Flat Muchy in Washington State

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Dear Jace’s class,

My name is Angus and I am 7 years old. I’m in first grade and I live in Olympia, Washington.  Olympia is a great place to live. This time of year, we get many colorful leaves. Even though Washington is called The Evergreen State, this time of year, it isn’t very green. It’s very cold here in the fall, but we still managed to pack in a lot of adventures with Flat Stanley. 

We visited some woodsy areas first. On a walk, we saw some Halloween decorations and took some pictures. We even saw a fairy garden! We put Flat Stanley in a Little Free Library- I guess Flat Stanley really loves to read! We needed to do some shopping so we visited Capitol Mall and even had a frozen yogurt break at Menchie’s. Yummmmm! We visited the state capitol campus- Olympia is the capitol of Washington. There was a lot to learn about state government so we did a self-guided tour. What a cool place! There were memorials to people who served in wars, and statues of important people to Washington state history, like Marcus Whitman and Mother Joseph.  After visiting the capitol, we relaxed at the Olympia Farmers Market and sat on a bench that I love. The coolest thing about Washington is that it is named after the first president of the United States, George Washington.  We really had some fun with Flat Stanley. Thanks, Jace!

Your friend, 

Angus

P.s. As a matter of fact, we do have a recipe to share with you. A recipe for apple pie! Yummmmm! Washington is famous for its apples, and this is the recipe my mom likes to use. https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/apple-pie-recipe

Flat Sunny in New York

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October 31, 2022

Good morning from Sunny!!! Happy Halloween from New York!!! Sunny enjoyed the carved pumpkins and looks forward to the  Halloween party at our house tonight!


November 3, 2022

Sunny is enjoying learning about New York’s laws today. She’s accompanying me to court today and will sit through our calendar. Then, onto a hockey tournament in Rochester this weekend. She’s packing her gloves and mittens!

November 6, 2022

Sunny enjoyed watching hockey this weekend in Rochester. It was 70 degrees so no need to wear a hat and mittens! She watched Maddie and Brooke (who’s wearing the black jersey in front of the goal with the last name Parry and number 8) play against teams from California, Massachusetts and Washington, DC. Tomorrow, she will go to the polls to vote with us, and then spend time with Grandma Ginny until she comes back to class.

November 7, 2022

Sunny is spending time with Grandma Ginny tonight. She is using an old fashioned telephone to help sell poinsettias for the hospital. Her volunteer work keeps her busy.

November 11, 2022

Here I am at the Jervis Library and in the children’s wing.

November 11, 2022

Today I went to the Rome City Cemetery and visited the tomb of Francis Bellamy the man who wrote the Pledge  of Allegiance. It is a warm and sunny day here. On the last photo are the words of the pledge as he wrote it.

November 11. 2022

Rome is an old city. Before it was here there was a fort located here. This fort is now a national monument. Iam in several pictures from the fort and museum. Iam by the sign,then in a flat bottom boat used by the people at this time. I am on a sign talking about bartering which is what people did in the 1700’s. The brown paper in the corner tells what was bartered. In the museum I am sitting with an Indian and a trader . Look at the pile of pelts that I am on.

Now I am in the fort. It is all made of wood. I am in the guard house, the chaplains house , the store, and the barracks where the soldiers slept. Be sure to see the beds , their clothes , the cannon balls and the rammers used to put the balls in the cannon. Next is where the officer in charge stayed . He could have his family with him. See where they cooked their meals, where the little children slept and played. And YUCK, look under the bed and see the pot used as the bathroom during the night because it was too cold and dark to go outside. Stinky!!! Last I am by the cannon with the park ranger.


There was an Air Force Base here for many years. It it closed now . When it was here big planes flew from here . I am in some of the photos . The plane was to big for me to got on so I am looking at the mechanism that made the wheels go up and down.


After this I went to another memorial . This is for the veterans who served and protected our country during Vietnam .The helicopter in the photo was used in Vietnam and locals veterans restored it.

After all this I was ready for lunch and I met some of Grandma’s teacher friends who were glad to meet me because when they were in the classroom they used Flat Stanley with their students to visit around our great country. So we all had some laughs and now I am on my way back to Oregon. Ready for my next adventure.

Flat Jen in San Francisco and Mexico

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Oct 28, 2022

Hello Otters (I hope I got that right),

We wanted to let you know that Flat Jen arrived safely in San Francisco last night. She will be living on the third floor in this green building in a neighborhood called Russian hill.  Our building is almost 100 years old so it can get quite chilly when Karl comes around. Did you know that San Francisco gets so much fog the fog has a name? Karl the Fog!

