7th Annual Studer's Invitational Beer Olympics

We held our 7th Annual Studer's Invitational Beer Olympics at our home this past weekend.  We were lucky to have beautiful weather and a great turn out of participants, refs, and observers.  I've said it before, and I'll say it again and again - we could not do this event without the generosity, good nature, and kindness of the people that participate.  Beer Olympics is like a holiday around here.

We spend a few weeks prior to the day planning, organizing, taking inventory, and preparing.  There are shirts to be ordered, waivers and rules to be updated and printed, rsvps to collect, and a winner plaque to be engraved and added to our Champion trophy stand.

This year because we had several long time veteran players unable to participate (we missed you!), we tried out a new strategy and had Every Man for Himself scoring and play for the day.  We were still able to play the same team events, but we switched up the teams before every event and scored by individual player versus by team.  

As in years past, we limited our participants to 32 people so that we have no more than 8 teams of four. As part of Beer Olympics prep, I created thirty-two slips of paper with a team color listed on it (four papers per each color) and put them in a container. Before each game, participants pulled their new team color, applied appropriate face paint, and met their new teammates.

Our first event is always a Beer Pong tournament played with House rules.  After the first round of standard play (20 cup per each side of the table), we finish out the tournament by winners and losers brackets in two rounds of Hungry Hungry HipPong.   Points were given to each person based on their teams' overall performance.  (ie. each person on Red team personally earned first place points as overall winners for the event).

Personal scores were added to the scoreboard and players received new team assignments and re-painted their faces as necessary.

Our second event is our Dingbat Relay (similar to Dizzy Bat) and is generally hilarious and pure mayhem.  All refs eyes were on the game, so we don't have any camera footage of the event, however there is some incredible GoPro footage. My Mom, acting as a ref, who was seated in the chair that players had to round had an unfortunate run in with two of the participants as they tried to push past each other at the turn around.  All three of them and the chair and the GoPro went crashing to the ground in a hilarious heap of cursing and laughing. The GoPro footage is amazing.  Thanks Momma for taking one for the day!

We followed Dingbat Relay with a challenge opportunity:  Keg Stands.  Challenges are optional and are geared toward participants who are seeking opportunities to earn a couple extra points.  Keg Stands were worth four points, limited to only one, and set to a certain time limit (10 seconds for males, 7 for females) and position (upside down and right side up)

Teams were changed up again, and then it was on to Ice Cube Tray Canoe Races.  The views on this game are widely diverse across the players, some love it, some just accept it, other's despise it.  We play this game as only winners move on to the next round (One Loss and Done), and the first round is a full tray, subsequent rounds are only a half tray.

Personal scores calculated again and it was on to Slippy Cup.  We added vegetable oil this year to the Slip 'n Slide (an old pool cover) and it was hugely successful for speed and hilarity.  Slippy Cup is completed in four heats (eight participants at a time).  Player's chug, flip, run, slide, run, chug, flip, sit as fast as they can.  Slippy Cup is a player favorite. 

Our last event before the intermission is always Anchorman because, well quite honestly, everyone needs a break after Anchorman.  Each team is given a pitcher of 2 Liters of Beer and at the whistle each team begins drinking.  Once the pitcher is passed to the next player, it cannot be passed back.  The final player (the Anchorman) has to finish whatever is left in the pitcher.  The key here is not speed, but rather distribution of beer among the whole team.  Regardless of how much players 'think' they drank from the pitcher - it seems the Anchorman is always left with a daunting amount of beer to finish.  

Intermission gives everyone a chance to grab some delicious food from the garage (everyone brings something to share potluck style) and hydrate appropriately with water and Gatorade.  Our intermission generally lasts between 45 minutes to an hour depending on how people appear to be recovering. 

Following intermission, new teams were assigned again and we eased back into the events with Flip Cup tournament style with winning and losing brackets.  Flip Cup is a great equalizing game that doesn't need particular brawn or strength to complete it - so we play three variations of it throughout the day! 

Bong Races are a staple from our very first Beer Olympics.  We play Bong Races like Ice Cube Tray Canoe Races where only the winning teams move on to the next round.

Our newest challenge this year was Blow Ball which turned out to be absolutely hilarious and will definitely be returning as a challenge in the future.  (thank you BarMeister) .  Players could challenge one another for an extra +2 points to the winner.  With their chin on the table, the players tried to blow a ping pong ball off the opposite side of the table using only their breath.  If the ball fell off your side of the table, you lost.  Loser received no points and had to drink.

Survivor Flip Cup is one of my personal favorites because it's high action, is a great equalizer for all players, and as one of our players mentioned on Saturday, "Why do you get punished for winning in this game!?"  Eight players to a table and at the whistle everyone chugs and flips until they succeed, last one to flip gets 'kicked off the table.' Winners move on again and again until there is only one survivor.  Points are given by order of being kicked off the table (thanks again for the inspiration Canfield Beer Olympics!) 

