Still here!

Hi First Graders,

I told you that this time I would show you some animals that live here in Washington State. The first one surprised me a  lot. It is not an unusual animal at all, but it did something very unusual. This deer came right into the yard, and was not at all afraid of people.

We were so close that Mr. North could almost reach out and touch it. He didn't. Instead he took a picture of me. The deer in SC are white tailed deer. They're very shy, and hide or run away from people. These are called mule deer. They get used to being around people. You can see deer wandering around the town every day.

Another animal that I saw a lot in town is one that you will recognize.

There is lots of water, so there are lots of seagulls. These little guys were floating by the docks.

We wanted to see another animal that doesn't just hang around the town, so we had to make a special trip in a boat to see it. We went whale watching!



I'm ready to go!

This is the boat that took us out to sea.

The gray whales spend the winter down in the warm water near Mexico. They come up to the colder water near Alaska for the summer. They pass right by Washington State, so that makes this a good place to see them. 

The boat ride was bumpy because the Pacific Ocean waves were big. We were out for a few hours We saw lots of tails, and lots of water spouts, and sometimes a whole whale. They jump out and fall back in so fast that it is hard to take a picture.

Look! Here's one!



Whale watching was fun. On the way back we saw a buoy. That is a floating structure that shows the boats which way to go. That blob on the bottom is a sleeping sea lion. The buoy bobbing in the water probably rocked him to sleep. The birds on top are cormorants. They dive to catch fish. Looks like these are taking a break.

 

 

One other trip that we took was to the beach. It doesn't look at all like our Carolina beaches! The sea is much wilder. The water is full of rocks. The waves are bigger. The beach is covered with stones, not soft sand. There are piles and piles of driftwood. You don't see any swimmers on this beach!

 





On Friday, when you are having Field Day, I will be coming home. I have done a lot of traveling this year, and I liked sharing it with you. It is nice to know that our world is filled with wonderful places to discover. I hope that you will grow up with a love of adventure.

I'll see you at school.

 

Your Friend,

Flat Stanley

 



Hello from the Evergreen State

Hi First Graders,
The first thing that I noticed is that Washington State is very different from Washington, DC. Washington, DC is a city, and this is a big state. It is so much greener here.  There are so many plants. That's what I want to show you today.

It is so green because it rains A LOT. It is even called the Evergreen State. Evergreen trees are those that don't lose their leaves in the winter. Evergreens are everywhere. This big one is in the nearby park.

 

South Carolina has some evergreen trees, too - like the tall pine trees on your playground. 

 

Some other plants that I see a lot here are ferns. In SC, people grow them indoors in flower pots. Here they grow wild outdoors. They like cool weather and here summer never gets very hot.

 

I am standing in a fern plant.



 

These are the tallest kind of trees in the world. Do you know their name?

 

They are called redwood trees. California is famous for having lots of redwood trees, but they grow all up and down the coast of the Pacific Ocean - in Washington, and Oregon, too.

 

Here I am sitting in a berry bush. What kind is it? Blueberry? No. Strawberry? No. Cranberry? No.

 

It is a kind that you might not have heard of before. It is called loganberry. They look a little bit like blackberries. Right now, the flowers are blooming on the bush. In each place that you see a flower, a loganberry will grow later in the summer.

 

Here is are two plants with funny names. The first one is called an Elephant Ear, because the leaves get that big! The second one is a flower called foxglove. Do you think that a fox could fit its paw into one and wear it like a mitten?

 

 

 

Here is one last picture for today. Do you know what I am sitting on? It is a totem pole. There are many Native American Indian tribes in the USA. Those that live in the Northwest part of the country (Washington State and Alaska) carve wooden poles with animals on them. The animals are symbols of good traits. This pole has a beaver to symbolize hard work, and an eagle for strength and courage.

 

That's all for now. Next time I will show you some animals that I have seen, and some other things, too.







Your friend,
Flat Stanley

Hola from Costa Rica

Hi Ticos and Ticas,,

I am staying in Costa Rica for one week. It is a small country in Central America. Everyone here speaks Spanish. I know that you are learning a little Spanish at school, and that you know that I said, "Hello" to you at the start of this post.

Can you guess what ticos and ticas are? Those are words for boys and girls that are used only in Costa Rica.  Other countries that speak Spanish (like Spain and Mexico) use different words.

As usual, I spend time in the hotel while Dr. Kristie works. Here is my favorite spot in our hotel room - the hammock on the screened porch. Have you ever been in a hammock? It is fun because it swings back and forth, but you have to be careful. If you swing too much, it flips, and you fall on the floor!

 

 

On Saturday I had an outing. The first place we went was a restaurant. Here is what breakfast in Costa Rica looks like:

 

Starting at the top, the foods are a square of banana bread, black beans mixed with rice (called "Gallo pinto" or speckled rooster), sweet fried bananas, fresh pineapple and papaya, and a chicken empanada (which is a little turnover filled with meat). Have you eaten any of these foods?

When we paid, we used Costa Rican money, called colons. The bills are a lot more colorful than our money. Here is what they look like:

 



On the front they have pictures of famous                  On the back, they have pictures of animals 
people of their country from long ago.                        that live there.  Can you recognize any of
                                                                                     them?

After breakfast, we went to the beach. In South Carolina we swim at Myrtle Beach in the summer. The water is too cold in other seasons. Here it is hot here all year round, so you can always go swimming.

 



After a swim, we went for a hike at the beach. Look what we saw on the rocks! It is a lizard called a spiny tailed iguana. I'm not in that picture. I didn't want to get too close!

Another name for this animal is the ctenosaur. I think it's kind of cool that his name ends like "dinosaur". I suppose that they are in the same family.

We stayed out until the sun was going down. Sunsets look beautiful all over the world. This was the end of a nice adventure. I will come home on Wednesday, so this will be the only time I write to you from Costa Rica.

See you later! Hasta Luego!
Your Friend,
Flat Stanley