Summer World Travel: Europe

Hello everyone!  I must apologize for my absence.  A lot has happened in the last two years (wow, really?  2 years?  Crazy).  I realize that I made the rest of my posts for the 'Around the World' with Focus on the Family, but I never polished them and finished them so as to post them for all of you to be able to see!  Oh no!  So, here they are, very late.  I apologize for my tardiness.  All will be explained in a future post...

But first... ONWARD!

Hello again, and welcome here!  Are you travelling with us around the world with Focus on the Family?  If not, why not join in?  It is fun, and can be as simple as just following the itinerary they have themselves, or as complex as you wish to make it.  I decided to post the links to recipes and youtube videos that I am using with my own kids, as well as the maps and printables I made to go with the 'program' myself.  You can view those by clicking the links below.

Time for a Summer Adventure!

Summer World Travel: Ethiopia, South Africa, Zimbabwe

Summer World Travel:  Australia, New Zealand, PNG

Summer World Travel:  Asia

Summer World Travel:  Caribbean

Summer World Travel:  Eastern Europe/Central Asia

Summer World Travel:  South America

Summer World Travel:  North America

Summer World Travel:  Middle East

And so, our last week of our 'travels' took us to the Europe.  

Aug 25 - Ireland

We tried going all day without saying yes or no.  Very difficult.  As in, extremely difficult.

I made colcannon, a cabbage potato dish, and sausage with corn on the cob.
We played Mr. Fox, and we prayed for Ireland.
We watched the national anthem (long start), as well as some videos about Ireland.
top things to do 
Ring of Kerry 
travel with kids 
giant's causeway - 'a tall tale by the irish' first link and second link.


Aug 26-France
I decided to make an artichoke kalericotta pie for breakfast with tea and biscuits, and then palmiers for our picnic lunch.  

Mark 6:31-32
³¹ Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”
³² So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place
pray

And here are the kids prayers.

M - I pray for France, and thank you that *name of missionary she has been praying for* is helping them in churches.  And I pray that more people will go to the churches and love you

Bram - I pray for France, and for the churches, and that more people will love You.

And now for some links to the National Anthem "La Marseillaise", a video of a 'kids picture book' of Paris, France, we read our Mickey Book about France and also watched a video about facts on the Eiffel tower. 


Sweden - Aug 27 

We once again did our map and flag work, then found and listened to the Swedish National Anthem - "Du Gamla, Du Fria".  We made a dala horse (printable) modified to fit 2 large, 1 medium, and 1 small to one sheet.  The kids enjoyed painting theirs. 

Here is another fun vid - breakfast around the world.

As silly as it sounds, we went to Ikea, ate lunch there (swedish meatballs... yum), looked at some of their names and things at the store, as they are Swedish.  And, well, why not use this as an excuse to go to Ikea, right?

Summer World Travel: Middle East

Hello everyone!  I must apologize for my absence.  A lot has happened in the last two years (wow, really?  2 years?  Crazy).  I realize that I made the rest of my posts for the 'Around the World' with Focus on the Family, but I never polished them and finished them so as to post them for all of you to be able to see!  Oh no!  So, here they are, very late.  I apologize for my tardiness.  All will be explained in a future post...

But first... ONWARD!

Hello again, and welcome here!  Are you travelling with us around the world with Focus on the Family?  If not, why not join in?  It is fun, and can be as simple as just following the itinerary they have themselves, or as complex as you wish to make it.  I decided to post the links to recipes and youtube videos that I am using with my own kids, as well as the maps and printables I made to go with the 'program' myself.  You can view those by clicking the links below.

Time for a Summer Adventure!
Summer World Travel: Ethiopia, South Africa, Zimbabwe
Summer World Travel:  Australia, New Zealand, PNG
Summer World Travel:  Asia
Summer World Travel:  Caribbean
Summer World Travel:  Eastern Europe/Central Asia

Summer World Travel:  South America

Summer World Travel:  North America
And so, our eighth week of our 'travels' took us to the Middle East.  

Egypt - Aug22

Proverbs 22:1 A  good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor is better than silver or gold.

This time, when I read the clues the kids figured this country out on their own.
They colored their flags, found Egypt on our map, and worked with their stamps and passports.  We listened to the national anthem, and watched a few videos on the Pyramids here, here is another one, and yet another.  There was also a fun episode of Cyberchase that had an Egypt theme you can watch here.

I managed to write down the kids prayers this time.

    Bram - I pray for the people in egypt that they won't be killed because they love You.  I pray that they will be able to live so they can tell others about you and more people will love you.
    M - I pray for Egypt that they won't be killed anymore, and I pray for Focus on the Family to help more and more people there.

For breakfast, I made Ful Medames.

Lebanon - Aug 23

Psalm 92:12 The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon;

1Thess 5:16-18  Rejoice always, ¹⁷ pray continually, ¹⁸ give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Besides our usual map and flag work, we played the 'bounce' game.  I could not bounce the ball on my head!  Barely did 2 bounces.  We found balloons much easier.

