It's Hockey Night in Canada!!

What an excellent opportunity that arose on Sunday! Flat Stanley was visiting and the UNB Varsity Reds were playing the championship game in the CIS tournament. National University hockey?? For the WIN?? YES!!

Flat Stanley had never been to a hockey game, so this was extra special. I made him a jersey so he could sport a bit of local spirit.

Isn't he handsome??

Speaking of handsome... I wasn't going to the game alone. In fact, I wasn't going to the game at all until my father and nephew had an extra ticket and invited me to tag along. Here is my handsome nephew Jacob at dinner before the game started.

Not hard to tell they're fans, eh?

Here we are with our ticket !!! Flat Stanley is SO excited!!

Waiting for the game, we wandered around and found the zamboni parked and waiting to flood the ice for the first of many times. 

Between the 2nd and third periods we were INTERVIEWED by CBC tv - I haven't been able to find a clip of the interview yet sadly. :( But it was SO COOL!

Flat Stanley cheered hard... and it paid off!! WE WON!!

 Here's the celebratory pile up and the preparation for the rewards ceremony.

It's safe to say a good time was had by all!

GO VREDS GO!!!!!!!!!!

Dr. Walter Chestnut Library & W.W. Craig Gallery

When I was a kid, I spent a LOT of hours in the town library. From checking out thousands of books, to participating in story times to viewing (and sometimes participating in!) gallery exhibits - the Dr Walter Chestnut Library is nothing but grand memories. The library was named after Dr. Chestnut who had a practice and served the area for over 60 years! The gallery was named after Woody Craig who founded Craig Manufacturing and was a great benefactor of Hartland.

This building was originally a National Post Office. (Long before Flat Stanley traveled in an envelope all over the world) On the third floor, there was an armory during the war. The town's pharmacy bought the building in the 60s and in 1986, the library moved in! A year later, in 1987, the Craig Gallery opened on the third floor. There is always an exhibit! My favorite addition was in 1992 when the Children's Library opened on the bottom (basement) level. It is perhaps one of the BEST Children's libraries I have seen!

We headed to the Children's library first. Flat Stanley was hoping the book that made him famous was on the shelf for a photo op. And it was! 

After an enjoyable visit with Glenda, the Children's Librarian (who told us all about an awesome adventure of a frog!), we climbed all of the stairs to the top floor to check out the current gallery exhibit. (Don't worry, an elevator was installed in 2003 for people who can not make the steep climb from level to level!)

We browsed a pretty stained glass exhibit. Flat Stanley especially loved the stained glass fiddleheads. He had no idea what fiddleheads were! Karla and I told him how fiddleheads grow in the wild here and if not picked at the perfect time, they'll unfold into big, tall ferns. 

Also in the gallery are a few permanent exhibits. One is a collection of Dr Walter Chestnut's medical tools and a few personal items including the key he was given to the Town of Hartland. 

When I was a little girl, my Papa had a friend who made little animals and figures out of rocks. His name was Ralph Day. He gave me my own rock creature - an elephant to add to my collection of elephants - and I still have it to this day! When he passed away, his wife donated the entire remaining rock collection to the gallery to be enjoyed by everyone. Flat Stanley loved it!

We signed the guest book and headed to the main floor, where the head Librarian was happy to talk to us. Jean has been at the library for a long time, and it was nice to visit with her again. She loved meeting Flat Stanley and suggested he get his very own library card!

He signed it himself and everything!

Jean gave us a couple of brochures about Hartland, and the Library and a bookmark that shows the history of the Library as well. Flat Stanley has lots of fun things to take him to Emily! He will be leaving me on Tuesday to get back to Emily in time for her school presentation. Tomorrow he will say his goodbyes to everyone and get a few more pictures before he journeys on.

Hartland - Home of the longest covered bridge in the WORLD!

Flat Stanley, Karla and I were excited to head to Hartland! Along the way, we thought it would be fun to stop at the Covered Bridge Chip Factory and get a tour. Unfortunately, they are not open on Saturdays in the winter, so we had a photo moment outside briefly before heading to the gas station to fill up (and buy covered bridge chips)

After filling up with gas, and enjoying a tasty treat (Flat Stanley especially LOVED the creamy dill flavor!), we headed towards the big, famous bridge! But just at the the top of the hill leading to the bridge lives one of my BFFs Alisha and her family. I thought for sure her boys would love to meet Flat Stanley!! SO, Auntie Karla and I stopped to introduce them.

 Bryan and Owen are 7 (they're twins!) and they hadn't heard of Flat Stanley. Owen was especially excited to  see the website www.flatstanley.com on Flat Stanley's pant leg and he couldn't wait to check it out! Rumor has it that he and his mom are going to send their OWN Flat Stanley on an adventure (I look forward to following him!). We said goodbye to the boys and our friends and visited a National Historic Site - The longest covered bridge in the WORLD.

 Here you see Flat Stanley and Karla holding their breath! It's considered good luck to hold your breath when going through a covered bridge. It's a LONG time to hold your breath when you go through one that is 1282 feet!! But they both did it! (and I did, too) 

(Karla will love this picture)

If you're going to be a tourist and visit the sights in a new place, you must pick up a souvenir or two. We stopped at a little gift shop and Flat Stanley picked out a pin that said Canada, and some stickers that were New Brunswick. He also found a few postcards that he liked. He can't WAIT to take them back to Fort Worth, Texas to Emily!