With three empty kegs, two challenges and eight events completed, things understandably tend to fall off the deep end at this point in the day.

Players have one last chance to a challenge event, Chug Offs, in which they can challenge another player to a chugging contest (their choice to amount of beer).  First person to chug and flip their empty cup upside down on their head earns +3 points. 

 
Our final event this year was called Last Man Standing and had nothing to do with drinking beer (not that anyone really needed it anyway at this point).  We filled up two cups per person with water and had everyone hold their arms up and out for as long as they could (or felt like it).  As players dropped out (from boredom or need, we'll never know), the list of players were weaned down to only ten left and I announced how many points each person would receive for each drop out from 6 points to 24 points to the Last Man Standing!

This game took longer than I expected, close to 15 minutes, and there was a lot of moaning, groaning, and meditation happening as everyone's arms and shoulders ached.  It literally came down to the Last (wo)Man standing!

A short intermission follows all the events as the totals were calculated for each player and nominations for our awards were completed.  The awards ceremony is always hilarious and received with enough cheering you'd think it was actually more than a simple sash that players were earning for their performance.

Finally, we announced our highest scoring participants who make up our champion team for 2015:  The Survivors.  Celebrations all around as the four took the first drinks from our Studer Torpedo while Queen's We are the Champions blasted from the stereo system.

Hosting our Beer Olympic event takes a lot of work from planning, organizing, and to preparing our home and yard for the day but we do it because we love it and are so very grateful that we have so many wonderfully kind and generous friends in our life to share the day with us.

We've been laughing the past two days about how so many different branches of our life are represented at the day. In what universe is Brandon's high school football teammate challenging my sister's friend's boyfriend to a game of blow ball?  In what universe are my sister's sister in law, my other sister's friend's fiance, the cousin of the kid I used to babysit, and my college teammate's boyfriend all on the same beer pong team?  Only in Beer Olympics Universe, people.

 Seriously, the day shines a spotlight on all the best and brightest spots of our life, most of the times in no other way connected to each other and we are so grateful to all of you.  thank you, thank you, thank you.

Besides our Beer Olympics being an amazingly fun day with friends new and old, it is also for a good cause.  After costs, all proceeds are donated to a cause of our selection for the year and we are proud to say that we raised $205 to support baby Redden in his fight against cancer.  You can read more about Redden and his journey at his website here.

You can see all of our past Beer Olympic events here.

And to cover our own behinds:
- Team Studer (www.studerteam.blogspot.com or Tabitha and Brandon Studer) is not responsible for anyone's actions after following or using our Beer Olympic rules & guidelines. Each person is responsible for his/her own body and personal decisions. If you decide to use our Beer Olympics rules & guidelines, you are agreeing to take full responsibility for any actions, accidents, or injuries that may be caused due to using them. Don't be stupid- but if you are, it's on you, man.

---

Logistics for Every Man for Himself Scoring:
Depending on how a player's team for that specific event performed, they each earned that allotment of points for themselves.   Our scoreboard including all the games and challenges as columns and each participant's name as rows.

Before the start of the event, I scribbled down each team member by team color and then used that list to determine points at the end of the game based on the overall team performance.  (It was actually a lot easier than I was anticipating).

During Anchorman, each person earned the team's points for their place in finishing, but the actual Anchorman for each team automatically earned an extra +3 pointstowards their score because their job sucks.  hahh

Some events like Slippy Cup and Survivor Flip Cup wasn't a team event, but I still had players assigned to a color team because it made it easier for them to figure out which heat or table they should participate in during the game.  Even though it was an individual event, it was easier to say - one person from each 'team' needs to be at each table - or needs to participate in each heat of Slippy Cup.

Overall, the Every Man for Himself process worked really well for the day.  Participants seemed to enjoy the pressure of earning their own points and it gave a really great foundation for everyone meeting more people than just their own teams.  Jury's out on whether or not this will be the new standard moving forward, but we had a great time switching it up this year!

Currently

Getting dirty and sweaty working on our current home improvement project of the front and side patios.  Sledgehammering pillars and concrete (mostly B, but I did some smashing too!)  The rain has slowed our progress slightly, but its so exciting to see it all come together - even if slower than we want.

Polishing Greyson's first ever trophy from his teeball season.  And by polishing, I mean Grey is polishing it - hahaha, definitely not this chick.  He was so happy and excited about getting a trophy, it was so sweet and hilarious.  oh, that boy. 

