Farewell

Hello to all my friends in Alabama,

I will be heading home tomorrow. Tonight I had a farewell dinner with Lori, Sara, Grant, Tyler, Emily, Bill and Dodie. Bob was working. We had lots of good food as you might guess.

It was very funny as Dodie tried to get everyone's picture with me. Grant was the most cooperative.

Bill just acted very silly. He held Sophie for one picture and climbed a tree for another. (He was getting Grant's balloon down.)

Tyler was cooperative too. He is very tall. 

This is Emily and Tyler. Emily would not look at the camera.

Sara would not look at the camera either. She put me in her pocket.

This is Fifi and me. Fifi is very old, but she wanted her picture taken.

And finally, it's me with Dodie. 

Dodie will pack me up and send me back to Phoebe's house in Alabama tomorrow. I had a fun time in Columbus. Who knew there were so many fun things to see and do in Central Ohio?

Your friend,

Flat Stanley
Go Bucks!

On the Road Again-Downtown Columbus

Hello to all my friends in Alabama,

Another great day in the Midwest. But it is raining and storming, so I couldn't get out of the car. We started touring around downtown Columbus. Did you know that Columbus is the Capital of Ohio?  The capital building is a pretty building.  There are cannons in the front of it.

Not far from the Statehouse is the Ohio Theatre. It is a very old theatre that was restored.  It is a beautiful building and the inside is very cool. Dodie likes to look at the ceiling. I could look at it for hours.

There is a topiary park downtown. A topiary is when you cut bushes into shapes of people, things or animals. It is very cool.

Columbus is named after Christopher Columbus. They have a replica of the Santa Maria, one of Chris' boats. (Downtown Columbus is in the background)

German Village is the oldest and largest German settlement in the United States. There is a very cool park where they have Shakespeare plays in the summer. They have good restaurants here too.

Another cool place is COSI-the Center of Science and Industry. It is fun place to go and play and learn. The building is HUGE and looks over the Olentangy River.

There are many more places and things to see, but it is storming. Tomorrow, we are having a going away party and cook-out for me. You will get to meet Dodie and her family and pets.  See you on the Blog tomorrow, and at home in Alabama next week.

Your friend in Ohio,

Flat Stanley

A Night in the Life-A Birthday Celebration

Hello to all my Alabama friends,

I am winding down my visit here in Ohio. The Buckeyes played their first game today. I got to see the Goodyear blimp flying overhead. And yes, the Buckeyes won!

I went with Dodie to her friend Anita's birthday party. It was a special party for Anita; she is really old. But when I talked to her, she didn't seem old at all!  This is me and Anita.

Anita is CRAZY about the Beatles.This is a link from a newscast celebrating the 30 year anniversary of when the Beatles came to the United States.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w88VXGTrQ5c&feature=related

Dodie says she remembers her Dad telling her and her brothers and sisters to be quiet and watch the Ed Sullivan Show-this will be "history in the making."  She still doesn't know how her Dad knew. Dodie can't figure out why Justin Bieber's haircut is such a big deal. The Beatles had that same cut almost 50 years ago!! People talked about those "long-haired" boys from London.

Here is me with a Beatles poster. Shea Stadium is in New York. The Beatles played in that Stadium.

Here is me with some of Anita's friends. Anita is holding me.

Here I am in front of a Beatles poster.

This is me with a Paul McCartney poster. You can barely see me, and if you use your imagination, you can see Paul.  It looks psychedelic (ask your parents about that.)

 This scene is from the album, Abbey Road. It looks like I am the fifth Beatle. That is Anita's cake.

And finally, here is me and Kelly. Kelly laughs when she talks about me.

I had a nice time at Anita's party. Can you believe she came all the way from Chicago? She wanted to make sure all her family and friends could celebrate with her. Family and friends are important to her. I'm glad I met Anita.

Your friend in Ohio,
Flat Stanley

A Day in the Life of Dodie

Hello to all my Alabama friends,

I went with Dodie to work today. We first stopped at the doctor's office. This is the place where she has fun. Nothing really exciting, but the people are very nice. They were glad to have their picture taken with me. Here is me with Dr. Cooney. His exam rooms are very dark.

Shanna works with Dr. Cooney. Here is me with Shanna.

This is Dr. Ricaurte. He works at the other end of the hall. His exam rooms have windows. 

This is Melissa. She works with Dr. Ricaurte.

This is Susie. She answers the phones and talks to people about "what ails them."