Here are the kids prayers:
    Bram - That Christians would be able to talk to non-Christians so that they could become Christians and that people won't kill others because they are angry.
   M - I pray that the Christians will love their neighbors even if they do bad things and they will be able to teach about God.

Here are some links to a few videos we watched.
National Anthem
Baalbek (and here, here, and here)     
Schools          
10 places to visit in Lebanon 

We learned a new word... alhamdoolilah - praise to God.  For supper I made shawarma and tihini sauce... with peanut butter instead.  

Israel - Aug 24
I made chakchouka for supper only I had no peppers, so I put in carrots and celery.
We did our usual map and flag work, and the kids prayed.  I love reading what they have prayed!  I am so glad I wrote these down.
M - I pray for Israel that the people will stop fighting, and that You will protect the Christians there
Bram - I pray that the wars will stop, and that people will leave Islam and follow God, and that there will be more Christians.

We played hold the rope and read 1Cor 12:12-31.  We then looked at a sabre fruit, which I must admit, is quite interesting.

We watched a video about schools and another video of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

That is it for this week.  One more week to go! 

Summer World Travel: North America

Hello everyone!  I must apologize for my absence.  A lot has happened in the last two years (wow, really?  2 years?  Crazy).  I realize that I made the rest of my posts for the 'Around the World' with Focus on the Family, but I never polished them and finished them so as to post them for all of you to be able to see!  Oh no!  So, here they are, very late.  I apologize for my tardiness.  All will be explained in a future post...

But first... ONWARD!

Hello again, and welcome here!  Are you travelling with us around the world with Focus on the Family?  If not, why not join in?  It is fun, and can be as simple as just following the itinerary they have themselves, or as complex as you wish to make it.  I decided to post the links to recipes and youtube videos that I am using with my own kids, as well as the maps and printables I made to go with the 'program' myself.  You can view those by clicking the links below.

Time for a Summer Adventure!
Summer World Travel: Ethiopia, South Africa, Zimbabwe
Summer World Travel:  Australia, New Zealand, PNG
Summer World Travel:  Asia
Summer World Travel:  Caribbean
Summer World Travel:  Eastern Europe/Central Asia
Summer World Travel:  South America
And so, our seventh week of our 'travels' took us to North America.  Unfortunately, I did not include what we did for Canada for some reason.  Likely because we stuck to the paper outlined and didn't get into too many extras.  We do live here, after all.

USA - on laptop

So, since we know the USA pretty well (hello, southern neighbors!), we looked at our map and noticed how many states there were.  We colored our flags and stamps, then we prayed.
   M- that the people would listen to you
   Bram - I couldn't hear him as baby Bella was too loud.

We went on YouTube and looked at a few videos of the Grand Canyon, Mt. Rushmore, and then we listened to the National Anthem.

Mexico - Aug 20

As usual, we colored flags, found Mexico on the map, colored our stamps and glued them into our passports.  We went through the clues on the sheet, and I decided to make a few recipes this time.  I made homemade tortillas for beef burritos, and then I made hummus, Mexican wedding cookies, and a Mexican sunrise drink.  Hopefully all the links work for you so you can try the recipes out yourselves.

Next, we played Basta as outlined on our worksheet.  L was our letter, and the categories were food, animals, fun things to do, countries, and people names.  We also prayed for Mexico.
   M - "I pray for Mexico that they will have safety."
   Bram - "I pray for safety for whatever they need safety from."
   A - "I pray Mexico, safety in the barn."  (how can you tell that I ask for my husband's safety in the barn when we pray often!)

We watched a few videos using YouTube as well.  One on the anthem, and a few about step pyramids here, here, and here. 

Summer World Travel: South America

Hello again, and welcome here!  Are you travelling with us around the world with Focus on the Family?  If not, why not join in?  It is fun, and can be as simple as just following the itinerary they have themselves, or as complex as you wish to make it.  I decided to post the links to recipes and youtube videos that I am using with my own kids, as well as the maps and printables I made to go with the 'program' myself.  You can view those by clicking the links below.

Time for a Summer Adventure!
Summer World Travel: Ethiopia, South Africa, Zimbabwe
Summer World Travel:  Australia, New Zealand, PNG
Summer World Travel:  Asia
Summer World Travel:  Caribbean
Summer World Travel:  Eastern Europe/Central Asia

And so, our sixth week of our 'travels' took us to South America: Suriname, Bolivia, and Colombia.

Suriname Aug8&9

We found it on a map, read the clues, colored flag/stamp, and listened to national anthem " God zij met ons Suriname" with the first verse in dutch, and the second in Sranan Tongo

We listened to Kaseko music, and then made drums and played to it.

We watched a tourism video.

We made up a song -

• (mom) I love the Lord with all my heart
• (M)  With all my heart and soul
• (Bram) I Believe in Jesus, Yes I do
• (A) I believe in Jesus
• (Baby) Jesus

I did my best to write down what the kids prayed for, but I couldn't get it all word for word.  I love keeping this so I can see it again later.  It is wonderful to hear our children pray.

