Sweden

After we finished up banned countries week, we were hoping to go to Disney for China day, but the flu keeps circling. I have it now, and I'm miserable, but I have got to keep on track, so I'm going to power through- Calib was the culprit for the cancelled plans Monday. 

Anyway, like I said, it's all about keeping on track, so if China day was out, I had to find a quick fill-in. Asa and I went out to run errands Monday instead of Disney, and on our trip, we decided to swing by Ikea and pick up something for an easy dinner, and do a quick Sweden lesson. Bam, another country down! 

We've done projects in which we've learned about various countries, so for those we've already kind of covered, I feel like we can do them quickly and move on. I sort of save them in my back pocket for one we'll need on the fly. Sweden was my country during the last winter Olympics, so we already had a whole day dedicated to it. 

So here's your quick Sweden fun facts list: 

A country since 1397, Sweden ranks 90th in population size, but 56th in area, my kind of place!  It's less populated that most other parts of Europe, yay open land! 

Life expectancy in Sweden is one of the best in the world (10th in fact), at 81.89 years. 

The primary religion there is Christian, but more specifically 'The Church of Sweden'

Of course everyone knows Sweden is great for outdoor life (hiking, canoeing, cycling, skiiing, sailing, ect), and wildlife watching tours are also popular. You can spy brown bear, elk, beavers, wolf and my personal favorite, Moose! 

Thanks to the Oresund bridge/tunnel, it's a real easy trip from Denmark! It's the largest combined road & rail bridge in Europe. 

And we all know about Vikings and ice hotels, and the northern lights. 

They've got some famous people too. 

Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel (who invented dynamite), is the Nobel of the 'Nobel Prize' 

Anders Celsius, a Swedish astronomer, is not surprisingly the guy who devised the Celsius temperature scale. 

Oh, and IKEA. The first ever IKEA has been turned into a museum in Almhult. It was actually founded by a 17 year old, who is now one of the ten richest people in the world. The word 'IKEA' is actually from his initials (Ingvar Kamprad), the farm he grew up on (Elmtaryd), and his hometown (Agunnaryd). 

And thanks to the IKEA in Tampa, nobody had to do much for dinner. We just perused the food section and picked up some goodies. 

The boys made their postcards. 

And for dinner we had Swedish meatballs and mashed potatoes in cream sauce, Swedish flatbread with orange and elderflower marmalade, some gherkins, and an almond paste desert. 

It earned five spoons up, but I knew that it would- everyone really likes IKEA meatballs and stuff. The gherkins were surprisingly a hit, but the dessert was a little mixed, we couldn't figure out if we liked it or not.

We've been watching Planet Earth to go along with our countries. We did deserts and caves during banned countries week, and we save ice worlds for Sweden day. (Plus we had Swedish Fish with our popcorn snacks!) 

No table picture, whoopsie! 

But, that's 23 down, 170 to go, for those of you keeping track! 

Next Up: Australia