Adventures of Flat Stanley

This is the story of a boy who got smashed by a bulletin board.  His name is Flat Stanley and he wanted to go on a trip so Kiera folded him up and mailed him to me, here in Arizona.  She asked me to take him everywhere I go and photograph his visit. 


Hi!  Today I will tell you about my incredible journey over two thousand miles away in Mesa, Arizona.  Boy, that was a long trip in the mail, but I made it okay.  Thank goodness I finally got out of that stuffy envelope!  It was not comfortable in there! 

I could not believe how different everything looked!  It was the wide open west!  Here I am by a friendly bear who welcomed me to the desert!

 



Looking around, I could see that this was a very neat place.  It did not look like my home in Indiana though.  Instead of big trees with leaves on them, these green things were tall and some had spines on them.  This is called a cactus and, WATCH OUT!  Be careful not to get too close or you could get poked by a cactus needle!

When I arrived at the mailbox, I was greeted by my host family.  The people in this family are: Phil, Karen, Kayleigh, and Baby Jackson.  Being around a baby was pretty cool!  He is small like me, and he shared all of his things with me.  Here I am taking a ride on his swing.  Wheeeee!

After playing for awhile, I had a snack of toast with jalapeno jelly.  The people here sure like food that's a little spicy.  When I was finished, I got very sleepy.  So, I found a happy snugly little place to take a rest.  Here I am napping with Baby Jackson in his crib. 

When I woke up, I wanted to do some sight-seeing and learn more about Arizona.  I found out a lot of things.  Arizona is the 5th largest state and the 48th state to join the United States of America.  Its nickname is the Grand Canyon State.  Over 6 million people live here.  The State Flag looks like this:

Then I met Kokopelli.  His picture appears on rock walls and pottery in the American Southwest. His picture seemed to be everywhere.  But who is this fellow?  Kokopelli looks like a hump-backed, dancing flute player. He first appeared on cave and rock walls dating back several thousand years. His picture can also be found in the artifacts of Native Americans from a long time ago.  Some say he carried babies and seeds in the hump on his back! When he played his flute, Winter was banished and the Spring rains appeared to bring forth new life.

Arizona holds one of the great Wonders of the World.  The Grand Canyon.  It is over a mile deep, 277 miles long and covers 1,218,375 acres.  It is an incredible sight!  Here I am visiting the Grand Canyon. 

There is so much beauty in Arizona.  I could have gone exploring for days!

My host family took me with them to work.  They have 2 businesses to run and they are very busy.  Our first stop was at a warehouse to get supplies for the sports cards store.  It was a huge place with boxes everywhere!  I almost got lost it was so big!  Can you see me?

Here I am climbing the ladder to reach all of the supplies.  Good thing I'm not afraid of heights!

After leaving the warehouse, we drove to the stores to work and help people all day long.  Inside the sports cards store, I got to learn about the sports teams in Arizona.  The football team is the Arizona Cardinals.  Here I am next to a jersey.

The baseball team here is called the Arizona Diamondbacks.  A diamondback is a kind of rattle snake.  I am so glad not to have met any rattlesnakes during my visit!

After we left the sports card store, we went inside the other store.  This was a laundromat.  It is where a lot of people come to wash and dry their clothes.  There were lots of people and machines here.  Can you see me?  I am about to go inside the washing machine.  But thank goodness they didn't turn it on!  I would get soaking wet! 

After all that helping in the stores, I got hungry.  I took a tour of the snack machine so I could pick out something good to eat.  Can you spot me in there?

I had such a fun time in Arizona, and I hope to come back and visit again.  Thank you, Kiera for sending me here!  Next time, I hope you come with me!