Aloha!

Aloha first graders!

I just said hello to you.
Aloha is a Hawaiian word that means both hello and good-bye. You can say "Aloha" when you are coming or going away.


Here are some other special Hawaiian words that I learned while I was staying there.

Mahalo means "thank-you." People remember to say "Mahalo" when they get something.

Hula is a special dance. Little girls take hula lessons starting when they are five or six years old.

Wikiwiki means fast or speedy. I hope you are "Wikiwiki" to do the things you need to do.

The mountains in Hawaii are tall,
but they don't have snow on top.

                We saw a lot of mountains in Hawaii.
                Some of the mountains are volcanoes,
                but I didn't go to any volcanoes.

               It rains a lot in Hawaii - it rained every day
               that we were there - but only for a short time,
               and then the sun came out again.

              All of that water and so many mountains
              make a lot of waterfalls!

 

             This is Mount Waialelae (say Why-ully-ully).
             You can't see the top of it because it is always
             covered with clouds.

             Signs say that it is the wettest spot in the USA.
             It rains more here than anywhere else in our
             country.
             We took a hike and got rained on A LOT!

   

           



             This is Kalalau Falls. (say kah-lah-lah-oo)
             It is HUGE!
             See the little thing in the water down below?
             It is a person swimming.
             That can give you an idea of how
             high the waterfall is.

 

                Do you like animals? I do!
                In Hawaii I saw some that I had
                never seen before.
                This is a Black Swan.
                They love to swim, and spend
                a lot of time in the water.
                Swans look a lot like geese,
                but are bigger, and have a longer neck.
                They always hold their necks in an "S"
                shape.
               
                Swans are not very pretty when they are babies.
                The Book, The Ugly Duckling  tells the story
                of a little swan who grows up to be beautiful.

This is a Monk Seal. It is endangered. That means that only a small number of them are left in the world. They are protected. No one is allowed to hurt them. This little guy came up onto the beach to take a nap. The lifeguards made us stay away. We could take pictures, but not get too close.

One day we took a boat ride out into the Pacific Ocean. The waves were big, and the boat bounced up and down a lot! That made my tummy feel funny, but it was so worth it because we got to see dolphins! There were so many, and they followed alongside the boat. They are called Spinner Dolphins. They  jumped up out of the water, and spun around before they splashed back down. It seemed like they were playing.

My trip to Hawaii is one that I will always remember. I hope that you liked sharing my adventure.

I am glad to be home again in Rock Hill.  Soon I will get ready for my next trip. In September I will visit a country called Thailand. I just can't wait!

Aloha!

Your friend,

Flat Stanley









Hello from Hawaii!

Hi kids!

My name is Flat Stanley.  Did your teacher read you a story about me and how I got flat?  Since that time, I've been having more adventures!  This summer, I went to Hawaii with Mrs. North.  I travelled in her suitcase with the T-shirts and beach towels.  It was dark in there, but I was warm and cozy.
When we got there, the first thing we did was go to the beach. Because Hawaii is made of islands, everyplace you go is very close to a beach!

This is called Waikiki Beach. 

It is warm and sunny all year, and they have no winter. Palm trees grow everywhere- look at me climbing one!

Palm trees like these can't grow in Rock Hill, because
our winters are too cold.

There are no branches, but there are a lot
of little places to hang on when you climb.

Coconuts grow on these trees- I went to a fruit stand where farmers were selling food by the side of the road and saw a coconut.  It looks different from the ones we see in the store because it is still in its husk.  Have you eaten coconuts?  They are really yummy!  What other fruit do you see?

That's right!  These are pineapples and bananas - they grow in Hawaii also! The yellow oval fruits are called papayas. They are orange on the inside and have lots and lots of seeds. 

Because it is so warm and sunny here, many kinds of flowers grow.  This one is the state flower; it is called a hibiscus!  They are yellow, red, or pink.

Another thing that grows in Hawaii is this little green berry- can anyone guess what it is for??

Surprise!  This one was hard to guess.  It is coffee!  These beans are picked and roasted before they can be used.  Your parents might have had some coffee at breakfast this morning!

As you can tell, I really liked seeing all of the different plants. Here is one more. It was growing near our hotel. People called it a "walking tree." It did look like it could walk away at any time, on those skinny spider legs.

Well, that's it for now!  I will write again soon with more of my adventures in Hawaii!!!

Your friend,

Flat Stanley