Around downtown Vancouver...

Today Flat Stanley visited Vancouver.  He saw the Olympic couldron (where he also met the Paralympic Mascot, Sumi)

Canada's Northern House (where he played with rocks, and met a polar bear),

and the Canada Pavillion (where he met two of Canada's finest, and held an official Olympic Torch that was used in the torch relay across Canada).

What a great end to an exciting journey on the west coast. Flat will be heading home to Illinois next week.


We are also in the process of getting photos from Whistler, BC where Flat visited the paralympic biathalon event, and photos from the paralympic curling. Go Canada Go!

Olympics!

Flat Stanley has been busy! This past weekend he spent up in Whistler and boy did he have fun! Whistler is one of the sites for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympics Games, and we wanted to make sure that Flat Stanley got the full experience.


Saturday was spent in the snow, and today, it was all ice related at the Paralympics Curling. Photos will be up soon!

On Thursday, Flat will be going to downtown Vancouver to see all the sights and sounds of the Olympic festivities, hopefully he'll get to see the Olympic Cauldron, and perhaps even hold the torch.

On the weekend, Flat will be travelling back to Illinois, with lots of souvenirs of his travels to Canada!

Flat Stanley makes a quick trip to the U S of A....

So Flat was getting a bit homesick, so we took him with us to the Great Wolf Lodge in Grand Mound, WA.  We think he had a great time (he didn't want to go down the waterslides though - to wet for him).

Here we are heading to the US border - lineups were minimal thank goodness!

We didn't tell them Flat Stanley was travelling with us, even though we probably should have!

After about five hours of driving, we reached the Great Wolf Lodge.  Flat Stanley immediately made a new friend.

Ethan and Renee wanted to get in on the action too (Nick was playing shy)

Flat Stanley didn't go in the water, but he did watch the kids for a bit.  They all had a blast, and I am sure Flat Stanley would have enjoyed himself too if he wasn't afraid of getting wet and falling apart.

The big pool in the front is the wave pool, all the big waterslides are at the left, and the huge play area for the kids is at the right.  The big bucket at the top fills with water, and if you are standing under it....

You'll get soaked!

It was a quick trip down, only a couple of days.  On the way back Flat Stanley saw Seattle, Safeco and Qwest Fields, and then came *home* to Canada!

You might not be able to read the signage - it is welcoming Flat Stanley back to Canada....

Flat Stanley went on a little holiday...

Flat Stanley was getting a bit homesick, so we took him with us on our quick trip to the USA.  Pictures and details to be posted tomorrow (Flat Stanley's caretaker is TIRED). 

Stay tuned!

Flat Stanley meets some stuffed mascots

Today was a slow day for Flat Stanley - he was tired from his day in the classroom yesterday, so he just wanted to hang out at home.  He found a few friends to keep him company - the olympic mascots Miga, Quatchi and Sumi. 

If you look closely, Quatchi is wearing the Olympic red mittens with the Maple leaf on them - the same ones that Oprah wore on her show.

And if you want to watch a video about the mascots, you can click here.

Flat Stanley visits the Grade 2/3 class at Ethan's school

This morning Flat Stanley went to school, and what a great time he had.  Ethan's amazing teacher, Miss K, spent the morning telling all the kids about Flat Stanley (some had already heard of him).  She did a poll:

After that, the kids all sat down and they talked about Flat Stanley, while Flat Stanley himself sat quietly on Ethan's lap, using his best listening ears.  Ethan is the one sitting on the far left in the white tee shirt at the back of the group.  Flat Stanley said he wanted a break from all the picture taking....

Later that afternoon, all the kids did postcards for the class of children in Illinois, but I won't post a picture of those - they will be a surprise!

Not sure what is in store for Flat Stanley tomorrow....we'll have to wait and see!

Meet Flat Stanley!

I have started this blog to share a very special visitor's travels as he visits us from Illinois.  His name is Flat Stanley and he will be in Vancouver and surrounding area for the next couple of weeks.  We are hoping to be able to take Flat Stanley to the Paralympics in Vancouver, which will begin on March 12th (go Canada go!!!). 

Flat Stanley arrived today, and the first thing he wanted to do was just relax. 

It is a long journey from Illinois to Vancouver!  So he hung out in our kitchen, and lo and behold he witnessed a very special visitor to our backyard - a woodpecker!  It was a Pileated Woodpecker to be exact.

There are five of us in our family, Ken and Anna (dad and mom) and Ethan (7), Nick (almost 6) and Renee (almost 3). We hope to show Flat Stanley a great time while he is here.  Thanks Taryn for sending him to us.  We promise to take good care of him while he is here.

Tomorrow we hope that Flat Stanley can visit Ethan's Grade Two class at our local school.  Stay tuned!