Flat Stanley Summer Project

this picture is a little out of order - but you can see that flat stanley has changed a bit from his/her trip to france... i decided after 1 weekend of paper flat stanley and 4 toddlers... we were going to need flat stanley to be made of something a little more "durable".... i took the kids into town on Friday and they each picked out their own color felt. then as part of the "project" we are dressing flat stanley with items from each place he/she visits. since flat stanley made the trip to a WWII site - i thought it would be cool for him/her to be dressed in some camo... there is a crazy store in Hilversum that carries camo... ammo... and other "fun" war stuff - so we stopped in and bought a t-shirt to cut up and make some flat stanley clothes.... trying explaining that to the store manager in your best Dutch when all i was really looking for was some camo fabric :) ...all part of the adventure, i guess :)

Helen's Flat Stanley plays with some dragons in the gift shop in Bayeux, France on our way to the beaches of Normandy

Flat Stanley stands in front of a replica of Tapestry that we saw in a museum in Bayeax. This famous tapestry shows the battle of the Normans and William the Conqueror. The tapestry was made in 1693.

picture in front of a church that was opened in 1077 in Bayeux. this church still displays the tapestry once a year in the main worship area of the church.

jillian carrying her flat stanley inside the church

flat stanley visits Utah Beach in the Normandy Region of France

Flat Stanley makes his way back from France to visit the Atomium in Brussels, Belgium

instead of collecting a bunch of souviners and tshirts for the kids - i thought it would be neat to sew patches on their backpacks from the various areas that we visit while living abroad. now i just need to find jillian a backpack!

flat stanley rides on the ferry boat back from the island of Texel.

i am doing some summer schooling with the kids and i thought it would be fun for them to also do a flat stanley project since we are visiting about 13 major euopean cities and 6 countries (if you include Holland as one of the countries).... so here are a few photos of Flat Stanley's trip to the Normandy region of France, Brussels Belgium, and the island of Texel in Holland.

teachers and school dayz

jayden parking his bike before school

Graham's classroom

last morning of school - gathering before line-up

Graham and his teacher, Mrs. O'Brien

Jayden and his teacher, Miss Helena

dinner with our Dutch Teacher, Miss Angela

helen's self portrait

saying goodbye because helen will going to the International School with the boys in September

helen and miss birgit (her dutch preschool teacher)

helen and her dutch preschool teacher make funny faces :)

Lego Sale

jayden's lego items for sale ... including the prices in Euros!

graham looks at the items for sale

helen buys a flying piece :)

jayden shows jillian some pieces for sale

even jillian purchases some legos!

graham's purchase

we were at the toy store the other day and jayden found a lego set from Harry Potter that he really wanted to buy. it cost 89 Euros and i asked him how much money he had saved up at home... he wasn't sure so when we went home he discovered that he only had about 20 Euros - so he came up with an idea to make some lego items to sell in order to earn enough money for the Harry Potter set.

naturally he turned to his siblings and parents for his first sales!

first and last

now our next adventure begins.....SUMMER VACATION! 13 major cities .... 6 countries (including Holland) .... 6 weeks.... stay tuned for our amazing European Summer Tour 2011 and a special Flat Stanley project first day of school in August 2010

last day of school in July 2011

everyone says time flies and the kids grow up too fast..... it's true - these kids have grown both mentally and physically in 1 school year!

helen's carnival

jillian gets a freshly spun stick of cotton candy - will she like the taste of it?

i think you can see the answer in her face :)

a balloon clown comes to visit the children

helen wants a heart balloon

jillian watches very closely!

helen and jillian playing together

jillian is having fun at helen's Dutch preschool party.... i think she might be ready to start school soon :)

helen plays with an umbrella ...... love the clown face?

i think jillian's shirt is going in the "too small" pile after today!

helen's friends having fun at the party

this "thing" dispensed the lemonde for the kids to drink...... interesting.......

popcorn, freshly spun cotton candy, and a clown face... what more could a girl ask for?

jillian is determined to drink some water from a cup with no lid

see mom - i can do it without spilling it down the front of me!

helen's last week at her Dutch preschool

random stuff

huge sporting goods store in amsterdam... cool colors on the outside of the building... wish i could have snapped a picture of the sporting goods store next to it too.... another colorful building - but it was pouring rain and our umbrella was in the car!

Ajax football club stadium in Amsterdam

ross and i had a kid-free afternoon in amsterdam on sunday - we went to 2 sporting goods stores (yes, it was my idea!) and a musuem that told about the dutch resistance during WII.

my girls gathering "things" in the backyard one afternoon last week.

have you checked out my 365 day project lately? 54% of the way done!!!

http://365project.org/sarac/365/2011-07