Stanley Experiences Fall in Erie PA

 The beautiful season of Fall is upon us!  What a great time for Stanley to see the change of seasons!

Although it was a bit risky, Stanley helped Evan and Chloe rake up some leaves in the backyard.  He was a bit worried about getting lost in the leaves so he jumped onto the rake and hooked himself in pretty tight!

It was cold and rainy most of the time Stanley spent here at our house, so he mostly just hung out and played with the kids.  Finally, when a nice day came around we took him with us to the pumpkin farm. 

He got to play on the hay bale maze,

And in the cornbox.

There were some goats that he was a bit nervous of, since he found out that goats eat anything!  Poor Stanley didn't want to leave the farm missing one of his shoes or something.  So he stood back safe with Evan.

 Chloe and Evan spent a lot of time going on big slides.  This nice smaller sized tunnel was just right for Stanley.  He even went down by himself! 

Well, sort of.  Chloe went right behind him to catch him.  He was so brave!

Evan took him on a bunch of different things, but unfortunately the camera batteries didn't last for the whole day.  He did have fun experiencing fall here though and can't wait to come back when it's snowing!

A Long Long Adventure...

Well, I bet you've all been wondering, "Where is Flat Stanley?" I can tell you, he has been a busy little guy! It all began when Stanley left Liam, Connor, and Caitlin's house and headed off to Florida to visit Laurie and Julia. The mailman delivered him safely to their mail box, but Stanley just sat there for days and days. "Where are my friends?" he wondered. Then, just when he thought he couldn't take the heat anymore, along came their Mommy. They had moved! She was just coming to pick up the mail from their old house to take along to their new house. Whew! That was a close one! Stanley was almost lost! As much as Julia and Laurie wanted to play with Stanley, they had a lot of work to do, unpacking their clothes and toys and furniture at their new house, so they had to send Stanley on his way to visit Michael and Katelyn again.
So, back at Michael's house, Stanley arrived on a very exciting day. The first day of school! Michael was about to walk to school with Mommy and Katelyn, but we decided to check the mail first. What did we find? Mail for Michael!!  What could it be?

Michael was very excited to see his friend again!

Time to walk to school!

Michael was also very excited to meet new friends at school while we waited for the bells to ring. Can you find Flat Stanley in this picture?

After 2 days of school, there was some more excitement around here. Michael's Grandad came for a visit from Washington! That's a long trip from Washington to Virginia! Even longer than Stanley's flight from Florida to Virginia. We all went to the National Zoo that weekend, and Stanley was excited to take his first trip to a zoo.  Stanley had a great advantage when we visited the aquariums...he could get very very very close to the glass.

Stanley loved seeing the sting rays glide by!

But Michael was afraid he might get stung, so he rescued him. Stanley was safe behind the glass, but Michael wasn't taking any chances with his buddy.

Turtles!

This cute little guy was not so little compared to Flat Stanley!

Stanley's favorite part of the zoo was watching the orangutans swing high above us, traveling from one play area to another. They were 40 feet in the air, swinging right above the sidewalks, and they never fall down! Stanley really wanted to try it out, but swinging around like that is hard when you're flat. A strong wind would blow him away! We just settled on taking a video to watch at home.

The Greatest of Ease... from Leslie Reedy on Vimeo.
After the weekend with Grandad, we had another fun weekend planned with Liam, Connor, and Caitlin, because they live really close to our house. We all went camping together! Stanley had fun playing in the tent, but he couldn't keep up with the boys as they eagerly explored the forest.

On the way home, we visited the Birthplace of George Washington. Sadly, George Washington's boyhood home burned down, but no one was hurt, thank goodness! The park rangers have made an outline of where the house once stood, and Michael ran around the perimeter as fast as he could go.

Here they are learning about the Outdoor Kitchen that was typical to the time when George Washington was a little boy. They didn't have electricity, and they cooked over an open fire in the fireplace.

There was a workbook to fill in so you could get a Junior Ranger badge, and Stanley helped Michael write down all the interesting facts they had learned that day about George Washington's life.

We also learned that the National Park service has a Website just for Junior Rangers. It's really cool, and you can learn all about our National Parks and our Nation's History while playing games. We like to log on and play on rainy days, like today!

Once we arrived back home, Flat Stanley and Michael decided to play a game of hide and seek. You know, you have to be careful when you play hide and seek, because if you hide really really really well, it might be hard to find you again! Flat Stanley took advantage of his shape and hid under the floor mat in the van. We thought we lost him for a while, but we finally found him again! Flat Stanley has been through quite a lot in these last few weeks!