Flat Stanley ALSO signed the guest book at the gift shop. I bet he was the only one there that day from Fort Worth, Texas :)







Our final stop of the day took us to one of my FAVORITE places of all times when I was growing up. The town library!

Finally - a tourist! Flat Stanley sees the sights!

Flat Stanley came to me from Fort Worth, Texas (in case you missed that part). And I am in New Brunswick, Canada (in case you missed that part, too!). In Canada, we live in provinces and territories (not states).

I currently live in the capital of New Brunswick. Fredericton. A few interesting facts about Fredericton can be found here ---> Tourism Fredericton

But I am originally from a small town called Hartland. Although it is a tiny town with fewer than 1000 people living within the town limits, it was a nice place to grow up and happens to be home to a National Historic Site.  Flat Stanley and I, along with his fabulous Aunt Karla, took a drive to Hartland yesterday (March 26th) to check it out! We had to travel 125 kilometers (which is approximately 77 miles!) to get to Hartland, but we made a few stops along the way!


View Larger Map

Driving along the highway towards our destination, I saw the sign for a place called Nackawic. I remembered the world's largest AXE resides in Nackawic and thought Flat Stanley would enjoy learning about the importance of the logging industry in this little town. Nackawic was originally a farm town, but when a dam was built that affected the farm land, a pulp and paper mill was constructed to create jobs for the residents of the community. A GIANT axe was built to recognize the importance of the forest industry not only in Nackawic but in the entire province of New Brunswick.

 Here's Flat Stanley checking out the massive statue! 

And here he is checking out the plaque up close. 

Karla and I pose with Flat Stanley in front of the Axe

It was a rather windy day - Flat Stanley was frightened he would blow away, but he was well protected! Next stop...... Hartland!

Flat Stanley Goes to Work

March 21st.

Flat Stanley headed to work with me. I had been telling EVERYONE about the anticipated arrival of Flat Stanley from Fort Worth, Texas!! I knew my colleagues would be thrilled to meet him!!

It snowed a bit early in the morning, so we took a moment to build a snow man. Do you suppose Flat Stanley has ever made a snowman in TEXAS? Here he is posing with his awesome creation. Not bad for a first time, eh?

Flat Stanley learned all about social media monitoring. I work for a company called radian6 and we created a really neat product that lets companies interact and talk with their customers online. Here he is checking out what we call the 'dashboard'. (It really looks like a lot of pretty charts and graphs, but it all means something - honest!)

(Flat Stanley especially liked the big spike in online conversation about Airlines! Maybe that is because he really wanted to take a plane to California)

An important part of the work day was our coffee break. And in Canada, Tim Horton's is an important part of the day! We had a coffee and a bagel. 

I won a free donut on my coffee - I gave it to Flat Stanley!!

Flat Stanley enjoyed the office very much, but figured he's not ready for the working world just yet. He's still busy being a kid and has many more adventures to have before growing up! I promised him we would go on an adventure and I can't wait to share it with you!

Flat Stanley arrives from Fort Worth, TX!

On March 10th, I received THIS email response to my offer to host:

Hello,

 

I am the mom of a first grader in Fort Worth, Texas. My daughter would love to send her Flat Stanley to Canada if you would kindly host. We are in a bit of a time crunch as her school did not give her much notice so her Stanley is due back in the begining days of April. I can have our Stanley sent out as quick as tommorow if you agree. Thank you again.

 Of course, I agreed! The Texas mom popped him in the mail immediately, and I checked the mail EVERY DAY

On the 18th of March, guess who was in my mail box!! FINALLY!! 

It's Flat Stanley!!

From what I know about Fort Worth Texas, they don't get much snow.... and Flat Stanley was excited to see what little bit of snow we had still on the ground. Isn't he handsome?

Along with Flat Stanley, there was a lovely letter inside the envelope. It read:

Dear Jennifer Seeley,
My first grade class at <school name> read Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown. In this book Stanley becomes flat when his bedroom bulletin board falls on him during the night.
At first Stanley is upset, but he soon realizes that there are advantages to being flat. When his parents tell him that a trip to visit friends in California is too expensive, Stanley decides to have his parents mail him in an envelope for the price of a stamp!
My Flat Stanley wants to visit you and see the sights! Will you pleas give him a tour of your favorite places, take some pictures of him, and then return him to me? Our class will learn some geography and history and the whole school will enjoy our huge display in the hall.
I will be presenting a report on Stanley's visit to you during the week of April 11 so he will need to return to me before then.
Thank you for helping me. Stanley has promised to use his best manners while at your house.
<signed a six year old>

*melt*

I knew Flat Stanley and I would have a blast! But first... a nap with the cat.... 

Looking to host Flat Stanley - The official message board offer

Here's what got the ball rolling:

Hi! I'm a working professional in the social media space and I have enjoyed following the travels and adventures of Flat Stanleys hosted by friends. After logging on to facebook to see updated albums and feeling slightly jealous that Flat Stanley is being taken out for wings and getting to visit fun places, I decided I wanted to participate too!
My nephews are grown and with no kids of my own, I felt reaching out via this bulletin board made the most sense. 
Being that I work in social media and am very engaged in the space, I hope to have a Flat Stanley to tweet/blog/flickr/facebook about. From visiting the longest covered bridge in the world, to attending friend's opening shows at local art galleries, I promise that any Flat Stanley hosted by me will have an adventure worth talking about!
Drop me a line at jenn.l.seeley@gmail.com follow me on twitter @jenn_seeleyor add me on facebook http://www.facebook.com/jenny.seeley

One Flat Stanley is with me now, and two others are on the way!