Norway and Russia

In continuing with our study of countries during the Olympics...

Norway
Our (very white) dinner consisted of Norwegian fiskeboller (boiled fish dumplings), which had a decent flavor but very unpleasant consistency. I'm glad I also made homemade fish sticks with homemade tartar sauce to supplement dinner. I also served mashed potatoes, a Norwegian meal staple. Forgot a vegetable side dish, the dinner could have used some more color. :)
For dessert I made sitronfromasj, a Norwegian lemon mousse with whipped cream. This was very tasty!
We made Norwegian flags
We read this book to learn about Norwegian culture, geography, history and people
and read this book, which is set on a Scandinavian farm
we also read these two books-
and then we made a Viking helmet
and each took turns dressing like a Viking, complete with a brooch as they liked to wear
and then we pretended to sail on a Viking ship and explore new lands (we decided to forgo the plundering and such).

We learned about the Viking runic alphabet, and each chose a runic character to script on a rock. Runes were thought to have magical properties, and when carved into small stones, they were used to tell the future, heal the sick, and bless people, places and objects. Our runes say giant, sun and water.

Russia
For dinner I made rice pilaf and chicken ptichki, which was cubed chicken marinated in pureed onion and garlic, salt and pepper, then skewered and quickly fried, then baked over a bed of carrots, celery and onions. It was actually pretty good.
and for dessert, Russian almond cookies. Mega yum. I love anything almond flavored.
I borrowed my friend's Russian matryoshka nesting dolls and we took turns playing with them
We read this book and learned about Russian geography, culture, history, people, language and customs
In the book we learned about Faberge eggs, and how a jeweler made gold and silver eggs adorned with jewels that the Russian tsars in the 1880s would give away as gifts at Easter time. We painted gold eggs and adorned them with "jewels"
These were a major hit. Connor said that making Faberge eggs was even more exciting than being a Viking.

We made the Russian flag

and read these two children's books that are set in Russia.
We all completely loved these books. They were beautiful stories with breathtaking illustrations, like this

I only have one more country planned. They kids are going to be disappointed; Connor wakes up every day excitedly asking what country we are visiting next.