Q. Should I cut Flat Stanley out, like a paper doll?
A. Sure! I'm pretty sure most people will do that as it will make for better pictures and will make him more like a little person. But if there is a reason you don't WANT to cut Flat Stanley out like a paper doll, you don't have to :) One person (my mom!) put him on cardboard backing and attached a bamboo skewer to his back to make it easier to hold him posed for pictures. Of course, my mother is driving home with him and doesn't have to put him in the mail to come home, so that may not be an option for everyone else- but you're welcome to cut him out and decorate him anyway you like.
Q. Can we email you digital pictures, or do we have to print them out ourselves and put them in the mail?
A. By all means, email them, please! As many pictures as you want to send me of your location, Flat Stanley seeing or doing things at your location, you with Flat Stanley, etc. Alexa and I love seeing the pictures and updates. And I would love to have pictures and updates for this site! NOTE: If you send me a picture of JUST Flat Stanley I will automatically be posting it on this blog site. If you send me a picture of Flat Stanley WITH you or your family, I will ask for your permission first before posting photos like those (and I understand if you would rather they not be publicly posted). Also when you send me little email updates about Flat Stanley, I will post the content of those emails here, too. Of course, I will never publicly post your email address, your last name, or your street address, although I may use first names and city/state. My email address is included in the "travel documentation" I sent you with Flat Stanley. We also welcome little emailed messages 'from' Flat Stanley and any other details about Flat Stanley's visit that you wish to provide!
Q. Is there a deadline as to when we have to send Flat Stanley home?
A. No! I know that the paperwork says things like "short visit" and "soon." This is just so people realize that Alexa is excited and doesn't want to wait months to start getting any of the Flat Stanleys back :) HOWEVER. I also think that it will be more fun for her to get them back over the course of the summer so the project lasts a bit, and not just a big flood of them within two or three weeks and then that's it, it's over, done. Keep Flat Stanley as long as you'd like, and if you can send us emails and things like that, it will help keep the excitement going rather than Alexa starting to feel like "it's taking forever" to receive any news. Certainly if you have some sort of trip or planned activity coming up that you think it would be fun to take Flat Stanley to, keep him and take him along! No worries :)
Q. Did you put your return address IN the actual paperwork? Some people just throw away the envelopes, you know.
A. Sorry, Mom. I did not think to do that :) Hopefully people will keep the envelope Stanley came in. If they didn't, they can email me and I will provide the mailing address again.
Q. Are we going to get to see what other people are doing? There isn't that much on the blog yet.
A. Flat Stanley just began arriving; I've only officially heard from four people I mailed him to letting me know that he was received, but I expect (or hope, anyway!) that this is around the time when I'll start getting a bunch of "Flat Stanley arrived!" emails and "Guess what Flat Stanley and I did today" emails and "here's a pic I took of Flat Stanley" emails and things like that. When I do get them, I'll update and hopefully start getting some travel adventures recorded for you all to see :)
Q. Are photos of Flat Stanley going to be put in one spot for us to view?
A. As I get photos, I will put them in that day's blog entry. That may even include editing an entry to add it in if a photo comes in after I've already posted. I may post the content of an email someone wrote but may be awaiting permission to post a picture and can't add that in til later. So just be sure to scroll back a day or two to see if pictures have been added.
Okay. If Alexa or I receive any further questions that we think everyone would want to know the answer to, I will come back and edit this list and post them here in this same spot. And now, actual news of Flat Stanley's travels:
Flat Stanley has begun arriving at his various host homes! I received an email from Diane in Cherryfield, Maine yesterday letting me know that Flat Stanley arrived there safely! Flat Stanley traveled approximately 650 miles to get there!
Flat Stanley also arrived at my aunt Gloria's house in Summit, New Jersey- about 116 miles. He sent us an eCard today saying hi and that he will be home soon and was sending Alexa a little online game to play for fun while she waited.
Flat Stanley also emailed us yesterday from Pompano Beach Florida (where he arrived via email on Sunday to visit Judith)! Stanley wrote:
"Dear Alexa, I have arrived in Florida safely!! I will miss you alot, but we are going to drive up to NYC on Friday. My host family, Judith, Ben and Jacob are treating me good! They have a dog named Brian who tried to eat me, but we made friends quickly. I sent you a picture of Judith and Brian and me!!!!!!!!!!!! I'll e-mail you soon. Take care and thanks for this great trip! The temp is 84% today. Maybe we will go swimming!! Love ya, Flat Stanley"
Here is the picture Judith sent; I am posting it with her permission:
Stanley looks so cute in his little tank top and swim trunks and flip flops. He totally looks ready to hit the beach. Judith did a great job dressing him! I can't tell what the tank top says (is it "I Love Florida" maybe??) I could have emailed Judith and asked her. But I figured we'd let it be a surprise when Stanley comes home (or if we get more pictures) :)
Stanley is also continuing to receive invitations to go visit people, though the invitations are definitely slowing down now. Today Flat Stanley got mailed to his fourth Canadian host home, in Northwest Calgary, Alberta. His host there, Tim, has offered to take Stanley to the Calgary Stampede in July, and may even take him through the mountains to Vancouver Island. Lucky Stan!
He also got mailed today to the United Arab Emirates, AND the friend of a friend of a friend in Poland came through, so he's off to Poland as well! :) Still waiting to hear about Belgium and New Zealand.
Within the United States, Stanley was mailed to another home in Texas, and his host there says she will be taking him to Utah sometime this month! He was mailed to a home in North Dakota, and his host there says she will take his picture at the ND/MN border! And he was sent to a home in the Bronx, New York- where my grandfather, mother and sister were born!
He was invited to two more homes in Arkansas and received his second invitation to England.
There are now a total of 57 Flat Stanleys out visiting! We hope to begin hearing from more of them shortly :)
Here's the updated list of where he is:
Arkansas X2 (Texarkana and Fayetteville)
California X2 (Ventura and Los Angeles)
Connecticut (Groton)
Florida X3 (West Palm Beach, Pompano Beach and Orange Park)
Georgia X2 (Atlanta and Grovetown)
Illinois (Zion)
Indiana X2 (Muncie and Anderson)
Kansas (Topeka)
Kentucky (Annville)
Maine (Cherryfield)
Maryland X2 (Indian Head and Cockeysville)
Massachusetts (Fall River)
Nebraska (Omaha)
New Jersey X3 (two in Summit, one in Morris Plains)
New York X4 (Rome, Ridge, Honeoye Falls, the Bronx)
North Carolina (Huntersville)
North Dakota (Grand Forks)
Ohio X2 (Dayton and Cuyahoga Falls)
Pennsylvania X2 (Lackawaxen and Kunkletown)
Texas X2 (San Antonio and Muleshoe)
Vermont X2 (both in Shaftsbury)
Virginia X2 (Alexandria and Ashburn)
Washington (Wenatchee)
Wisconsin (Marshall)
and of course as I mentioned previously, our host from Ventura, California is going to take Stanley on an Alaskan cruise with her, so Stanley will get to see Alaska, too! And Stanley's host family from Ashburn, Virginia is willing to take him to Washington DC for a visit!
Outside of the United States, we now have Stanleys in:
Australia X4 (one in Queensland and three in New South Wales
Canada X4 (British Columbia, Manitoba, Nova Scotia and Alberta)
Egypt
England X2 (West Midlands and Chester)
Hong Kong
Ireland (Wicklow)
Kyrgyzstan
Poland
United Arab Emirates
For a link to a map where you can view all the places Stanley has been, scroll down to the bottom of my first entry in this blog.
Happy Travels, Flat Stanley!
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