind it at all (and excel at the task!) while other players absolutely hate this event.  The first round of play is with an entire Ice Cube tray filled while subsequent matches are only filled with one row of the tray.  Only winners move on to the next round.

Next in the day's event line up was an opportunity to receive a few extra points for your team if you hadn't done so well yet in the games.  We offer a chance for each team member to participate in a keg stand (upside-down and right-side up) for +3 points to be added to your team score for each teammate who could successfully complete a keg stand (Boys for 7 seconds and Girls for 5 seconds).  --Our keg stands run out of a real live tap system (not a pumper) so the beer comes out fast which is why our keg stands are set at those times--  Drinkers are held up for their keg stands by other players while a ref counts aloud and another person operates the tap system.

Following the Keg Stand challenges, we go straight into Slippy Cup that is played in four heats.  A representative from each team plays in a heat:  drink, flip cup, slide down our slip n' slide, then drink, and flip another cup.  (The key for documenting who finishes in what order is to have the players sit down as soon as they successfully flip their second cup).

We finish out the first half of the day with the same event every year; Anchorman.  Each team receives a pitcher of 2quarts of beer and has to finish the whole pitcher.  Each team member takes a drink and passes the pitcher to the next player.  Once the pitcher is passed, it cannot be passed back; leaving whatever is remaining in the pitcher for the 'Anchorman' (last teammate) to finish themselves.  

After an intermission in which everyone fills their bellies with carbs and other delicious food contributed by the players and refs - we get back to the games and ease back into the evening portion of the day with a standard Flip Cup tournament including winners' and losers' brackets.

Our next event is a player favorite; Bong Races which are played as a Do or Die tournament.  Our QuadBongs were diy-ed by Brandon's dad using PVC pipes, plastic tubes, and wood (all purchased at a local home improvement store).  We've used our QuadBongs in all 6 Beer Olympics!  (Ref tip:  Have players step back and put their hands behind their back when they finish to help decide winners easier).

This year, for our 8th event, we played (our first time) Survivor Flip Cup which turned out to be a great addition.  Although we play multiple versions of Flip Cup throughout the day, it is always a good game as it seems to be an equalizer for all players; those that can drink a ton and those that can't.  Thanks to the Canfield Beer Olympics for the inspiration for the game!!  We had a representative from each team play at a table (8 players, each from one team, at a table that played flip cup all at once); last one at the table to drink & flip was 'kicked off the table and another round started - until there was only one player left at the table who received the most amount of points.  This was a game that made it possible for one team to win a huge amount of points if they were able to have a team member make it to the final round on each table!

Things at this point are fairly hazy for all the participants.  Dance parties explode out of nowhere...people are adding chili, nacho cheese, heaping piles of onions, and Doritos to top their hot dogs & sauerkraut, and it takes a lot of effort to get anyone's focus to the game at hand. 

We give the teams one last chance to get some extra points before the final event with Chug Off Challenge.  Teams are able to challenge another team to a chug off and the winner receives an extra 5 points to their overall score.  

Finally it's time for our last challenge of the day - an obstacle course that involves all four teammates. We have changed up the obstacle legs over the last years and this year was no difference.  It included a 'tire run,' rolling down hills, a golf/frisbee section, and even a potato sack hop.  This event somehow always ends up happening after dark and this year my camera battery had run out.  So unfortunately no pictures!  The teams are ranked in order of speed and then given points based on their obstacle performance. 

Scores are then tallied up and nominations for the awards ceremony finalized by the refs while the rest of the participants continue to eat, drink, and be very very merry (ie. dance parties, spraying each other with water bottles and laughing hysterically until they literally fall to the ground). 

Our awards ceremony is always hysterical and received with immense amounts of enthusiasm.  It's a known fact that everyone likes to be recognized and we hand out awards for all kinds of skills, talents, and mishaps that were observed during the day.  Our awards range from 'Crybaby' (biggest whiner to the refs) to 'Puke n' Rally' (first to throw up but keep playing), to 'Shark' (someone who doesn't look like a competitor but sneaks up on ya), to 'Zophagus' (fastest chugger).  Our highest awards include "MVD: Most Valuable Drinker", "Rookie of the Year," and this year we included "Tribute 2015 Nominations" for participants who displayed superior performance throughout the day.

After the awards are distributed, teams are then announced by ranking; beginning with our last place team up to our first runner up team until...finally we blast Queen's We Are the Champions on the stereo to announce our new Beer Olympic Champions for 2014:  Team Olaf  (congrats Team Olaf!) in which they receive the first sips from our Studer Torpedo and the chance to defend their title as champions at the 2015 Beer Olympics.  

Before photo:  Team Olaf

After photo:  Team Olaf and the Studer Torpedo

Here is the root of the root
and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky
of a day called Beer Olympics:
It is all about the friends, charity, and laughs.

if you don't have those things - you won't have a successful Beer Olympics.  And we have been lucky to have those things (and people that understand those things) for six years running.  Thank you all so much for making Beer Olympics one of our absolute favorite days of the year.