Flat Stanley

May 22

As promised, my Flat Stanley post. C's nephew sent us a class project. A little guy named Flat Stanley with a letter explaining why he was flat, and an explanation of the town he lives in. They live in Ontario, and wanted to send him to another community some place other than Ontario. They chose us, and I was pretty excited. I've actually never met C's sister (yet), or his nephew, but I was still pretty excited to participate. First of all, Flat Stanley is PRACTICALLY a paper doll, and I loved paper dolls (and Barbie's) when I was little. That being said, I only played with the paper dolls at my grandma's house.

Second, the whole thing appealed to my 'kid at heart'/creative side, and I quite enjoyed showing Flat Stanley Saskatchewan.

Here is a little bit about where the idea of Flat Stanley came from:
https://www.flatstanley.com/about?subpage=projectI have sent Stanley back to Ontario with a letter. I've posted the letter below. Keep in mind, I did write it for grades 1 and 2, so I tried to keep it simple and interesting. How did I do?
I also took LOTS of pictures to email his teacher. I'll share them here in the letter. Obviously, this isn't how the letter reads exactly because the pictures weren't there, and I added captions.

I think this is  great activity for kids. It's taking pen pals to a whole new level. I may have had too much fun with it, but that probably is just the kind of person that SHOULD be receiving Flat Stanley. Even though, it was officially sent to C, more than me, I kind of took over, and made sure Stanley got lots of attention.

 

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Dear Steven and Class,

   Flat Stanley arrived for a visit on Thursday, May 15^th. I think he might have been homesick for Bracebridge, but he also had a lot of fun exploring here. We live in the province of Saskatchewan. Flat Stanley went for a bit of a tour around the province, and also spent some time visiting the city we live in, Saskatoon.

This was his first day in Saskatchewan. Just out of the mail. Pretty sure he was glad to get out of that envelope. He also spent some time with me while I was writing (novels) and writing at work.

Saskatoon has a population of around 250,000. It is the biggest city in Saskatchewan. (It’s not very big when compared to big cities in other provinces.) Saskatoon is sometimes referred to as “The City of Bridges” or “Toon Town”. It is located around the South Saskatchewan river, so there are 8 bridges to cross from one side to the other. Flat Stanley visited River Landing in downtown Saskatoon to see some of the bridges, and the beautiful area. Saskatoon officially became a city in 1906, and this year turns 108.         The name Saskatoon comes from ‘mis-sask-quah-toomina’, the Cree Indian Name for a local berry. They are purplish-blue grown on a shrub type bush called Saskatoon Berries, or Saskatoons. They are delicious, and many people go Saskatoon Berry picking during the summer.

C had never tried Saskatoons before, so I saved it to share with him.

Like Bracebridge, Saskatoon has a lot of jobs. Teachers, doctors, police officers and more. Erin works as a Creative Writer and writes commercials for three different local radio stations. Flat Stanley stopped by the stations and took pictures with the announcers. Clint is a Pipefitter, and works all over Saskatchewan.

He also came to work with me because radio stations are pretty cool places to visit. He went to all three different stations, and hung out in the Creative department, and even voiced a commercial in the Production studio. I'm glad my coworkers are so great and participated!

Saskatoon has many stores, malls, restaurants and movie theaters. Clint’s favourite store is Cabela’s, and Erin’s is any store with shoes. We both love book stores like McNally Robinson, Coles and Indigo. We also enjoy restaurants with International foods like Korean, Thai or South American food. We enjoy sitting on patios at local restaurants in the summer and enjoying the sun.

Saskatoon has lots of festivals in summer and winter. There is a Winterfest with ice castles and sculptures. The summer you can see Shakespeare plays at Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan, Folkfest, Fringe Festival, and Taste of Saskatchewan. All of these involve delicious foods. We also have art galleries, food trucks, museums and a zoo.

There is an outdoor skating rink for winter downtown by the river for people to skate on and enjoy the view. There are many other rinks in Saskatoon as well. Clint likes to go ice fishing in the winter on the lakes in Saskatchewan.

In summer, you can go rollerblading or biking by the river and throughout Saskatoon. You can also canoe or boat on the river. There is always something fun to do around here.

Saskatoon has lots of sports for the indoors and outdoors that people play in all seasons. Hockey (in winter), baseball, soccer, dodgeball, rugby and more.

Saskatoon has 78 elementary schools and 14 high schools. We also have the University of Saskatchewan, and many other colleges and training schools for when you finish high school.

How could you not enjoy that big beautiful sky?

On the May Long weekend, we took Flat Stanley outside of the city to see the rest of the ‘Prairies’. We will send the pictures to your teacher. Stanley went to see the Crooked Trees. Lots of tourists like to go and see them because the trees grow in all different directions. He also took a picture in front of a big field because Saskatchewan has a lot of farmers. He saw a lot of sights and enjoyed getting out of the city for the day. There are a lot of lakes to visit throughout Saskatchewan as well for swimming, boating or fishing.

Pretty much seemed like a picture we couldn't miss out on. I mean... this is Saskatchewan, yo.

 

He’s enjoyed hanging out in the city as well. Other than the visit to the radio station, he visited a place called “The Laugh Shop”. Comedians from across Canada come and do shows. He hung out near the river, and spent some time relaxing in our apartment while I wrote. He enjoyed the sunshine, and I’m glad we got to show him around in the spring instead of winter because he might have been too cold. 

 

 

We also enjoy going to concerts in Saskatoon. It’s one of our favourite things to see live music. We like country music, rock music, and anything else! It’s too bad there wasn’t a concert on while Flat Stanley was here. We would have let him come with.

Thanks for sending him to visit. We had a lot of fun with him, and hope he did as well.

He saw my favourite place in the city. The river. Had some Starbucks, posed in front of a couple of bridges, and enjoyed the sunshine. Spoiled kid.

Yours Truly,

Erin and Clint

 

Anonymity went out the window in this post. Now we all know C's name... Ah well. I was too lazy to go through the letter and change his name to C. Plus, I have pictures of him anyway.

Also, I've done this post, slightly before he'll arrive back, but I'm guessing it probably won't be read by the kids in Bracebridge. If so though... sorry 'bout the spoilers.

 

Until next time!

And as always:

©ErinLeahMcCrea All photos I share on my blogs are my own, please Ask Me For Permission Before Using Them.

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