Flat Stanley Fever!

Hello friends! I hope all of you are preparing for a wonderful 4th of July full of fun, fireworks, family. We are thoroughly enjoying our summer here and loving the relaxed schedule: lots of free play, audio books, outdoor adventures, sidewalk chalk masterpieces, digging holes to who-knows-where, filling in holes to who-knows-where when who-knows-who falls into one, card games, art projects, My Little Pony binges... and that's just what I'VE been up to. (HI-YO!)

But now we've hit the halfway point of summer vacation - and as we have neared that milestone I started thinking ahead to the next school year. Our main focus is going to be "United States" - we'll be exploring the history of America, investigating all fifty states, learning about their different characteristics, historical facts, state birds, etc. The kids and I also talked about trying our own Flat Stanley project after participating in a friend's project last spring. But we wanted to see if we could hit as many states as possible: maybe we could find friends in 20 states, or even 30! That seemed like an unlikely goal, but we put out a status on Facebook asking friends if they could help us recruit a list of people from various states to help host our Flat Stanley in their home state, or to let Flat Stanley tag along if they were going to take a trip to a particular state.

Hi! I'm Flat Stanley!

Well friends, let me just tell you right now: DO NOT underestimate the power of social media! It has only been ONE WEEK since we first put out feelers for volunteers, and we already have people committed to the project in FORTY-THREE states. FORTY. THREE. As in seven short of the entire honkin' country. And five countries on four different continents. I'm still in shock. Thrilled and shocked. :)

(Blue indicates states that are spoken for, wahoo!!)

We actually received so many invitations that it quickly became more than one little paper boy could handle. So, he called in reinforcements: his siblings Flat Manly and Flat Sally!

Flat Manly (left) will be handling most of the international travel, and Flat Sally (right) will be traveling with families/individuals who are taking scheduled trips within the U.S. (This way, Flat Stanley won't have to disrupt his visits through the mail with other hosts.)

The kids will keep a journal of all of Team Stanley's adventures, and of all the interesting things we learn about the different states and countries they visit. And we will try to share as much as we can on here so you can join us in the fun!

Now, for a status report on each of the members of Team Stanley: 

Flat Manly is on his way to Brazil with our friends Kane, Lyssa, and Zadok for the rest of the month, just in time for the World Cup!

Flat Sally is preparing to spend next week in Washington State with our friend Kelsey. 

Flat Stanley is on a plane to Jamaica with a new friend Ms. Connie as a mission team member to help teach VBS at an orphanage, paint a church, do some building, and even join the team in some sightseeing. Here he is in his mission team's official shirt:

Please contact me if you'd like to be a part of this project, and follow along here or on Facebook to see where Team Stanley goes next!