Hello Mr. Knaus and Burroughs P.M. Kindergarten,
Flat Stanley arrived in Mansfield, Ohio several days ago. He was tired from his trip so we let him rest before we began a week of adventures.
On Monday Flat Stanley traveled to Huron, Ohio. Huron is a small town on Lake Erie, the smallest of the Great Lakes. We took him to our house in Chaska Beach. Chaska Beach is a community of about 100 homes. The development was started in 1925 and was summer homes. It has a beautiful beach, park, and tennis courts. Isabelle and her family loved to come spend time here with G'ma and G'pa Siegenthaler.
It was a sunny day with temperatures around 50 degrees. Flat Stanley took a chair, towel, and sun screen and headed down to the beach. It was too cold for him to go swimming (the water temperature is 34 degrees!) but he enjoyed walking on the beach looking for river rocks (for Isabelle to paint) and played in the sand.
The ice on the lake has melted but the beach is littered with debris that has washed ashore from winter storms. In the beach picture you can see the lighthouse in the background. Huron is a shipping port for freighters carrying coal and iron ore. The lighthouse marks the mouth of the Huron River where the freighters go into port and unload their cargo. Many freighters come in at night and need the beacon of light from the lighthouse to guide them into the mouth of the river.
After lunch Flat Stanley walked down to the park to play. G'ma Jodi taught him how to pump his legs. The swing took him REALLY high in the air. He felt like he was flying! He wante
d to go on the slide but it is very high and he was scared to climb up by himself. G'ma Jodi helped him up the stairs the first time so he would not be afraid. After that he went up and down the slide all by himself.
After an exhausting day at Chaska, Flat Stanley headed back to Mansfield. It is an hour drive through beautiful farmland. He saw 3 freight trains. The trains go across northern Ohio from the east coast to Chicago and beyond. He also saw several Amish families in their horse drawn buggies. There is a large Amish and Mennonite community about 10 miles north of Mansfield in Shenandoah. Amish families live without electricity, cars, telephones and all modern day conveniences. They heat their homes with wood. They are gentle, kind people who live off of the land. Amish people do not like to be photographed so we did not get a picture of Flat Stanley with the buggies.
Flat Stanley was very tired from his day out. He ate dinner and went to bed. Tomorrow he is going to Malabar Farm where they are in the process of making maple syrup and candy. So long for now!
ed commemorate the first airplane flight in nearby Kitty Hawk, NC as well as the wild horses that used to live in the area. A few can still be seen further north on the beach but Stanley didn't see any this visit. He had a great time! 
ing, we went to a Farmer's Market in Troy, which is right across the Hudson River from Albany. There was a very good bluegrass band playing, and lots of farm-grown food for sale. After we picked up some food for lunch, we walk
ed over to a statue of Uncle Sam, who represents the United States of America. The real life Uncle Sam was from Troy, and I got my picture taken with him. Right across the street from Uncle Sam is a bookstore called 'Market
Block Books.' Uncle Brendan talked to the owner, whose name is also Stanley(!), and he wanted a picture with me, too. It seems everywhere I go, people have heard of me. Then, on Sunday, we went to the New York
State Museum in Albany. There is a lot of interesting stuff there about the history of New York, such as its logging industry and the fact that
mastodons (think of them as big hairy elephants) used to live there long ago. I also liked visiting the original set from Sesame Street. I also learned about Native Americans who used to live in New York, and saw some very old fire 
engines. It was a
fun trip."
kground
More photos of the little guy:
ns, we saw the famous statues that wer
e inspired by the book "Make Way for Ducklings," which took place in the Gardens. We also saw the statue dedicated to Robert Gould Shaw and his soldiers. Shaw was from Boston and led the first African-American regiment during the Civil War, the Massachusetts Fifty-Fourth. You can learn more about these brave men here: http://www.nps.gov/boaf/historyculture/shaw.htm We walked all the way to Faneuil Hall, which was a place where many patriots gave speeches in sup
port of the American Revolution. It was a great day, and I learned a lot about our country's history."
adventure in the Big Apple (N
ew York City)..
off to his next ad
venture.
d birthdays this past week. After sniffing Stanley, Rosa decided he was OK. So we took Stanley out for coffee. That’s what a lot of people
do in Seattle. You’d think we took him to Starbucks, since Seattle is where Starbucks has its headquarters. But Stanley wanted to go to Peet’s Coffee and Tea. Not only did he like the espresso there, but he also got to steam a little milk and meet a friendly barista. Stanley insisted on dining out the next night. They played music at the restaurant. He showed us some of Isabel’s dance moves. Finally, Stanley wanted to see what college is like. So we took him to the University of Washington. He LOVED the department of communication. We took a picture 
of him in front of the building. But you should have seen him inside! He gave a speech in a rhetoric class, he created a blog in his digital media class, he interviewed a mayor for his political communication class, and he watched Bollywood films in his cultural communication class. Boy, did he have fun at college! When he gets back, he can’t wait to tell you more about his adventures. But mostly, he says he can’t wait to hear about everything you learned while he was away.
Hi gang,
Museum and saw an old tank from World War II. I think Alex would have liked this museum.
d to go on the slide but it is very high and he was scared to climb up by himself. G'ma Jodi helped him up the stairs the first time so he would not be afraid. After that he went up and down the slide all by himself.
