Progressive Dinner-TOG Unit 2 & 3 Celebration

   Our Tapestry Co-op decided to celebrate Units 2 and 3 together in February by holding a Progressive Dinner. The idea was to create an Exploration of various geographical locations studied in the two units, throwing in some games, skits, reviews and even stories.  Read on…

   Our first stop was in the Far East.  The Youngs transformed their carport into an oriental garden, complete with homemade lanterns!  Upon arrival, we all tested our spice knowledge with a game of guessing spices.  We feasted on gyoza, fried noodles, and hot tea while watching a remarkable skit about Marco Polo.  What a delightful way to begin our journey!

   Next, we were handed maps to South America for the “Exploration/Reformation” part of our journey!  Our compasses pointed the way to the Smith house where we were greeted by none other than Martin Luther.  (Apparently he had gotten on the wrong boat.)  After nailing the 95 Thesis to the front door of our home, we all proceeded through the door singing A Mighty Fortress is Our God.  After our meal, we settled into a somewhat friendly game of Jeopardy as we reviewed the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.  The winning team received small bars of gold nuggets (aka Hershey’s chocolate.)  We were soon feasting on homemade tacos, chips and salsa—Ole’! 

  Our next stop was charted on a beautiful handmade map.  We soon found ourselves crossing the wide ocean (aka H2—one of Hawaii’s three freeways) to the New World!  However, as our “ship” pulled into the harbor, we faced a surprise attack from the local natives, who quickly carted off all our precious cargo (the children!!)  Sadly, we continued our search to find the perfect landing spot in hopes that the natives would turn friendly and return our charges.  The Poulos house proved to be a fine location.  Before taking possession of the location, and after welcoming back our children and their now friendly captors, we took a moment to measure out the actual dimensions of the Mayflower.  Then we all stood in the “boat” to see what it would have been like to travel in such confinement.  We were all amazed at the fortitude these new Americans must have had. 

   After praying to God in thankfulness of all we have been blessed with, we were welcomed into the New World with more feasting!  There were aromatic pies, moist bread pudding, apple cider, and many more sweet treats waiting for us near the warm hearth.  The night was cool (even for Hawaii), and we all enjoyed huddling in blankets around the campfire listening to some of the men tell their stories.  Uncle Mike told a hair raising story about a recent trek to a neighboring island (aka The Big Island.)  We were all wide eyed as he told us of his encounter with hot red lava!!.  Soon, the friendly natives shared with us their secret of popping corn and we once again marveled at how blessed we are to have such wonderful friends and a mighty, loving God. 

   Our Unit 2 & 3 Progressive Dinner & Celebration was an event that we will all remember for a long time.  As usual, all the moms and dads were in awe of the talent and knowledge of all our children as they shared what they had learned over the last few months.  After our Medieval Feast in the fall, the moms were not ready to hold another huge more formal event, so this dinner proved perfect in bringing us all together to celebrate with very little effort.  We had about 8 or 9 families and just divided ourselves among the three stops to prepare.  Many of us wore costumes (with Lisa P. changing for each stop!)  I think the most enjoyable part of the whole evening for the Smiths was sitting around the campfire at the end of the night.  The whole evening was remarkable!