Amarillo and the Cadillac Ranch!

We are all a little jealous of Flat Stanley at this point. He is seeing some seriously cool stuff, not to mention spending time with the family and friends WE would love to be hanging out with! Here is his latest adventure with his Uncle Gary, as written by Aunt Beth-Ann!

"Well hello Schwinds!!! We are having such a great time with Stanley.

On Thursday, Uncle Gary took him to Amarillo so he could see northern Texas and visit the Cadillac Ranch. This is a big field filled with Cadillacs of all years, ranging from 1949 to 1963. They are buried nose-first in the ground at an angle that corresponds to that of the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt.

The Cadillac Ranch is located in a big cow pasture along Interstate 40 (Route 66, as in where you can get your kicks). You can see all the cars from the highway as you are driving by. It is located on private land but visiting is encouraged. The owner of the Cadillac Ranch also allows (and even encourages) people to write graffiti onto the Cadillacs either with markers, spray paint or whatever you want to use. The cars are all painted every now and then. One time the owner painted them all pink to honor his wife for her birthday. So sweet!!!!

You might remember that a tribute to the Cadillac Ranch was featured in the Disney movie "Cars." Bruce Springsteen also wrote a song called "Cadillac Ranch." There is a country band called Brooks & Dunn and they have a music video for their song "Honky Tonk Stomp" that was actually filmed at the Cadillac Ranch. It is SUCH a neat place and so fun to visit.

Uncle Gary and I visited it before we had Taylor, Bailey and Camryn. We have pictures of each other on the Cadillacs. We climbed up on to them and took pictures of each other. There are a couple of things I remember about the Cadillac Ranch, it is VERY windy (in fact my hair in all the pictures is blowing completely sideways) and there are tons of little gnats (or at least there were the last time I was there). Nothing like a gnat appetizer before we headed off for dinner. YUMMY!!!

Well, when Uncle Gary headed off to Amarillo, I called him when he was about halfway there and asked how Stanley was doing. He said he was asleep in the front seat and I am pretty sure Uncle Gary didn't make him wear a seat belt. NAUGHTY Uncle Gary!!!! He called me later after they had visited the Cadillac Ranch and told me Stanley had LOVED it.

He said he hung out on a few of the cars and the wind actually picked him up and blew him away. Uncle Gary had to chase him through the cow pasture in his suit pants, suit coat, nice shirt, tie and brand new dress shoes. His exact words to me were "Honey, you owe me BIG!!!" He said his shoes got a little dusty but nothing that couldn't be dusted off. No big deal at all!!! I think Stanley was laughing really hard as Uncle Gary was chasing him. Wish I had a picture of that!!!! Luckily, Uncle Gary is in really good shape and was able to catch the little rascal!! We will keep you posted on his next adventure. Miss y'all, love y'all!!!!

Aunt BA"

Maybe Aunt Beth-Ann should feed Stanley some of her great cooking so he can get a little meat on his papery bones! Then he wouldn't blow away so easily! Thanks, Uncle Gary, for sacrificing your new shoes and possibly eating a few gnats to show Stanley such a good time! You're the best uncle a paper boy ever had!!

Flat Stanley's Down Day in Lubbock

Stanley let us know how things went for him at Aunt Beth-Ann's house in Lubbock on Wednesday. Even when you stay home, it is FUN!

"Hey Schwinds!!! Wow, what a day I had a middle school yesterday. Bailey sure has to work hard every day. All these Vivian girls do!!! School is tough. I did have some fun though!! I got to open her locker, met her friend, Kate (Wow, what a cutie), had lunch with all her friends in the cafeteria, went to her Theater Arts class and listened to them doing improv, learned some math that I mentioned earlier, got to ride home in the carpool and then I needed a NAP!!!! I don't know how you kids do this school and learning thing. It wore me out!!! Well, the next day I was supposed to go to school with Camryn and see what Murfee Elementary was like but she was taking the TAKS that day.

She was taking the writing TAKS which is a test that all the kids in Texas take to see if they are on track with what they are supposed to be learning. Her principal, Mrs. Andrews, sent an email home saying they could ONLY bring their lunch to school that day, no backpacks, no cell phones (can you believe some parents let elementary kids have cell phones...YIKES!!), no school books, no pencils, no Flat Stanleys.......WHAT, NO FLAT STANLEYS? Bummer, I had to stay at their house all day while they were at school and Aunt BA was at work helping an elderly lady move into a new house and Uncle Gary was out working hard seeing all his doctors!!! My choices were to hang out with Princess or hang out with Murtle. I tried to hang out with Princess but all she wanted to do was lick me and sniff me. It was so annoying!!! I tried to ride her like a horse but she didn't appreciate that one bit and kept bucking me off!!!!

I decided to go hang with Murtle!! Murtle just swims around and around in that tank and sunbathes on the rocks. Seemed like a nice, relaxing way to spend the afternoon so I did!!

I tried to talk with him but he just kept saying something into the water and all I could hear was a bubbly noise. I guess I don't speak "turtle" very well. Oh well!! He came over to see me a couple of times and I got a couple of pictures of that so I hope you enjoy them.

