Tuvalu Island

Sunday June, 29th 2008 was the first annual Scothern Family Reunion! My mother-in-law, Gwen, came up with the idea to start an annual family reunion, but she wanted to find a way to make it more interesting than just going to a park and having a pot luck. So her and our niece McKayl spend a whole week planning a Survivor Party. It was SO much fun! They planned the whole thing out in such great detail, and it turned out really good.

Tuvalu Island (Gwen and Lloyd's house) was the setting for all of the challenges. It started off with choosing our tribe members, and once we did that, each tribe had to come up with a tribe name and make a flag.......

The YLIMAF Tribe (their name is Family spelled backwards):

Kristi, Ryan, Lloyd, Bridger, Scott, McKayl, Melissa, Brett, Malia, and Aimee.

The BATL JACK Tribe (our name was the closest we could get to spelling real words with the first letter from every ones names):

Curtis, Tanya, Jerry, Aric, Kaylyn, Joeli, C.J., Laura, Aly, and Bethany.

After the tribes had been chosen it was time for the fun and games to begin. We started off with a Tug-of-war, and our first injury of the night. The rope that we were using wasn't a very strong one, and right after we started pulling it snapped in half sending everyone to the ground, and hitting the people in the front on each side. Two other people also ended up with some nice rope burn! Too bad there wasn't any pictures of that challenge!

Bocce ball is always a favorite for us, and as you can see, there is no messing around. If there is ever any doubt about whose ball came the closest......get out the measuring tape!






Lasso Golf:





We had a water balloon toss, and there were PLENTY of water balloons on each side of the yard for us to have another after we had determined a winner for the first game. As we were getting lined up to play a second round, someone yelled 'WATER FIGHT' and everyone started scrambling to grab balloons and throw them across the yard in the other tribes direction. After a minute I don't think people were even concerned with who's tribe they were on and it was every man for himself.....which is where the second injury of the night comes in. Kristi wasn't paying much attention to what was going on around her and she got hit with a water balloon right between the eyes. She hit the ground so hard! It was the only knock out of the night.







Croquet was another fun one, but it was takes too long and some of the kids lost interest.


Other challenges included Farkle, Basketball, and an eating contest! Everyone had such a good time, and were such good sports. After the games were over we discovered that there were 6 people (three from each tribe) that had been pre-selected to be jury members, and they held the tribal council to determine the winners. There were prizes awarded for good sportsmanship, helping with the little kids, following the rules, etc. Then an overall winner was chosen. I was one of the jury members, and it was really hard to make a decision, but in the end Ryan ended up being the Million Dollar Survivor Winner!





This was the hidden idol. There were clues hidden all over the yard to help you find it, and everyone was trying so hard. The competitive side really came out in everybody. Our niece Aly ended up being the one to crack the code and find the hidden idol, and the adults were so frustrated with her. (she's only four years old)






We FINALLY got to meet our new nephew Ian!! Isn't he a cutie? He's such a chubby baby, I was so surprised when I saw him because he was born early and he was so tiny at first. So I was expecting to see a little baby, but when I lifted the blanket off his car seat.....these were the cheeks I saw!

I had a BLAST, and I can't wait to see what she comes up with next year! Thanks Gwen and Lloyd for hosting such a fun reunion! You guys are the best!