He's HOME!

Flat Stanley had a wonderful journey and he was ever so grateful to all the wonderful people he met and especially to Sara, Mommio, Patty and Susan for all the extra care they took with him. He's happy to be home with his main girl now though, after touring the world with several beautiful women!
He'll be making his way to Mrs. O's 1st grade classroom shortly!

-Shannon

Anything else wanted or needed

Hey Miss B,

Do you have any other questions about where FS has been or what he's done?

Are there enough photos?

Let me know.

Love
Ra & FS xxoo

Final day in London

So today was my last day in London, Sara helped me pack all my stuff & is addressing the parcel now as I write to you. I'm very sad to go, but super excited to be back in Saranac. Sara promised you'll read me the French animal book & the Irish folk stories when they arrive.

Here I am enjoying the sun, while Sara is packing up my parcel to go home. Here I am enjoying a little snack before I jump into the parcel & get ready to fly home to see you Miss B :) Here I am with the cool souvenirs I'm bringing with me - map of Toulouse, Tube Map from London, my plane tickets, and a French book on animals!

Well I better get going so she can head to the post & mail me off. See you soon xxoo

Last few days in London

So the last few days have been very hectic for Sara at uni, so I've been sitting at home reading about the many cool places in London that could we could visit when Barrett & I go traveling next.

Here are some photos of the cool places, taken by Sara a year ago when she came to visit London for the first time ever!

Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace

Horse Guard just down the street from Downing Street (where the Prime Minister lives)

The London Eye, from one of the pods (on a clear day) you can see for miles.

Blackfriar's Bridge (very beautifully painted)

The ever famous, Big Ben

Toulouse France in review

Patty, FS, Susan in the king size bed at the Crowne Plaza in Toulouse, France FS in the bidet at the hotel with his shower cap on - isn't he cute!?!?!?

A duck, which in French is un canard

local street signs Sara, FS, Patty in the public gardens - enjoying the beautiful pond & cute little houseFS posing like the statue in the public gardens AirBus A380 plane (double decker plane - note the HUGE engines)

Flat Stanley with new French friend (can't remember his name right now) Susan, FS, and Patty at the enterance to the Japanese gardensSara & FS on the bridge of the Japanese gardens (tons of goldfish in the water, just hard to see from the photo) flags from left to right are European Union (blue with gold stars), French flag (blue, white and red), and finally the local county flag for Midi Pyrenees (red with gold markings)

Where are these countries we've visited??

So where in Europe are Ireland, France and England you might ask?

Well here is a map of Europe:

Toulouse, France

Here is a little info about where we're going this coming weekend - of course the photos will follow later!!
Toulouse is the fourth largest city in France, after Paris, Marseille and Lyon. It is a city in southwest France on the banks of the Garonne River, it is the capital of the Midi-Pyrénées region, half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea with close to 1.1 million residents. Toulouse's metropolitan area is the second largest in southern France & one of the fastest growing in Europe. It is the home base of the European aerospace industry, it is well known for some remarkable monuments and some worldwide famous products and companies (Concorde & Aerospatiale) hosts the headquarters of Airbus S.A.S.

The warm glow of red bricks and tiles gives Toulouse its nickname, "La ville rose" (the rose red city).

Sport is a tradition here, especially rugby, Toulouse being the head city for this sport in France.

back dated post

I added in some facts about Portland, Oregon, which I'd forgotten to add awhile back but I back dated it so please look for April 14th
Cheers,
Ra xx

Baking

I've started back in classes this week so FS hasn't had much to do but sit in lecture halls and listen about parasites. Flat Stanley wanted to do something "fun" before we left for France and since Susan is going with us I decided to introduce them. So Susan & I walked home from our university today & had dinner of left over lasagna (from last night's dinner with my mom). When we were done eating FS made us some brownies from scratch - they were delish!! Here are some photos of dinner, cooking & the completed master piece.

This Saturday we (Susan, FS & I) head off to visit my sister, Patty, in Toulouse, France. Patty works for Pratt & Whitney as a test engineer. They are working on the AirBus A-380 engine (for the huge double decker plane). Will write more when we get back from that adventure!

Today's weather was cloudy but the temperature has been warmer than last week, it got up to 62F today :) Hopefully the weather in France will be even a bit warmer!

Miss you Barrett & Shann!! xxoo

Flat Stanley & Susan eating homemade lasagna, garlic bread & broccoli
Flat Stanley organizing brownie ingredients
Flat Stanley & Sara making brownies from scratch
Flat Stanley showing off his master piece of brownies