Las Vegas, Nevada

Emma’s dad and I went to Las Vegas, Nevada on September 20^th, 2012.  We flew in a Southwest airplane.  We flew almost across the whole country.  I could see a lot from my window seat, from the farms in the mid-west to the Rocky Mountains, to the Grand Canyon.  We landed around dinner time and were picked up from the airport by Mr. Weiland’s friend Josh, in a Jaguar.  It was the coolest car I have ever been in!  Besides the police car that Emma’s uncle let me ride in…….  

When we got to the hotel it was amazing all the lights and people.  I was tired from all the flying so I went to bed.  The next day I had to go the Las Vegas Convention center to set up our booth for the show.  The show was the MINEXPO 2012. It is the largest mining show in the world.  They only have it every four years.  People from all over the world come to see this show.  There was everything from hard hats and lights to huge dump trucks that can haul 400 tons. (Try and figure out how many kids it would take to fill the bed of that dump truck?)  I did find out you can put the weight of 36 suv’s in it.  We finished setting up the booth for me to hang out at and Emma’s dad to work at.  

Now we can go and see some sights. First we had to go see the hotel Paris, for Ms. Lewis, of course!  They have a huge Eiffel tower coming out of the hotel, also they have the Arc de Triomphe (Arc of Triumph). Then we crossed the street to the hotel called Bellagio.  In front of the hotel they have a 26 acre lake.  Every 30 minutes a song starts and fountains under the water start shooting up in the air following the music.  They call them the dancing fountains.  You guys know how popular I am?  I had these two show girls want their picture taken with me!  In Vegas they have these large shows and the girls wear crazy hats with feathers on them.  The next day was the show and we got to ride the Las Vegas monorail to the show.  It is kind of like the Pittsburgh subway but with no driver.  It works all on magnets moving the train on the tracks. There was around 40,000 people a day walking around.  I think they came to see me!  So after 2 days of working finally we got to go walk around the show.  I got a picture next to a tire on a truck that was 20 feet tall.  I really am short next to the tire.

After the show we got to relax a bit. It was very hot there 95-100 degrees every day.  So we went swimming a lot, but most of the time we stayed inside.  Vegas is in the desert so it is warm all year long and it rains only a little every year.  So all the water they use in Vegas is from Lake Mead.  They built the Hoover Dam to hold back this really big lake.  The lake water comes all the way from the Colorado Mountains.  The snow melts in the spring and flows down the Colorado River to Lake Mead.  So if there is not that much snow in the mountains the lake gets lower and lower every year.

The MINEXPO is very important for all of these people to go to because they can find out new and better ways to do their jobs.  They mine everything from coal, gold, silver, and salt. There are mines right here in PA mining coal. They use it to make electricity so you can have lights and charge all your gadgets.  They use it to heat homes and also make steel.  That’s why Pittsburgh was the steel town because all the coal mines in the area.

I really learned a lot from my trip to Las Vegas.  I met a lot of people from different countries.  They said to say hi kids in Australian “hey mates”, German “hallo kinder”, French “salut les enfants” and Spanish “hola ninos”.

Thanks, Mr. Weiland, for taking Stanley along with you to Las Vegas!  Stanley learned so much at the MineExpo 2012, and really enjoyed getting to see all of the excitement!  

Ecuador

Ms. Lewis's neighbor, and 5th grade student at Crafton Elementary, Anya, traveled with her family to visit their family in Ecuador.  Ecuador is located in South America.  

Anya gave Ms. Lewis these two pictures, but "doesn't remember" where they were taken.  Ms. Lewis will investigate with Anya's parents, and update the blog as soon as she finds more information!  

The first picture is taken in front of a waterfall in Ecuador.  

This next picture was taken in front of a volcano in Ecuador.  

Both pictures are pretty neat, but will be even more interesting when we learn more facts about each location!  

Thanks, Anya, for showing Flat Stanley some neat sights in Ecuador!  

Townsville, Australia

Flat Stanley went to Townsville, Australia to visit with Emma's cousin, Ben.  

Here is the journal Ben sent back.  The pictures are phenomenal!  Such amazing animals were seen on Flat Stanley's journey down under! 

• Flat Stanley visited Townsville, QLD Australia.  Townsville is in the "dry tropics" along the coast in the northern part of the state of Queensland, near the Great Barrier Reef. Since Australia is in the southern hemisphere the seasons are the opposite of those in Pittsburgh.  It is actually the start of winter here. However, since it is in the tropics it still 24C (75F). Townsville is a small city with an official population of ~200,000, but it feels much smaller.  There is a university here - James Cook University, but most of the people in the town are miners that work in the mineral or coal mines or members of the Australian military.  We have a couple of professional sports teams, but the sports are very different from those in Pittsburgh.  Our teams are the Cowboys (a rugby team) and the Townsville Crocodiles (a professional basketball team).
  
