Flat Stanley

Flat Stanley came to stay with us last week.  He was the geography project of Reagan's second grade class.  Flat Stanley is a character out of a children's book.  Apparently, he was flattened by a bulletin board, but the benefit of that was he could then mail himself to friends in different places.  So he mailed himself to us. (via Reagan)

We really got into the project!  I took one look at his outfit (long sleeved shirt and tie) and told him he couldn't dress like that in Florida, because it is too hot and humid!  So I made him some more comfortable clothes.

Flat Stanley

Monday after Mark got home, we took him to Fort Lauderdale Beach.  The wind was blowing and there were several parasurfers on the water.  It was fun to watch them being pulled around with their parachutes.

Me and Flat Stanley

Normally along the Atlantic here there are no breakers, so it's fun to see waves like these.  Walking along the boulevard, we saw many skating, biking, running or just walking like us.  Across the street from the beach are many shops and restaurants.  Farther up the beach are nice hotels.

During the months of March through October sea turtles come to lay their eggs on the beach here.  There are signs posted cautioning people to be careful.  It is against the law to bother the nests and turtles,  Also, during those months it's important that it stays as dark as possible so the turtles will lay their eggs.  The city asks people to keep their shades drawn at night so the turtles don't see the light.  They also keep the street lights low during that time.

Nests are marked so people don't accidentally step on them. 

Ft. Lauderdale Beach Blvd.

 Mark and I ate at a nice restaurant on the beach then took Flat Stanley to Bubba Gump's where he got his picture taken again.

Run, Stanley, run!

 

Mark had a meeting one morning in Sunrise, so I took Flat Stanley to Sawgrass Mills Mall.  It's pretty famous here.  It's ginormous!!  I looked it up.  It is 2, 383,906 square feet of shopping space!  Mark and I thought it was the second largest mall in the United States, but it is actually the 6th largest and the 2nd largest in Florida.  There is a wooden alligator at the entrance.  I got there too early for the stores to be open, but I took his picture at the Rain Forest Cafe.  It's really cool there.  It is decorated to look like you're eating under the canopy of a rain forest.  There are life sized animals throughout the restaurant that "come alive" at certain times.  Plus it rains every so often with thunder and lightning.  There are also aquariums throughout the restaurant as well.  It's a neat place to eat.

Can you find Stanley?

Thursday, I took Flat Stanley to the temple site.  Since it's a construction site, I made him a hard hat and a safety vest to wear, plus long pants and boots,

Some interesting information about the temple site:  Two lakes were dug as part of the plans, but the limestone material they got was then ground up to make the material for the foundation.  The water table is so high here that when the basement was dug, pumps had to run 24/7 in order to deep the water level down.  Layers of cement were poured, as well as a waterproofing material laid down. Enough layers of cement were poured so that the water could not make it float.  The actual baptistry will be above the water level when it is completed. 

Mark has found all kinds of shells and coral.

Sign at the entrance of the job site.

Saturday we took Flat Stanley across the state to the Gulf side.  It only takes about two hours to get from where we are to the other side.  We stopped at Big Cypress National Preserve so he could see his first alligator.  Big Cypress is not part of the Everglades, but is near them. 

Along a wooden walkway we were able to look down into the water where several alligators were swimming or sunning themselves. 

Big Cypress is over 2,400 miles.  There are many animals that make their homes here.  We saw a doe and her fawn.  Florida panthers and black bears are two more animals that live here.  Sixty inches of rain falls here on the average.  The water slowly flows towards the Gulf of Mexico through Big Cypress and the Everglades.

I have been surprised at how many people have recognized Flat Stanley.  I had never heard of him before we got him in the mail.

We went to Marco Island first after leaving Big Cypress.  You get to it by bridges.  Mark and I had taken our bikes.  We were hoping to ride along the beaches, but we found out that they don't allow bikes or dogs on the beaches there.  Too bad, because I had transformed Flat Stanley's construction hard hat into a bike helmet.

He's ready for an ocean swim!  Marco Island, Gulf of Mexico.

 

 

Later we drove to Naples.  What a fun place that is!  Cute shops and homes on the way to the beach.  It looks like the kind of place we'll have to come back to and just wander around.  We took Flat Stanley to the beach and took a couple more pictures before heading home.

The wind was blowing.  He had a hard time keeping his head up.

The last thing we did with Stanley is take him to church with us (well, he had to wear his shirt and tie at least once while he was there).  Mark had to teach a Primary class so he took Stanley with him.  The girls were delighted and had to have their picture taken with him.

One last picture before we sent Flat Stanley back to Reagan.  Adios, Flat Stanley, it was a fun week.