Nick, Ashley, Natalie and me.
Me and Nick watching TV
Unless you are a 6 year old kid who happened to get a rather weird assignment
from you teacher, you are probably wondering what the heck this "Flat Stanley"
thing is. Well, I was in the same boat about two weeks ago when I got this email
from my little buddy Nick Jacquot:
Ryan would it be ok if I mailed you a person to spend a week with you?
You could take him to work, take him to parties,take him everywhere you go.
You would have to take pictures, and write about your adventures with Flat
Stanley.
Let me Know if your up for it.
ps. Natalie is already on an adventure with his brother.
Nick Jacquot
Interesting huh? I wrote my sister Natalie right away asking what the heck
Nick was talking about. She explained to me that this was a school project
all the kids in Nick's class were doing. Ashley (Nick's older sister) had
already sent her Flat Stanley to Natalie in San Diego and now Nick was sending
his to me.
Before I go any further, I should give a little background on the players
involved here. About 9 years ago I was in High School in Milford, Massachusetts
and a new young couple moved in next door, Chris and Sue Jacquot. Our family
instantly became friends with theirs even though my parents were in their
early 40's and Chris and Sue were in their mid twenties. Soon after Sue had
Ashley then and two years later had Nick. Natalie and Ashley always
had a special bond (and Ashley to this day is afraid of me) and Nick and I had
a similar bond. Natalie and I both went to school in California and have been
here since we left, but we always go over and visit the Jacquot's when we are
in town. Natalie takes things a little further than I do by calling our
parents what Nick and Ashley call them, Aunt Toni and Uncle Dick.
Ok, was that a long enough introduction? Let's get to the original question, what is Flat Stanley? Here is what Nick sent me: Dear Relative or Friend, Our class has just shared a story titled, Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown. Stanley is a little boy who becomes flat as a pancake when a bulletin board falls on him. Stanley decides to visit a friend in California, so his parents mail him in an envelope and he has a wonderful time. We made smaller versions of Flat Stanley and decided to mail them to our relatives and friends. I am asking you to send Stanley back to his owner after he enjoys a short visit with you. Please enclose a note telling of Stanley's adventures. Nick also wrote me this: Dear Ryan, Please take Stanley on an adventure and mail him back. Love, Nick J.
The Flat Stanley I took around was cut out and colored in, but I forgot to scan him before I sent him back. DOH! Now let's get on with the adventures already! As I said, Natalie had a Flat Stanley from Ashley and did some really cool things with him. She works at Hubbs research which is part of Sea World and got Flat Stanley in some pictures with killer whales, dolphins and even that grey whale that was beached and is now being taken care of by Sea World. Nat went all out to try and give Ashley the best presentation in her class. Now when I got Nick's Flat Stanley I also wanted him to have the best one in the class, but more importantly it had to be better than Natalie's. Nothing wrong with a little sibling rivalry, right? Let the games begin... Ok, I am going to break up Stanley's adventures into segments with separate pages with a story and pictures for each leg of his journey. Click on the adventures below to see where Flat Stanley and I have been:
