who lived among windmills and clouds.

This was a wonderful day. As always, the sun was in and out, fighting it out with a North German rainstorm. Today at Molfsee, we fine-tuned the art of rainy outdoormuseuming. When the sun came out, we dashed along, looking at buildings and pastures. When the rain started, we ducked inside the nearest barn (oh! Did we just enter a eighteenth century novel?!) and waited it out. We looked at the furniture, read about the houses, and worked on the German scavenger hunt packet we were given on entering.

Our second stop was in a bricked house with a thatched roof, housing the toy museum. There were wooden model trains, and rocking horses, and the best rocking animal I have ever seen in my life: a rocking squirrel. Tragically, the picture is blurry, but I'm sharing it here anyway, because, well, you have to see it to fully appreciate its awesomeness.

Right? Onward to happiness... riding a squirrel.

We were skipping along through the farmhouse, when suddenly...

Oh, the horror, THE HORROR!!!! The mutant dolls appeared! They gathered on shelves, bodiless and terrifying, plotting to attack the more loved toys around them. And to be honest, we weren't so sure about our safety either. So... we ran away. We saw baby goats, sheep, and cows, big barns, small barns, all thatched and painted beautifully inside. Some of it looked very much like home, especially this window. : ) 

Lovely, no? My favorite house of all was a long brick house with apple trees and a picket fence. Inside, the walls were painted with dancing townsfolk, ships, and flowers. We read a child's study plan (for homeschool) on one of the desks, and his schedule sounded dreamy (and made me feel like a slacker!). He studied German, English, French, Danish, and Latin. Ever Wednesday, he studied Wagner in French and English translation, and he often practiced penmanship (which explained why the writing was so beautiful on the schedule). Maybe I could switch my majors and start up on his study patterns? Although I don't know if I'd be up for quite so much Wagner... I was up and ready to move in, and bring my family with me, of course. : )

My name's on the china cabinet! My name's on the china cabinet!

We finished the adventures with hot chocolate at the dairy and ridiculously large pieces of cherry cake that we could hardly dent.