"how would it be if you came and had tea with me?"

do you know the story of narnia? specifically, the lion, the witch, and the wardrobe? the students at Ari's school are very well acquainted with this mythical place and when i was asked to put on an event for the house of Augustine i immediately started thinking narnian. Ari's school has five "houses". they are each comprised of students from every grade and are led by an upperclassman "prefect". i really enjoy this part of his education. the older ones are encourage to mentor and help the younger ones as they look up to the older. it also fosters friendships outside of ones own grade.

the famous scene from TLTWTW is mr. tumnus, the faun meeting lucy at the lamp post and inviting her to tea. what a perfect setting for an event!lucy met mr. tumnus as he was busy picking up his brown paper parcels, holding an umbrella and wearing a red muffler in the snow as in narnia it was "always winter, never christmas."

he asked if she was truly a "daughter of eve"...a human. when she confirmed, he asked "how would it be if you came and had tea with me?"
"Lucy thought she had never been to a nicer place. It was a little, dry, clean cave of reddish stone...and a table and a dresser and a mantelpiece and above that a picture of an old Faun with a gray beard....and on one wall was a shelf full of books. Lucy looked at these while he was setting out the tea things. they had titles like The life and Letters of Silenus or Nymphs and Their Ways or Men, Monks, and Gamekeepers: a Study in Popular Legend or Is Man a Myth?"

"and it really was a wonderful tea. there was a nice brown egg, lightly boiled, for each of them,

and then sardines on toast,

and then buttered toast,

and then toast with honey,

and then sugar-topped cake.

to end our festivities, the headmaster, Mr. Carr, read to us from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. it was almost more of an acting out than a reading as he referred to all of the props we had as he read about them and pointed out each delicacy as they were mentioned in the story.

i had so much input from wonderful friends who helped me with supplies, ideas, and making this event come to life. thank you!
i think the children truly enjoyed being transported to narnia for a short time and asked to make this an annual tradition!