I was also helping the geek guys drill holes for wiring for the new computers.

We then went to Dodie's real job. She wanted to pick up some stuff and get out, but there was always some problem that came up.  Here is where she works most of the time.

Here is me just hanging out with Dodie while she works. (I'm not certain she gets a lot of work done)

I just have a couple more days left in Ohio. I will be back in Alabama right after Labor Day. I will have a couple more posts before I get stuffed into that envelope and mailed away. Go Bucks! (This Buckeye business is rubbing off on me.)

Your friend in Ohio,

Flat Stanley

Air and Space

Hello to all my Alabama friends,

I was surprised to find out that Ohio has a history in airplanes and space travel!  Who knew? Orville and Wilbur Wright were born in Dayton,Ohio. They built the first airplane that could fly and took off from Kitty Hawk, North Carolina in 1903. They couldn't fly in Ohio because there wasn't enough wind.

Wright State University (WSU) in Dayton Ohio is named after the Wright Brothers. You can see the plane in the logo for WSU. 

Phoebe's dad's grandparents lived in Fairborn, Ohio which is right outside Dayton. There is a U.S. Air Force base there too. There is a Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historic Park and the National Museum of the US Air Force.

Ohio has a history with space travel too! John Glenn was the first man to orbit the earth in 1962. He traveled around the earth 3 times in his spaceship "Mercury." He also became the oldest astronaut to be on a flight mission. He was 77!  John Glenn was a US Senator and he has a school named after him at Ohio State. It is called John Glenn School of Public Affairs.  He was born in Cambridge, Ohio and lives close to Dodie's house now.Senator Glenn recently had knee replacement surgery, so wasn't available for a picture with me. He sends best wishes to Phoebe and her friends in Alabama and hopes they learn a lot from Flat Stanley's adventures and research.

 Neil Armstrong was the first man to walk on the moon! He did that in 1969 with Astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins.. His famous quote when he stepped onto the moon was "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."  Neil Armstrong is from Wapakoneta, Ohio.

I was surprised to learn these facts. Who could have guessed that all this stuff happened in Ohio?

Your friend in Ohio,
Flat Stanley
Go Buckeyes! (uh-oh. I think this football stuff is getting to me!)

On the Road Again-The Columbus Clippers

Hello to all my Alabama friends,

Another exciting day in Columbus. Today we went downtown to see Dodie's favorite place, Huntington Park. Huntington Park is the ballpark where the Columbus Clippers play baseball. The Clippers are the Triple A farm team for the Cleveland Indians. A farm team means that the Clippers team members can get "called up" to the big leagues if the Indians need them. The Clippers is a very good team; they won the Triple A pennant in 2010 and are in the play-offs again this year. The ballpark is a fun place to be.

We pulled around the stadium to the back to take my picture. We parked and jumped out of the car. A Franklin County Deputy Sheriff yelled over to us and asked if we planned to keep our car there. Dodie told him "no" that we just wanted to get a picture of Flat Stanley in front of the ballpark. Here it is.

This is a view of the park from the "good" seats.  Dodie likes sitting in those good seats.

The Clippers' colors are gray and blue. Their slogan is "This ship rocks." 

They also have a mascot named Krash. You touch Krash to give the team good luck. No Buckeyes for the Clippers! 

When we got back to the car, the Sheriff yelled, "Who is Flat Stanley?" We ran over and  Dodie showed me to him and then explained the story about me. The Sheriff agreed to have his picture taken with me. That was the best part of the day! You can see the home plate entrance right behind him.

That's all for now. We'll have another exciting adventure tomorrow. This ship rocks!

Your friend in Ohio,
Flat Stanley

The Buckeye State

Hello to all my Alabama friends,

Dodie and I are so tired from all the adventures, we decided to relax and find some interesting information about Ohio. All states have symbols that represent things that might be unique to that state. Ohio has many symbols. I found these interesting.

The Buckeye tree is the state tree.

This is the nut that falls from the Buckeye tree. A buckeye in your pocket is supposed to bring good luck.

The state flower is the Scarlet Carnation.

The state bird is the Cardinal.

The state animal is the white-tailed deer.

The state frog is the Bullfrog.

The state reptile is the Black Racer Snake.  (Ewww)

The state fruit is the tomato. The state beverage is tomato juice. 

The state insect is the ladybug.

And, the state "gem" is Ohio flint.

We will be going to the Clippers game later today. I'll post more then.

Your  friend in Ohio,

Flat Stanley