SURVIVOR BIRTHDAY BASH!

I have been wanting to throw a Survivor Party for quite some time. Andrew and I are big fans of the show and often comment on how WE would do the challenges and what our strategies would be to get someone else off of the island. Anyway I was talking to the Walkers and Margie's birthday is on the 23rd of June and mine on the 28th so we wanted to have a birthday party or BBQ or something and my mind went click and I knew instantly this was a good excuse to throw a SURVIVOR PARTY!

So Andrew Walker whipped up our very own Survivor Logo (La Hanau means Birthday in Hawaiian)

And I typed up the invite info and we sent them out. We had four tribes with different representative colors, red Kucha, green Pagong, blue Timbira and yellow Casaya. Four couples per team.

So for the next month my mind was constantly thinking of different challenges and rewards that the tribes could participate in. We had  to try a few to see if they would work.

This will make more sense further down the post. But it was a friendly competition between Andrew and Andrew. Right Walker?

We set up all of the decorations, I got my yard looking as well as it could, barrowed some tables, chairs and for Father's day Andrew got a new propane gas grill. It is awesome we love it and it was right before the party so it was perfect.

Come party night, guests started showing up in their colors bringing lots of delicious pot luck salads and desserts. We had hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill.

Here are some snapshots of some tribal members.

Ethan and Ashley (nephew and niece)

Aunt Betty

Nate and Kim Hawkes (cousins)

Marlese and Nate and their son Connor (cousins)

Bryan, Lisa, Ethan (the B-Team :)

I wish I had a picture of everyone, Margie probably does so I'll wait until I get her pictures and then I'll add them to this post.

Then the Survivor competition began, did i mention that I had the official Survivor soundtrack playing. It really set the mood.

We had the tribes get together, we handed them their buffs, colored fabric strips that they could tie on them where they wish and gave them their first challenge.

Make a tribe flag.

The flags turned out great!

1st Reward Challenge

Each tribe was given $100 of Monopoly money and were to bid on items we had on trays. The items were hidden so they didn't know what they were bidding for but we told htem that there were 8 items and some would help them in their next immunity challenge while some would not. So the Survivor Auction began. We had some bid and win spoonfulls of mustard (Each member of the tribe had to partake), sliced jalapeno, saltine crackers with peanut butter, pickle, mayo and craisins, banana with green hot sauce and karo syrup and spaghetti noodles drenched in habanero sauce. But amongst the bad there were three good, kerosene, a lighter and paper.

1st Immunity Challenge

Each tribe then had to start a fire and then burn through twine that was strung about 2 feet above the fire. Half of the team were to run across the yard to gather firewood while the other half were to actually start the fires. So from the reward challenge those that won the kerosene, lighter and paper were ahead in the game. Team Kucha were smart and doused their twine with the kerosene they had won from the previous challenge. SMART! They were done in seconds! The teams were then awarded points according to what place they finished. First got 4 points, second got 3 and so on.

2nd Reward Challenge

Teams were to transport water using paper cups from our kiddie pool to a storage food can that was placed about a hundred feet away from the pool. It was to be an assembly line where the person who just got water out of the pool had to pass it on and then run to the end and be the one who recieved the water to place in the storage can. It was fun seeing how fast they could fling water and run. The team that won that recieved a block with the word "WILL" on it.

2nd Immunity Challenge

Teams were to nominate one couple from their team and send them to the front of the house on the porch to call out and direct the other tribe members. The rest of the team members were blind folded and brought to the front of the house in a corner on the front lawn. Andrew Walker had previously placed 8 blocks for each team randomly around the front yard. The blocks were painted in the team colors with each block having a word on it, "Will", "Just", "Man", "Survive", "A", "His", "To", "And". The couples on teh porch were to direct their team members, one blindfolded couple at a time, to find the blocks scattered around the yard.  It was soo crazy and there was a lot of screaming going on. Once all of the blocks had been retrieved the couple on the porch ran down to their team's blocks and started unscrambling them to make the phrase......

Just A Man And His Will To Survive. And if they could tell us what song it was from they got an extra point. Do you know what song??? :)

Team Kucha won once again because they had a strategy of calling out "KUCHA" over and over once the blindfolded couple had found their block so they could make it back to the group faster. Smart once again!!!

3rd Reward Challenge

We had the teams nominate one person in their team that could answer survival questions well. Little did they know that that person would have to balance themselves on a can then log while answering their questions. The chosen person was given a can then a log and four cards with the letters A-D so they could answer their questions. The questions began and they were to balance on their logs, rolling back and forth and then choose the correct multiple choice answer. It was pretty entertaining to say the least. The winner happened to be Ethan the youngest participant. Way to go buddy!!! Their team didn't have to ride in a wheel barrow for the third leg of the relay race.

3rd Immunity Challenge

The group challenge was to participate in a four legged relay. One coupe per leg.

First leg was to do a three legged race. Second was to throw rocks across the garden to hit a pop can on a log. Third was to push a wheel barrow with their partner in the wheel barrow and fourth was to untie several knots on two drawstring bags. One bag had matches while the other had a Whistling Pete Firework. Once the bags were untied they raced over and placed their firework on their team log and lit it off.  My favorite quote from this Challenge, said within the Timbira tribe, "Yeah I can can do the can hitting leg because I once through a rock at a skunk and killed it!" Little did he know how poor his aiming skills were under pressure! It was pretty funny!

We totalled up the scores and it looked like team Kucha had it in the bag BUT we had hidden Immunity idol clues around the party. In a hamburger bun, sticking out of a bamboo stick, in the pile of rocks for the relay and in one of the cups from the water challenge.

The clues were these.

Congratulations!

You have found a clue to help you find a hidden immunity idol. Hidden immunity idols will help you greatly at the end of your adventure in SURVIVOR. BUT You must first decipher the clue.

Be cautious while searching for the idol since there other tribes who may wish to steal it from you! Once you have found it keep it hidden

CLUE: (put the two together)

a chemical element that is a good conductor of both electricity and heat + Any of the celestial bodies visible at night from Earth as relatively stationary, usually twinkling points of light
__________________________________________
the color of objects that reflect nearly all light of all visible wavelengths + A perennial woody plant having a main trunk and usually a distinct crown
__________________________________________
A domesticated carnivorous mammal + A structure serving as a dwelling for one or more persons
__________________________________________
Beneath the surface of + place or receptacle where rubbish is discarded
__________________________________________

So they were to find the idols hidden where the clues led them and so when we asked if any of the teams had found the idols, team Casaya pulled out one and Timbira pulled out three giving their team the lead because each idol was worth 3 points.

Next, couples were to vote for one couple in their team that they thought showed the best survival skills and the ones they wished to see in the final Challenge. So the final tribal council began and just like in Survivor, they walked up, as a couple, wrote down the name of the couple they wanted to go further, said why they wanted them to go on and put their vote in the can. We filmed the whole thing and my favorite quotes from this was, "We voted for Ian and Julie because they are really good looking and to us that's the most important :)", and "We voted for them because they promised to split half of the winnings with us!"

So we totalled up the votes and had Bryan and Lisa from team Casaya, Marlese and Nathan from team Pagong, Laura and Brad from team Kucha and Ashley and Ethan from team Timbira. Their final challenge was to wall sit against each other's backs for as long as they could. Bryan and Lisa seemed to be the strongest but in the end it was Marlese and Nathan that won the final prize.

We then had cake made by our husbands. Delicious!

Overall it was a great party and well worth all of the work that went into it. It was so much fun to watch and I'll get more pictures to show and explain the different challenges once I get them from Margie. Thanks all for coming it was soo much fun!