Throw Back Family Night

What do I mean by "throw back"?  It is anything that is from the past.  The funny thing was that I didn't have to hunt down anything that we did-I just looked in our game cupboard and threw in some fun food. On this night, I did not tell my family what we were eating. They had to try to guess.

Our first game was Pick Up Sticks.  That was a blast from my past.  Does anyone remember playing this game when you were little?  Somehow we acquired this game, but I don't recall where.  I emptied the cylindrical container of sticks on the table and each one of us in turn had to use the black stick to pick up another stick without moving any of the other ones.  We had fun doing this the first time so we gave it another go.  Actually it was probably more the competitiveness of my family that we tried it again-we all wanted to win!  As we were playing, I told my family that what we were playing was a clue as to what we were having for dinner: Pizza On a Stick. You can find the recipe here. You can substitute whatever ingredients you prefer that will go on a stick. 

The next game we played was charades.  I wrote clues down on pieces of paper that had something to do with the past.  For example, leg warmers, pop rocks, Kool Aid, Happy Days......one of the clues was elephant, which has nothing to do with my theme, but it was a clue to what we were having for dessert: Homemade Elephant Ears! I took flour tortilla shells and fried them in vegetable oil until crispy.  Then you brush the tortillas with some melted butter and put cinnamon sugar on top.  Very tasty!

After dessert, we played the game Pit.  I have fond memories of this game from my youth, so I wanted to share it with my kids.  Do you remember having to trade grain cards with each other, wondering where the bear and bull were, hoping you wouldn't get stuck with them? You also had to have a certain amount of a grain (the Bull was alright to have if you went out with it) before you ring the bell.

Our family then finished off the night by watching an episode of Happy Days.  Not quite as good as I remember it being.  It is fun sharing old shows with your kids, especially the ones with special effects.  It is amazing how far technology has come.  We would have preferred to watch old episodes of The Cosby Show, but we couldn't find any on Netflix or Hulu.  Somehow that show holds up over time-it is still funny to me.

Have fun revisiting things from your past.  One game we didn't get to that hasn't gone out of style is Twister!  That is always good for a laugh, especially playing it now as an adult-not quite as flexible as I used to be.  I will probably try this again, except make it an all '80's night and see what I can come up with from that era.  Let me know what activities you can unearth from your past and share with your family. They could be hiding in your closets!