Stanley had a very busy weekend this weekend. The most exciting thing was meeting new friends Kellie and Dave who are from Bathhurst, Australia. They're visiting the USA for three weeks, and they were staying with Erin and Jeff this weekend, so we got to pal around all weekend. They are super fun people. The weather wasn't too nice Saturday, but we went down to the Willamette River that runs through Portland and walked down the path that goes along one side, across the bridges, and back up the other side. There's a super fun sign that says Made In Oregon that's right downtown, and Stanley had his photo taken in front of that.

Then we stopped at the the Skidmore Fountain, the oldest piece of public art in Portland. It was built in 1888 and was erected on the site that was Portland's center at that time. The upper part of the fountain was for people, and the bottom troughs were for dogs and people. Sometimes our policemen who ride horses downtown Portland let their horses drink out of the fountain still! Unfortunately, I can't get this photo to load up, so I'l have to try and repost later!

Stanley was also excited to try drinking from one of Portland's bubbler fountains, which run all the time, no pushing the button needed! Yummy water :)

Then today we went to the Oregon Coast to see the Pacific Ocean. We stopped at the Jewell Wildlife Refuge on the way where a herd of Roosevelt Elk spends their winters. They were really beautiful. Luckily, it wasn't raining when we got there. 

Next, it was on to Cannon Beach where we took a walk over to Haystack Rock, which is the third largest seaside monolith (that just means free-standing rock) in the whole WORLD. It's 235 feet tall, and it looks quite a lot like a haystack, don't you think? The weather at the beach was cold, rainy, and windy, but we still had a hand at trying to throw the boomerang our new friends brought us from Australia. It said right on the package that it was guaranteed to come back to you...apparently we weren't quite throwing it correctly. Still, it was really fun to try!

This week, Stanley is off for yet another fun adventure this week when he gets to meet Cousin Max's class at Mary Woodward Elementary School. They're starting their Flat Stanley unit this week! It's going to be a lot of fun for them to see where their Stanleys go, too!

Hope you have a great week at school. WORK hard and learn lots!