Celebrating America's birthday at a great picnic day at our cousin's house (thanks Tausha!) We even had the chance to get a picture of Mimi and every single one of her eleven grandkids!  (4 grandkids and 7 great grandkids).  It turned out to be a beautiful weather day and the kids had so much fun playing with their cousins all day.  By the end of the night, they were completely wiped out - which is always just fine with us! hah

Saying goodbye to our sweet, dear Rosie (Gigi and Pappy's dog).  Rosie took an unexpected turn for the worst last week and we learned she had Lyme's disease but it had taken a severe toll on her kidneys.  Rosie was so sweet and lovable, it broke all of our hearts.  In the car while running errands today, Gemma called up to me, "Mumma, I'm feeling sad about Rosie."  We will always miss you Rowie girl.

Tending to our two big kids who both ran fevers this week for about 24-36 hours each.  So strange, no other symptoms, but both were sort of knocked on their butt for a day or so.  Everyone is back and running at full steam again (!) so can't complain too much about that. 

Cozying up in the warmth of our outdoor fire pit that we (finally) moved up closer to the patio.  B and I sat out by the fire twice this week after the kids went to bed and it was such a nice way to wind down.  Strange how sometimes its the smallest little changes that bring the best comforts.

Reading still A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and loving it so much. Also finishing the last couple chapters of our Inspired Readers book, Make It Happen .  Can't believe we are already almost done with our first book!  The next book (a novel) will start on August 1 - so check out our facebook group page if you're interested in joining up for next month

Enjoying Shark Week, which basically means talking about sharks only slightly more often than we already talk about sharks (which is quite a bit, probably second to Bigfoot).  We had Shark Week cupcakes (a few had hidden maraschino cherries in them and if you got one of those that meant you were in a shark attack!)

Writing towards my novel which has me really excited.  They say the more you write, they more you'll write - so I'm trying to hold myself to high expectations to get some novel writing in every day even if it seems like I don't have the time.  Hello early morning writing or late night writing!

Giggling about Violet and her little personality.  She learned her first baby sign this week ("All Done") and tries so much to talk to us and get her little point across.  It's hilarious, we are all trying to guess what she is saying (usually it's "Hi Daddy!") She absolutely loves the tractor and is going through a phase that she both wants held all the time but also not held at all.  It's very frustrating and a lot of picking up only to put back down within thirty seconds.

Finishing last minute details for tomorrow's 7th Annual Beer Olympics!

---

This week in interesting internet:

This article had me all kinds of choked up about how it really does feel every.single.day at the end of the night.  Did I love you enough though, darlings?  Do you know how much it is even if I don't do a great job every single day? (thanks  to Jamie, my internet guru of happiness and inspiration)

This really funny article about people who live in tiny houses.  I would love to downsize to a Small House (like >1200 sq.ft) but we aren't quite there just yet (get.rid.of.all.the.things).  This article had me laughing out loud.

This awesome visual representation of the different kinds of privilege anyone can have.  I like the way the video asked the participants afterwards what they thought and everyone was sort of shell shocked in their responses and seemed fairly somber about the whole thing.  It's hard to look at privilege - just because you have some privilege doesn't mean that your life is easy (at all), it only means you have access to something that some other people don't.  it's only important (very very important) to try to be aware of what sort of pieces of life you are blessed to have access too, lots of times for things you had no control over.

3D printing is seriously the most amazing thing ever.  welcome to the future, people.

thought-provoking and important points in this NY times article about the next culture war. 

100 Small Things - Half Year Check-in

At the start of the year, I set out to complete 100 small things to help direct my focus towards living intentionally.  The list is one part practical (things that just plain need done around here) and one part hopeful (things that will help me be the kind of person I hope to be someday).

So it's half way through the year, and I've completed 19 tasks completely! Here are the new ones to add to my previously completed list at the quarter year check in.

#35 Plant a "garden" (June) - We didn't get to put in a full blown garden, but the kids and I worked together to plant zucchini (we are obsessed) and tend to the strawberry plant on the back patio flower box and we planted sunflowers in the front flower bed.  Then we were feeling really defeated when we found that some of our little sprouting zucchini plants had died and we speculated it had been the heavy rains that drowned them.  Only to find out that Daddy had sprayed them with round-up because we forgot to tell him we planted them in the flower box and he thought they were weeds.  Not kidding, I almost cried.  But we have a few persistent ones that are coming up late, so we should still get some this summer.  sheesh.

#13 Create books with the kids stories and drawings (May) - when I initially made this task at the start of the year, I was thinking it would be proper hard back books we'd order, but in desperation to fill some long afternoon hours, Grey and I made a folded paper book together about (no big surprise here) Bigfoot and now it's one of our most beloved books in our downstairs kid library.  Gemmi and I worked together with stickers to write a mini-book about a frog and butterfly.  I sort of love it even more now as a task.

