Germany

DS#1 and I read about Count Nicholas Ludwig Zinzendorf and how he provided refuge to persecuted Christians.

I read Berlioz the Bear by Jan Brett with all three children (even my 11 year old still enjoys hearing these stories)... we learned about music and musical instruments as well perseverance and pride. We used Homeschool Share's Unit Study for this...

And of course, we read our Carole Marsh Around the World in 80 Mysteries book. We enjoyed following Christina and Grant on another Mystery and learning so much about Germany in the process!

Our trip to EPCOT included food, of course! We had apple strudel, a pretzel and brats with sauerkraut! We saw a giant cuckoo clock- the kids wanted to buy one, LOL! I think that would have made me... well... cuckoo!

We saw a glass blowing artisan and bought three ornaments from him. It was Mike's parents' 45h Anniversary today, so we had one of those engraved to that effect and gave that to them... I think it's awesome that they've been married 45 years....

We learned that many of our American Christmas traditions came from Germany- the Advent Calendar, for example, and the story "The Nutcracker" as well. They even had a "live" Nutcracker come out and greet the children.

Finally, we learned about the Brothers Grimm's Fairy Tales and the Fairy Tale Road, and each of the kids created their own Coat of Arms.