• M - That the word would travel through the rainforests to the people
• Bram - that they would hear of God through the rainforests and that many of them would know He is the Saviour and that He made everything

The kids wrote the things they were anxious about and put them on their shoes, ran outside, and then kicked them off to come inside before our baths/supper.  These were the things they wrote.

1. A - power going out
2. Bram - school, nightmares, needles
3. M - when the power goes out, thunder, school, nightmares, spiders

For supper, I made 'pom'.  Quite interesting.

Bolivia Aug10&11

Galatians 6:9

 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

Once again, we read the clues, found Bolivia on the map, colored the flag and stamp, and listened to the national anthem.

We also watched a video of a balero, and then watched a video of the Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia... called the worlds largest salt flat and God's Mirror.  Beautiful.  Kids said they want to see it in real life someday.

We made Empanadas de Queso as our recipe.

They don't have 'snacks' here usually, but they have a morning tea time around 10am called merienda, and an afternoon tea time around 5 called tecito.  They like to have baked goods with their tea.  Click here for more info. 

We learned about desserts there (they use a lot of coconut and chocolate) and their fruits.  See more on that here and here.

We made up our own 'family flags'.

We prayed for Bolivia-

M - that the people would know Jesus, that they would have enough food

Bram - that they would get enough money to buy food

Colombia - Aug 12&13

We read the clues, found Colombia on the map, colored the flag and stamp, and listened to the national anthem.

We watched a footbag or hacky sack tricks video and then tried to play ourselves.  We were not successful.  Balloons made it easier, though.

Our verses:
Leviticus 19:32 'Stand up in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly and revere your God. I am the LORD.

1 Cor 4:8-9 we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;

We played with spinning tops, as per the activity for the day.  And we prayed.

1. M - I pray for the leaders to make decisions so that people will not be in poverty.
2. Bram - I pray for the people in Colombia to have their leaders so that they will not have poverty and will accept you. 

We invited my parents to come for supper, to serve them first, oldest to youngest.

Summer World Travel: Eastern Europe/Central Asia

Hello again, and welcome here!  Are you travelling with us around the world with Focus on the Family?  If not, why not join in?  It is fun, and can be as simple as just following the itinerary they have themselves, or as complex as you wish to make it.  I decided to post the links to recipes and youtube videos that I am using with my own kids, as well as the maps and printables I made to go with the 'program' myself.  You can view those by clicking the links below.

Time for a Summer Adventure!
Summer World Travel: Ethiopia, South Africa, Zimbabwe
Summer World Travel:  Australia, New Zealand, PNG
Summer World Travel:  Asia
Summer World Travel:  Caribbean


And so, our fifth week of our 'travels' took us to Eastern Europe and Central Asia.  Here we visit Armenia, Kazakhstan, and Russia.

August 1&2 - Armenia

We read the clues, found Armenia on the map, colored our flags and stamps, and listened to the national anthem called 'Our Fatherland'.  mɛɾ hɑjɾɛnikʰ

We did the activity where we rearranged our alphabet by making a prayer with it.

We also played egg jousting (had the eggs for supper afterwards)

We prayed - everyone basically prayed the same thing... that they'd 'stand firm'

For our 'recipe', I made armenian flatbread with cheese.

• 1 cup flour,
• salt,
• 1/2 cup water
• Mix and let sit 15 minutes.  Divide into four and roll into about 12 inch diameter circles.  Spread olive oil on it, and sprinkle on cheese, dried mint, and pepper.  Bake 400F for 7minutes.

We watched a video to see Mount Ararat

We watched a short Armenia travel guide video. 

Aug3&4 - Kazakhstan

Once again we read the clues, found Kazakhstan on our map, colored the flag/stamp, and listened to the national anthem

We named as many fruits as we could think of. 32 total - apples, oranges, peaches, plums, bananas, lemons, limes, kiwi, tomato, cantaloupe, watermelon, strawberries, cherries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, papaya, plantain, pineapple, mango, coconut, chokecherries, mandarins, pears, starfruit, dragonfruit, durian, honeydew, apricots, grapes, cranberries, pomegranates

We made fruit salad using what we had... bananas, strawberries, canaloupe, blueberries, apples, pineapple, and lemon juice.

We played the anklebone shooting game.  With dice.

We prayed:

• M - That the people in Kazakhstan would understand your truth, love, and freedom
• Bram - that the people would have faith in you and understand you created everything, and they would come to know you.
• A - I don't know what she said.

We watched a commercial tourism video and a tourism video.

Aug 5&7 Russia

Once again we colored flags, found Russia on the map, and colored and glued our stamps.

We did the 'swapping meals' activity and ate denvers for breakfast and cereal for supper.  (I liked this one... cereal for supper means less work, haha)

We played Gorodki in the office (another of the activities).

We listened to the national anthem

Государственный гимн Российской Федерации, "Gosudarstvenny Gimn Rossiyskoy Federatsii

Bram tells me there are lots of z's in it

We watched a video or two of schools in Russia

We also looked at churches in Russia.

Sorry this has been taking so long to update.  I have sort of been doing it as I scrapbook, and I am very behind.  I will get everything up here yet.  Hopefully before the end of the year!