Connecticut

I had another stop over with Aunt Laura & Uncle John! They live on the border of CT so it was easy to get to see another state. We went for a nice ride and visited YALE! I'm going on vacation with one of Aunt Laura's friends' (Nicole) who is going to Yale in the fall, what a great University!


Next we went to a big park on the ATLANTIC Ocean. I hung out with Apollo & Gemini; Apollo was making sure my head smelled ok!


I could see the US Coast Guard in the background! - It's so cool to see all these different beaches around the world!



Right next to our van, we saw some Marines and another REALLY BIG TRUCK! I wanted to get out and climb on it, but turns out I wasn't allowed. The Marines were really nice though and let me take a picture with them! They were in the park for a 8K race for wounded warriors! It was really nice to meet more Marines!

Germany

I made a quick stop in Germany thanks to Aunt Laura's Friend Andreas. I met Andreas on the phone on my FIRST DAY with Aunt Laura at Monster.com. He works for the same company but all the way on the other side of the world. It takes about 8 hours to get from the Massachusetts office to the German office - by PLANE!

Andreas took me for a walk around his home town: Saarbrücken. **I thought the Marines had hard words to say!!!** There was this really cool art museum there so we took a picture in front of it.


Aunt Laura told me to try the chocolate while visiting Germany! They have special chocolate that is more creamy than we have here! it was YUUMMMYY!!

Thank you Andreas for showing me around your hometown!

San Diego California

After all this talk of beaches, I finally got to see one and play in the waves! Aunt Laura's friend Barbara took me for a relaxing day! Normally, as you know a 7 year old just can't sit still but with all this traveling a nice calm day is really fun. (shhh don't tell your parents).

Barbara lives right next to the Pacific Ocean in Southern California. Its called Cardiff by the Sea.

Barbara told me that it was 'May Gray' out, meaning it was cloudy - but I thought it was beautiful- I was FINALLY ON THE BEACH!

She even let me play in the waves! Barbara was going to teach me how to surf but she cut her finger and couldn't today, the salt water would be OUCHIE!!! When we were walking on the beach, several people noticed me and RECOGNIZED ME! I can't believe how many people have heard of Flat Stanley! Wow its fun to meet all of these new people!

We also went to a YOGA class. This class is unique because its REALLY hot. Barbara told me that its relaxing, but it just felt like my trip to Afghanistan at first. Then as the class went on my paper muscles got looser and looser! I can see why the adults like it. The picture is really cool, there was so much humidity in the room that it looked like I was in a cloud.

This last picture was taken in front of the world famous Self Realization Foundation in Encinitas. People come here from all over the world to relax and meditate. It's not as old as the castle I saw in UK but its still pretty old: built in the 1930's. We couldn't take pictures inside but I had lots of fun looking at the gold towers (Barbara said they're called "gilded towers") and the really white walls. I also had some fun looking at the Koi pod, I thought they were big goldfish, but I was told there a special fish called Koi!


Barbara, Thank you very much for showing me Southern CA and for finally getting me to the beach!

Durham UK

Today I went on an amazing adventure with my new friend SOPHIE! Sophie's mom Nikki is a friend of Aunt Laura's. They live in Durham UK! This is a picture of Sophie and I in front of the Durham Castle that we visited today!.


I learned that even though the UK and USA both speak English, we say some things very differently.

Sophie is 11 and she is in "Year 6" they don't call it 6th Grade like we do. Next year she will go to "Comprehensive School" which to us is "High School" And this made me giggle, they call "MATH" MATHS! They have really old mailboxes, but they call them "post boxes" This is a picture of one of the "post boxes."
We spent the day walking around "Durham Cathedral and Castle" it was a very beautiful day, and we even enjoyed a picnic! The Cathedral is very famous here and is VERY OLD! They started building it in 1093, and Sophie's mom told me that the really cool thing is that it is very close to the same as it was back then!


There are some graves around the castle, MAN they are lots bigger than the ones I've seen in the USA!This is me standing outside of the castle, Sophie and her mom asked a nice guard if I could take a picture here.
This is the River that surrounds the Castle and the Cathedral on three sides. I'm standing on one of a few bridges to get this cool picture.

This is a famous door knocker on the sanctuary! If people in medieval times would want to go inside to be protected from something or someone outside, they would knock using this knocker. It was so loud that it would wake the two watchmen who slept in a room above the door.

I really had a great time with Sophie and her Mom! They showed me how much fun you can have in a day, and showed me a really cool castle and cathedral! Thank you very much!

S T A N L E Y

This is a very cute poem written by my new friend Sophie who you will read about in my Durham UK post!

S is for Stanley, who travels the globe
T is for time, through which Stanley travels
A is for appearance, Stanley is flat
N is for never, never forget your camera
L is for look. Look at the country side and the city
E is Earth, which unfortunately is the only planet he can visit
Y is for yes! Stanley will be visiting us soon!

New Orleans, Louisana

Today I was talking to Aunt Laura and her friend Chris! Chris and his son had a Flat Stanley last year and he went to New Orleans. His aunt made a really cool video for him and he said I could share it with you. Even though I didn't get to go here today, the video was really fun to watch!

The beginning has a bunch of pictures of the Saints football team. Aunt Laura told me that there are other teams that have just as much fun as the Steelers do (but she said Steelers are the best anyway). It was nice to see other teams having fun though.

New Orleans is really cool, it has lots of great food and a great history. There are pictures of Carnival, which is a big party that goes on for a whole WEEK there. They have LOTS of parades.

You can see him visiting Café du Monde in the French Quarter and the Superdome (with a Saints jersey on at that). He also visited the famous cemeteries, Jackson Square, the Riverwalk, and other points in or around the French Quarter.
I hope you enjoy my new friends Video!
Flat Stanley Goes to New Orleans

ALABAMA!

From Alaska to Afghanistan to Alabama - I'm beginning to think that Aunt Laura is sending me to only places that begin with the letter A!

Jen is Aunt Laura's good friend from work and she has relatives in Alabama. This is another hot place! Mr. Blair took me around and showed me some sights here! I went from the cold snow in Alaska, to the sand and NO beach in Afghanistan to warm sand and BEACH in Alabama! I didn't know there was a beach here! I'm learning that you can find beaches everywhere!

These pictures were taken in MOBILE BAY ALABAMA!


Did you ever hear the song "Sweet Home Alabama" - I heard it on the way here and now can't stop singing it :).

Mr. Blair told me that they are worried that the oil spill will come to their area soon. If it does, that means that oil will be in the water and on the beaches in this very pretty place.

While here I also learned that almost everyone in Alabama likes to eat fried food. I saw fried fish, fried chicken, fried pickles. I also saw some new things like "OCRA" its a vegetable! Alabama sure was fun!

Thank you Jen and Mr. Blair for taking care of me and showing me ALABAMA!!!