• The people here also talk very differently than people in Pittsburgh.  They speak English, but have different words for things and a funny accent.  For example, everyone calls each other "mate", they say "No worries!" all the time and "ta" means thank you. They also like to say "Goodonya" when you do something they like or to wish you luck.  Some foods also have different names.  Cantaloupe are "rock melons", peppers are "capsicums" and raisins are "sultanas".
  
• While here Flat Stanley met many of the local animals.  Some were strange and funny - like the laughing kookaburra (for video and audio of their laugh check out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qix6oUxim3Q), the platypus, the possums, the koalas and the kangaroos, but others were scary, like the cassowary and the goanna!  He met the platypus and cassowary in the tropical rainforest north of Townsville, in Yungaburra and found the goanna in the rainforest village of Paluma. He also met lots of colorful, tropical birds like the sulfur-crested cockatoo and the King Parrot.
  
•  While here Flat Stanley spent a lot of time exploring outside in the mountains and rain forests.  He saw the rain forests and waterfalls. He also climbed Castle Hill - a rocky mountain in the middle of Townsville, went to the beach (the Strand) and road his bike along the Ross River.  He is sad to leave Townsville, but excited to return to Pittsburgh to for summer and to watch the Penguins!

Wallaman Falls

Climbing at Castle Hill

Stanley was frightened by the goanna! 

Thank you, Ben, for taking Flat Stanley all over Australia!  We really enjoyed seeing all of the awesome pictures!  It looks like he had a blast!  We're excited he's home now, and hopefully he can help the Pens win the cup!  

Meadowcroft Village

Flat Stanley was so excited that he was allowed to join Team Lewis on their field trip to Meadowcroft Village.  Meadowcroft Village is in Avella, PA and a great place to learn about the history of our ancestors.  It took about an hour to get there by school bus, but was well worth the ride! 

Almost there, Emmaline, Kira, Stanley & Emma were still having a good time on the bus ride! 

An annual tradition for Team Lewis, the class picture at the covered bridge!  

Stanley got to sit in a desk in the one room schoolhouse, too! 

Our teacher meant business!  There was no fooling around in her room! 

If you got in trouble, the teacher may place books on your hands as punishment.  Emmaline & Meg promised they would be good!  :) 

The boys had a different punishment -- if they were bad, they had to wear the bonnet!  Tyree doesn't look too thrilled, but Robby finds it funny! 

Anthony & Stanley were laughing about his bonnet!  

We got to tour the Miller House.  It was a small house where 8 family members lived.  The parents bedroom was on the first floor.  It also served as the living room, dining room,and the kitchen.  The six children shared one bedroom on the second floor.  The outhouse was behind the house.  

Stanley was a little exhausted from all of their walking so he took a quick nap.  The bed looks comfortable, however, the mattress was made from hay!  The quilt was homemade!  

Before lunch, we stopped at the Black Smith's shop.  There, he made J-hooks out of iron.  He had to make a very hot fire, place the iron in the fire until it turns orange, and then take it to the anvil and beat it with a mallet to achieve the intended shape.  The black smith was even able to put a twist into the iron!  It was so neat to see him create masterpieces! 

Last year, a Native American Village opened at Meadowcroft.  It was the neatest thing to explore, especially since we learn many things about the Native American tribes in Pennsylvania!  

Here is a replica wigwam.  While in the Village Life part of Meadowcroft, the buildings are the originals, in the Native American Village, they had to recreate the buildings.  

Stanley thought it was neat that he got to go inside of the wigwam with his friends!  

Here is a picture of the fence that the tribe would have around their property. 

We even got to try to hunt with an arrow and an atlatl (at-lat-el).  The atlatl helped the arrow to go farther with very little effort.  Sadly, no one in our group hit the target.  Guess we went hungry!  

We got to learn about the different animals the Native Americans hunted and what they used their skins for.  We even got to feel the pelts of a few different animals, such as a grey fox, river otter, and raccoon.  

It was an awesome field trip, and we are extremely thankful for our PTA for sponsoring our trip!  

Disney World with Eleni!

Ms. Lewis's niece, Eleni, 5 years old, was going to Disney World for the first time.  Ms. Lewis asked her if she would take a Flat Stanley along with her.  She said 'sure', but was afraid of Stanley.  After introducing her, and telling her why he was flat, she thought it was pretty cool!  

They got to stop at Epcot!  

And visit Cinderella's Castle. 

And see the tree of life in the Animal Kingdom! 

Stanley even got to enjoy "Finding Nemo: The Musical"

Stanley even went to visit Mike & Sully at Monsters University! 

Eleni was so excited to meet Snow White! 

Here is a picture Stanley with of Rafiki holding up Simba from the Lion King!  They are made out of plants! 

Here is Stanley, Eleni & Eleni's dad, Kevin, at the gardens at Epcot.  Do you see Goofy & Pluto made out of plants?  Neat! 

Stanley was excited to see some guys his size -- Chip & Dale!  

Thank you, Eleni, for showing Stanley such a great time!  I hope you had fun with him!