Destination: Russia!

OK so last week was totally hectic; coming home from our real vacation and starting their summer sports classes. So we weren't able to visit Italy and Greece :( if we have time over at the end of our trip I might squeeze in a day or two!
So this week we're off to Russia! We had a great time at the library today and found all kinds of stories to help them learn the culture...I LOVE FOLKTALES!

The Little Humpbacked Horse: A Russian Tale
Baboushka: a Russian Christmas Tale retold by Arthur Scholey
Vassilisa the Wise: A Tale of Medieval Russia retold by Josepha Sherman
Annushka's Voyage by Edith Tarbescu
The Peddler's Gift by Maxine Schur
Eloise in Moscow by Kay Thompson
Baboushka and the Three Kings by Ruth Robbins
The Wizard King and other Spellbinding Tales: Ivan and the Wizard retold by John Matthews

I haven't decided on all our crafts this week but I know the one I want to try are simple and fun!
Russian Jewel Eggs
Nesting Doll Puppets
Russian Flag bookmark

Our movies for the week:
Anastasia (I love this movie!)
Bartok the Magnificent (again...who doesn't love Bartok?!)
Peter and the Wolf

Not quite sure how well Russian food would go over with the picky people in the house (me and my son!) so I thought we'd stick to something sweet.
Russian Tea Cakes

We can't wait to get started! Hopefully we'll have some great pictures!

Destination United Kingdom and France!

Well, since we are on our real vacation this week, my options are kinda limited as what I can do! However I discovered the more the merrier! I've involved my four nieces (two are 13 and the other two are 6), and my 11 year old nephew. They really like the arts and crafts part of it!
I didn't check out as many books at the library before I left as I didn't want to travel with them so our books this week are:
B is for Big Ben, an England Alphabet
E is for Eiffel Tower, a France Alphabet
These books are great if you've never read them. They can also be found at www.discovertheworldbooks.com

Our crafts are a lot of fun, everyone is having a great time.
Friendship bracelets/bookmarks made with blue, white, and red for the colors of both England and France's flags
Wooden puzzles (we made the telephone booth, a chateaux, a train, and the Eiffel Tower
Foam Tiara's and jewels
Sun Catchers to represent stain glass windows

 Got my nieces working on puzzles too!

 Alisa's finished Chateaux

 Suncatchers! Even got my mom to do one too!! I love family vacations

 Our finished suncatchers!

Almost all the wooden puzzles...My son's Locomotive, my daughter's Eiffel Tower, and my Red Phone Booth!

One thing my dad always does for me when I come to visit is have fish fry! Great food, awesome family, good times!! So our food this week was pretty much done for me as  soon as we got off the plane!
Fish and chips
Croissants and pastries