 We were happy to learn Flat Jen loves cookies because we love them too! She enjoyed an oatmeal cookie upon arrival! 

This morning Flat Jen visited a school in a city called Hayward. Many families in our school community are from Mexico and Central America.  Flat Jen was able to check out the school's  Dia de Los Muertos Altar. She also got to see many kids dressed in traditional Mexican dresses.  It was a great day!

We will be in touch soon, 

Elana and Daniel Louie

October 30, 2022

Hello from San Francisco! 

Flat Jen visited Ocean Beach, the Sutro Baths, Golden Gate park & a Gordo’s Burrito shop.  The waves were HUGE at the beach & Flat Jen got to see a surfer riding the waves. The little rocky Islands are called Seal Rocks.  The rocky islands got their names because at one time California Sea Lions used to haul out there. I have not seen sea lions there recently but I do know a place where they hang out.  Hopefully Flat Jen will get a chance to visit them. 


Flat Jen also visited the Sutro baths.  The ruins were impressive but not as impressive as the pools must have been! When it was opened in 1896 it was the largest indoor swimming pool in the entire world! The ocean water used to fill the pools & they were heated to different temperatures for families to enjoy. As far as the Sutro Baths go, the complex became too expensive to run and maintain. Eventually the owner sold the complex to a developer who was going to build condominiums.  The developer destroyed the complex to get ready for the building project but then a fire broke out.  The condos were never built after all.  Now the ruins from the baths are a big San Francisco tourist attraction and are maintained by parks and rec. Locals also enjoy the beauty of the area and hiking down to the baths. 

She also saw an old windmill on the edge of Golden Gate park. When it was operating many years ago, it was used to pump water to the park. After a day of sightseeing Flat Jen had one of SF’s famous burritos.  Yes it was huge as burritos go in SF.  In fact, it was bigger than her!We happened to pass a consignment store with

a pretty cool name too! :) Flat Jen is now resting with her new housemate - Mini (the cat). 

 Happy Halloween!

Nov 3, 2022

Hello Otters, 

We had more Dia de Los Muertos festivities this week & enjoyed a special Baile Foklorico performance. We  also did some fun cooking. We heard you like to cook too! This week Flat Jen got to help make & eat fresh pasta. We usually knead the dough by hand but this time we cheated & used the mixer.  It’s really fun cranking the old pasta machine but even more fun eating the pasta! https://www.winemag.com/recipe/two-egg-pasta-dough/ Well it’s an exciting end to the week. Can you guess where we are & where we are going? We will be in touch soon! Happy Thursday Otters. 

💗, Flat Jen


Nov 6th, 2022

Hola Otters, 

Flat Jen had a fabulous time this weekend on vacation in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico!  When she arrived at the airport she loved the Mexican lace decorations! Have you ever made Mexican lace  before? Flat Jen loved the beautiful sunsets in PV.  She spent most of her time relaxing on the beach. The sand was powdery & warm. 

She had a close encounter with a sand bubbler crab.  She didn’t even see it coming! Talk about camouflage… But don’t worry sand bubblers are harmless & actually pretty cute. She also got to witness baby turtles making their way to the ocean. They all made it safely despite a crane who looked hungry for dinner.  We think the humans scared the bird away.  Did you ever read Caps For Sale?  Flat Jen met a hat peddler who carried his hats on his head just like in the story.  Are you wondering if there were any monkeys in Puerto Vallarta? Well flat Jen had a fabulous vacation but she’s pretty tired after her flight back to San Francisco. We will be in touch soon! 

Hasta Luego Amigos!

Greetings Otters,

Flat Jen couldn’t wait to hop on a cable car back in San Francisco. She could hear the squeaks and creaks of the cable moving under the street. She thought the $8 fare was a bit too steep - but not as steep as the 7 San Francisco hills!

https://youtu.be/69lXpe9eSKU

She visited Lombard street, the twistiest road she had ever seen.

She loved the sea lions down at Fisherman’s Wharf and wanted to stay there all day- but we had a game to get to.

We figured Flat Jen might be a Blazers fan but we took her to a Warriors game anyway. She got to see Steph Curry shoot some 3 pointers. Did you know he has broken the record for most 3 pointers in the NBA. Can you guess how many he has made?

Anyway - we think she had a great weekend in 7X7 SF.

We will be in touch soon.

Have a greatTurkey Day Otters!