On to Stanley's questions. He had some fun questions for Michael this time.
*Stanley - What do you like best about school?
*Michael - "Playing outside with Luke!"
*What is your favorite thing to eat on pizza?
*Michael - "CHEESE!"
*What is your favorite animal to visit at the zoo?
*Michael - "Uhhhh, alligators!"
*What do you like to do in the summer?
*Michael - "Uh, play with Daddy outside on the patio and throw meatballs on the kitty and on my face and throw apples on me and throw cheese on me and eat apples, bananas, pie, frosting, chocolate, and ice cream, and cake, and pizza, and a bunch of pears, and lemons, and lemons, and lemons, and watermelons, and grapefruit!"
And now, he's off again to visit Evan and Chloe. He'll be seeing you guys soon!

Flat Stanley Goes to Washington

Liam, Connor & Caitlin's Mommy felt kind of bad that Flat Stanley got forgotten in the backpack on their trip to Williamsburg. So she decided to make up for it by hosting Stanley one more week. We had some exciting plans for this week and we wanted to include Flat Stanley in the fun.

First, Flat Stanley visited the White House. The White House is where the President of the United States lives. Right now, the President is Mr. Obama. He wasn't at his house while we were there; he was on vacation with his family. But Flat Stanley did get to meet the Uniformed Secret Service!

Can you spot Flat Stanley?

Then we took Flat Stanley to a Washington Nationals baseball game! The Washington Nationals are a major league baseball team. They (fittingly) play in the National League. Flat Stanley sat high up in the stands so he could see everything. He even saw a home run (unfortunately hit by the St. Louis Cardinals).

Now that Flat Stanley has really seen some of DC, we are sending him on his way. Watch your mailboxes; Stanley's on the move!

Flat Stanley Meets Liam, Connor & Caitlin

We know how to show Flat People a good time in our house. So, first off, we took Stanley to the dentist. Liam and Connor had dentist appointments so Flat Stanley was good enough to come along.

 

Dr. Kiki ckecked out Stanley's teeth as well. He has excellent dental hygiene. Way to go, Stanley!

This week, while Stanley was visiting, Liam and Connor also had swimming lessons. Stanley wasn't at all sure about tagging along, given a most unfortunate pool incident in his past. But he was a very brave boy and came along. He kept Caitlin company on the pool deck while she supervised her big brothers' lessons.

Given past pool experiences, Flat Stanley wisely decides to watch the lessons from the pool deck with Caitlin.

After dragging Stanley to the dentist and swimming lessons, we decided to take Flat Stanley somewhere a little more fun. So Stanley came to Williamsburg with us for the weekend! We went to Busch Gardens and Colonial Williamsburg. It was a lot of fun. Sadly, Liam, Connor & Caitlin's mom can be a little bit of a space cadet so she might have forgotten to take a picture of Stanley in Williamsburg. But he truly did enjoy his visit from the comfort of Caitlin's backpack. See?

What do you like to do in your spare time?
Liam: Play with kitchen stuff.
Connor: We play Imagination Movers!

Do you like doing puzzles?
Liam: Yes.
Connor: I like MONSTER puzzles!

Do you like strawberry, chocolate & vanilla ice cream?
Liam: Liam does (self corrects) I do. The strawberry-chocolate part.
Connor: (looking around for the ice cream) YES!!!

If you were flat, where would you go?
Liam: Nowhere.
Connor (simultaneously with Liam) McDonalds!
Mommy: (to Liam) Are you sure?
Liam: No. Mimi & Papa's.
Connor: And Nana & Grandpa's!

Caitlin didn't have any answers to these questions yet. She'll think on them and get back to you.

Flat Stanley Meets Annabelle and Savannah!

Here is flat Stanley in Florida. He had a great time going to the pool with Savannah,

and Annabelle!

He jumped off the diving board, 

he went down the slide,

he said hello to the Life Guard,

 and then of course took a relaxing break in the sun. 

Unfortunately, there was a small accident at the pool...don't worry... Stanley was rushed to the local spencer hospital and taken care of. 

He had a few boo-boos but the doctors fixed him up and he looks as good as new. 

He might look a little different to his friends, thanks to a little surgery, and some new clothes but he is still good ol' Stanley. 

He recuperated for a few days in the hospital and then he went on a few more adventures with Annabelle and Savannah.

After Flat Stanley felt better, he went to Home Depot with Annabelle and Savannah. He loved his little work vest, 

and he got to ride in the bus. 

When they got home he relaxed with his new friend "flat daddy". They watched tv
and did lots of boy things together. 

He is now ready for a new adventure with his other friends. Florida was kind of wacky... but really fun. When he comes back, he'll make sure all of his insurance is up to date and he is very safe.

Before Stanley hopped in his envelope to travel with the mail man to meet his next friends, he had a few fun questions for Annabelle and Savannah.

If you could dress up as anything, what would your costume be?

Annabelle: fairy

Savannah: my costume would be belle.

What is something that you don't like to do, but have to do anyway?

Annabelle: drive around and look at houses.

Savannah: school

What is your favorite kind of ice cream?

Annabelle: that's hard, i like two; chocolate and strawberry.

Savannah: chocolate

Everyone check your mailboxes...Flat Stanley is on the move again!