Texas Schleichers: Schleicherfest

One of the highlights of our time together with our siblings was our Schleicherfest competition. (For a creative and entertaining recap of the history of Schleicherfest, please check out our siblings' blog, the Schleicherfest VI post.)

Matt and Kim (the Schleicherfest hosts) brainstormed a list of 25 or more possible events. Each participant was able to choose 2 games and the other 2 of the 10 games were chosen randomly. We played a few games each day we were together, mainly after our kiddos were in bed.

To open Schleicherfest, we presented the scoresheet of events, made sure everyone agreed on scoring, and then "lit the torch." Team Dissection (now Team Manifest Calamity) had the honors since he was the defending champion.

Let the games begin! :) (And, sorry, I have no idea why all of the vertical pictures are on their side. If you know how to fix this, please let me know!)

We played non-photogenic events such as Loot, Amazing Labyrinth, Samurai, Greed, and Pitch. The other events included Washers.

Team Popcorn

Team Manifest Calamity

Team Double Trouble

Team Lefsnofuthiss (left snow for this :))

We planned a crazy relay, which involved memorizing a hymn verse and then reciting it PERFECTLY to the "judge,"

hitting some balls into the soccer goal with a hockey stick,

throwing Frisbees into hula hoops,

throwing balls into a basketball hoop,

catching marshmallows in our mouths,

(You may not be able to notice it here, but there was a group of middle school girls watching us during much of the event. Our relay started right about the time girls were getting dropped off at our neighbor's house for a sleepover. They were certainly intrigued. Another neighbor couldn't believe we adults were the ones participating in the games and didn't take us up on our offer to join us! Ha!)

and putting together a kid's puzzle.

We got lots of laughs while playing Guesstures (like charades), and we liked the twist of getting points for guessing instead of just acting.

Probably the favorite event (Matt's crazy brainstorm!) was the sock throw. Over three rounds, we had to throw 10 socks (either singles for double points or a pair for single points) from our second story into an assortment of targets of varying point values on the first floor. As the rounds progressed, we had to attempt more variety instead of just trying for the same target all the time. It was so much fun to watch AND throw!

Some of our targets included the dump truck, inflatable pumpkin, toy school bus, windowsill, mantle, end table, sofa, loveseat, and even a laundry basket just barely into the kitchen.

It all came down to our final event of Schleicherfest was Wii bowling.

In the end, Team Manifest Calamity got to keep the prestigious tennis ball on a mug tree trophy. He also evened things up, as Jason, Amy, and Matt all are now tied with two Schleicherfest wins.