#36 Participate in Screen Free Week 2015 (May) - I'm a full blown Screen Free Week fanatic, hah.  I'd like to incorporate Screen Free weekends in as a monthly staple, but we're not quite there yet.  Maybe a 100 small things task for 2016?  (Read about our full Screen Free Week 2015 here)

#18 Create individual Memory boxes for each family member (July) - this was a huge undertaking for Brandon and my memories.  We had two enormous bins of old stuff that I was dreading going through.  But during the rainy days that we had in June, I just would sit down in front of the bins and sift through the old cards, art projects, billions of stacks of pictures and filter through what was important to save and what could be tossed.  It was such a welcome walk through years past and I actually had fun pic-texting my family and friends old photos of us.

The Memory boxes now include a few old cards that were signed by our parents and grandparents, newspaper articles, a few old high school notes (some of which were written between Brandon and I - hysterical).  Old photos that have no digital duplicates, and other important keepsakes.  I filtered out blurry photos, lots of old clothes (they've gone into a bin that our kids as teenagers can look through if they want something 'vintage' of their parents - hahah).  All our stuff has been filtered down to one singular box (with room to spare!).  What a relief.  seriously.  huge relief.

#28 Dominican Republic family vacation (May) - it was awesome (read about it entirely here)

#76 Plant a tree on Earth Day (June, oops) - Well, we didn't do it on Earth Day, but we have planted a tree.  We received a tree as part of a gift that was sent from Brandon's work after my grandfather passed away.  Greyson has also been tending an oak sapling since last fall and it's growing beautifully.  So we technically are growing up two trees!

#56 Create a Hawaii trip book for the kids (June) - it only took me a few days, but I went through our Hawaii vacation pictures from 2009 to create a little travel book on Shutterfly for the kids.  Our new Dad & Mum visit Oahu, Hawaii books it the third in our travel book series to add to the kids' home library.  Others include:  Dad & Mum visit Thailand and Aunt Uch visits Scotland travel books.

#82 Get my hair done (May) - done finally after almost two years.  seriously.

#63 Scrub the kitchen table and chairs (May) - this is one of those practical items that just need done for so long now and I really just didn't feel like doing it.  The kids and their crummy, sticky hands do work everyday, three times a day, on our wooden table and chairs in the kitchen and they needed a serious scrub and polish.  Done!  One Sunday morning before church outside.  I was just feeling motivated and jumped in and tackled it.  hooray and thank goodness!

#70 Convince Brandon to get rid of some clothes (April) - as part of our months long process of preparing for a giant yard sale.  I think I wore him down with my tireless nagging (hahhaha, worst wife ever).  He's not the only one that needs to get rid of clothes, I did too!  He just needs convinced, where I'm happy to pitch into giveaway/sale piles.

#73 Run in a 5k (May) - my baby sis and I ran in the Johnstown Path of the Flood 5K in May together.  I'm hoping to sign up for another 5k in the fall too!


Working towards completion of these projects:



#6 Read 12 books (at least two classics):  I've read 6 books, one of which was a classic and I'm currently reading book number 7!  Need inspiration to keep reading?  Our Inspired Readers book club will be starting a new book in August - so if you think you're interested in reading along (next month we'll be switching it up to reading a novel!) - check out our facebook group and request an add!  We'd be happy to have you join our community!

#10 Get rid of 50 things:  'things' really mean categories of items, so I've gone through 14 categories of items so far of the fifty (things include: adult clothes, kids' toys, kids' books, adult books, coats from our front closet, scrapbook supplies, old photos, etc)

#9 Grandma and Kid trip to the city:  we are in the final planning stages and have the date set for later this month!  We are headed to Baltimore, MD this year!

#34 Pour patio out front & side:  concrete has been almost completely busted out (I even took hold of sledgehammer and pounded out some of the pillars! #beastmode) and we hope to frame and pour within the month!

#80 Re-read a Tree Grows in the Brooklyn:  re-reading now and it makes me so full and happy

#12 Host 'art gallery' opening for the kids:  we are doing an 'art month' right now - family & friends, look for your invitations to a super exclusive art show to come later this month! hahhaha.

#19 Finish 2014 Yearbook:  ugh.  always working towards this and it's always weighing on me.  I must finish this or I'm going to drive myself crazy.

#54 Watch 15 TED talks:  I've added two more TED talks to my list since April check in, bringing my total up to five:
Inspiring a Life of Immersion:  Jacqueline Novogratz
How to Build Your Creative Confidence:  David Kelley

#4 Get to 'The End' of one novel:  holy moly, this has me super amped up with creativity and  my mind is barely containing all the ideas.  seriously, I feel like this thing must.get.out.of.me.  and B is really supportive and I'm super hopeful.  fingers crossed.  just get to the end, tabitha.  the end.

---
I'm feeling pretty inspired and hopeful about my list at the halfway mark.  I don't know that I'll get all 100 things completed, but if I can reach half of the list - I'll be pleased.  My 100 small things list doesn't feel like it weighs me down, rather I use it when I need inspiration and feel like I'm stuck in the everyday muck of life with three small kids.