Can't wait for my adventure with Uncle Gary tomorrow in Amarillo!!! Aunt BA will tell you ALL about it!!"

Stanley Takes on Middle School

What a great time Stanley is having in Lubbock, TX! Earlier this week, Stanley wrote to us about his trip to middle school with his cousin, Bailey!


"Hey guys! This is Stanley, and boy have I had an awesome week. On Tuesday I ventured into the mysterious building called a middle school. The building was huge but I knew I would not get lost because I was with Bailey. First Bailey showed me her best friend Kate, and man was she cute. I even got to take a picture with her.

Well then Bailey needed to go to her locker to get all her school stuff, and I even got to open her lock on her locker for her. It was tough and made my paper thin arms hurt really bad but I got it open anyways.

The school day went by really quickly and I learned what pi is. It is 3.14159265. Wow! That took a lot of thinking to learn. Well at the end of the day I went and climbed my first tree. And it was humongo! I got to the middle but I am afraid of heights so I stopped there.

Then we had to go home with Bailey's friend Rylee, and got in her car. I got to ride shotgun. That was such a fun day and Bailey is one of my new friends. And I sure hope Kate is tooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Apparently Stanley has quite a little crush on Kate! But who wouldn't? She's a cutie!! Middle school was quite an adventure, but there is more fun from Lubbock to come!

Flat Stanley Learns About Liberty!!

Flat Stanley had the privilege of visiting our family friend, Beth, in Philadelphia, PA this week. He had a great visit, and learned a lot about our nation's foundations! Here is the blog entry from his visit.

"I took Flat Stanley to see Independence Hall in Philadelphia. It's amazing to think about what actually happened in those rooms over 200 years ago. A group of men (and their amazing wives at home, like Abigail Adams) had a shared vision for a better life. A handful of people had the imagination and courage to dream big and risk everything to create a new country, a new government and an existence in which people were free from oppression and could live life fully.

"They were true visionaries...just imagine, no government like the one they created existed before! They believed it could be successful and demonstrated an unshakable faith. They were united in the belief in our inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. They knew that bringing this dream to fruition would be a deep struggle and cost many lives, but they were still willing to move forward.

"Now, over 200 years later, our country is the most powerful nation on earth. Men women and children from all over the world come to the United States in search of those same inalienable rights and the opportunity to live in freedom and peace.

"I'm so proud of our forefathers and thank them for everything they did. I am blessed to be able to walk the same ground they did and live in this great country.

"Beth Aaron

Philadelphia, PA

February 25, 2010"

Thanks, Beth for showing Stanley such an awesome time in one of our nations coolest places!!

Flat Stanley's AWANA Adventure!

Written by Jeffery Schwind, age 11.

On Wednesday, February 10, 2010, Flat Stanley came with me to AWANA. He was so excited! He was in the car with me and we read some of my book together on the way there. I even made him an AWANA uniform! He wore it that night.

When we got there, we were a little late. So, we missed the intro, but we went upstairs to practice quizzing. Stanley helped out with some of the questions! And with the other questions, he watched me answer them!

After that, we went to Handbook Time. It was pizza night, so Flat Stanley and I shared a piece of pizza. It was really good! After Handbook Time, we went to Council Time. We had a lesson with Mr. Schweibold about how we are not strong enough to take on life as a Christian without the Holy Spirit. K. Miyakawa was put on a big piece of wood with ropes on the sides. Mr. Schweibold said one verse, and the kid who found the verse was able to grab one of the ropes on the sides, and try to pull K. Miyakawa up off the ground. It didn't work, so Mr. Schweibold called out more verses to get more kids up. Finally, there were enough kids to lift K. up. This taught us that with help from the Holy Spirit we are able to take on the challenges in our life.

Then, after that part of the lesson was over, we got visited by a former Colts football player! It was so cool! At the end, after awards and points were given, we got a football card from him that he had signed! This ended our AWANA adventure!

First adventure: The Frigid Back Yard

Before we send Stanley off on his adventures, we need to have a few with him ourselves!! He certainly got acclimated to adventure when he went out in our frozen, snow-filled back yard!!

A few days ago we got 8 1/2 inches of snow. Today, we have gotten at least 3 inches, so our backyard is a winter wonderland!! The boys have been sledding down the slide onto the hard packed snow that is level with the bottom.

Since Stanley didn't have any snow gear on, he didn't' stay out long. He is inside with the mom, staying warm and watching her do dishes. However, he is occasionally looking out the window, asking if maybe, just maybe, we might make him a little paper coat and hat???

Operation Paper Boy

In the 1400's, the world's bravest men set forth in ships to travel the globe, finding as many new lands and new trade routes as they could. These were the explorers, and this time period was called The Age of Exploration.

Things are very different today. Especially if you are a boy made of paper who can mail himself anywhere he wishes to go!

Today, we begin our journey with our newest family member, Flat Stanley! He promises to be a very exciting family member, traveling the globe in search of adventure, like an explorer of old! He will begin his journey here in Noblesville, IN, USA.

On this blog, we will keep a cyber-journal of Stanley's activities, and hopefully we will be able to include many other families in many other cities, states and countries.

Personally, we cannot wait to see where this adventure will take us!!!

The Schwind Family