Flat People Love Me or Luke and the Flat Man

Hey Luke!

Thanks for sending Flat Stanley for a visit with Auntie Laura and Auntie Maryanne.  

They brought him on the plane down from NY just before Easter weekend.  It was nice to get visitors here in Houston, Texas. I told Flat Stanley that Houston is the fourth largest city in America...

...and Texas is the second largest state in the country,

 there's a reason people say everything is bigger in Texas!

Uncle Chris and I live in a suburb of Houston called Kingwood.  It sits right on the edge of Lake Houston which you can see in the background of this photo.  

You can also see the new cowboy clothes Auntie Laura made for FS!

After Stanley saw my cowboy boots he insisted on a pair of his own!

The weather in Houston was much warmer and sunnier than it was in NY on Easter weekend, it's a lot like Florida weather here.  We brought Flat Stanley to the pool with us, he had a nice cool glass of limeade BEFORE putting on his sunscreen.

That ended up being a mistake. Look at poor Flat's sunburn!!

We decided to keep poor Flat out of the sun for a couple days after that, so we decided to tell him some more Texas facts.  We brought him out to eat BBQ, which is real popular here, where we gave him his Texas lesson.  Above you can see him with the Texas state flag outside the restaurant.  Texans are real proud of their flag  - you see it everywhere!    They call Texas the Lone Star State as a reminder that it used to be its own country. Did you know that?  From 1836 to 1845 Texas was not a part of America at all, but a country called The Republic of Texas.  Its first president was Sam Houston - and that's how my city got its name!  Sam Houston was a general before he became president  of Texas and he helped Texas gain independence from Mexico.  Before Texas was under Mexican control it had been under the rule of Spain and France at different times in its history.  Flat Stanley was fascinated by all of this, but mostly he just enjoyed the ribs :-)

Easter was a fun day to have our Flat friend around.  Auntie Laura got him his very own Easter basket and he came out to eat brunch with us and a couple friends.  It was a beautiful sunny day and Stanley's burn was gone so after brunch we ate sweets and played cards while we hung out at the pool.

The next day we checked out a couple of the places that make Houston unique.  One of those places is a silly bungalow called The Beer Can House.  A retired grandfather started flattening out his empty cans and using them to create designs, patterns, wind chimes and mobiles all over his house.  Flat Stanley thought it was an interesting way to recycle!  It was this grandfather's hobby for years and now...

...the place is a quirky little Houston landmark.  There are marbles embedded in the patio, making pretty patterns, and the siding of the house as well as the front porch "curtain" is all made of cans! It's neat to hear them twinkling when the wind blows.

After that strange and fun little place, Flat Stanley's three Aunties brought him to a seaside town called Kemah just outside Houston.  Do you like the beach clothes Auntie Laura made for Flat?

She was inspired by Auntie Maryanne's beach outfit!

Kemah sits on the Gulf of Mexico so it's a good place to keep watch for ships....

...and sea birds.  Just don't feed them!

Flat's favorite part of Kemah was the boardwalk amusement park.  

His Aunties let him ride on ALL the rides...

 ...as long as he was tall enough.

...his favorite was the old fashioned wooden roller coaster called The Bullet.  It was BIG!!

Luke, all us Aunties were so happy to have Flat Stanley with us during our visit.  Thanks again for sending him down.  We had so much fun with him!  And we think he had lots of fun too...

...but after four days I think he was starting to get a little homesick and was ready to get back to his home state of New York.  He did keep his Texas baseball hat and his cowboy boots on for the flight home though.

I love you Luke and I can't wait to see you again and hear about Flat Stanley's other adventures.

xo

-Auntie Kelly