Bye-bye, Flat Stanley!

Oscar's old pal Nicky sent us a Flat Stanley about 2 months ago. If you don't know who Flat Stanley is, you're probably not related to a 2nd grader. He's a book character who makes himself flat so he can travel the world for the price of a stamp. Kids make their own Flat Stanleys and ship them off to unsuspecting friends and relatives. I remember my niece Kendall sending hers off with my in-laws when they were crossing the world for Jim's job, and thinking that THAT would probably be the best-travelled FS ever. (Having travelled with Loretta and Jim myself, I can assure you that FS was well fed!)

We finally took Nicky's Flat Stanley to Hollywood, assembled a little album, and made him a little "I LOVE LA" tee-shirt and sent him back to New Jersey. I'm currently assembling a post about our darling Robyn's visit, but since I know Flat Stanley is safe at home, I thought we'd share his California adventures with you. 

Here's Oscar and Flat Stanley in front of our house. 

In front of Bret Harte School. 

Everyday life in California: visiting the farmer's market and shopping for local 50¢ avocados. In January.

 To the beach!

 Buried in the sand with Oscar.

 On the lifeguard structure. Please note: palm trees in the background!

 Please note the Santa Monica Pier in the backyard, from the CRV Ferris Bueller commerical, Forrest Gump, Iron Man, but not, as I previously thought, The Lost Boys. (That was the Santa Cruz Boardwalk. Santa Monica is LOUSY with vampires, however.)

To Griffith Park!

Now, if it was Arlo who was showing Flat Stanley around, we would be spending all our time at Travel Town and Live Steamers.

We did stop outside The Autry, but didn't go inside. Next time we'll go in and pan for gold and listen to awesome live music on the third Sunday of the month when they hold their jamboree. 

 But the Autry is across the parking lot from the Los Angeles Zoo!

 Reggie is the zoo's mascot. Reggie was tossed in a lake--after he outgrew a backyard pool--by a former police officer who was later arrested for raising illegal animals. He was captured after many attempts and now lives a happy life eating chickens and rats and soaking up the sun at the zoo.

 Dinosaur garden, with dino sculptures and plants from the dino era.

 Flat Stanley taunts the man-eating seals.

 Aww! Koalas!

Komodo dragons! I'm pretty sure that this is the same one that bit Sharon Stone's husband's toe off.

To the Los Angeles Natural History Museum!

 Flat Stanley and Oscar flee the polar bear!

 Under the microscope. Flat Stanley has great pores.

To Hollywood! We actually only live about 7 miles away from the Kodak Theater and the famous intersection of Hollywood and Highland. There's just a big, um, mountain in the way. A big mountain that has a big sign on it.

 There's that pesky mountain. Look where Oscar's pointing at the top of the mountain. (It's much closer and impressive in real life. My crappy photo doesn't really do it justice.)

 This is the Hollywood and Highland center, which includes lots of overpriced mall stores and chain restaurants, the Kodak Theater, reproductions from D.W. Griffith's Intolerance, and is roundly considered to be the tackiest architecture in Los Angeles. It is seriously ridiculous and awesome and I love it.

It's also the best place to park for the Times Square version of Hollywood. Six bucks for three hours, and you can walk to all the dopey places that you have to see.

 Here's Oscar and Flat Stanley hanging out on Hollywood Blvd, behind the risers for the Oscars (taking place a week from the day this was taken). 

Dileri, Nicky's mom, wondered which star Nicky might recognize. Evan and i came up with the same idea immediately.

Can I just say that every single time someone calls Kermit "Mr. The Frog," I totally lose it?

We found another one Nicky might recognize!

 Behind that silver car is the section of Hollywood that will be the red carpet.

 Flat Stanley decided to have a Party of One.

We put the soundtrack of American Graffiti on the jukebox and felt very meta.

We sucked down a couple milkshakes and made our way to the Grunmans Chinese Theater. It was playing Journey 2 Mysterious Island, a completely awful and totally entertaining movie I'd already taken the kids to.

There were tons of people milling about but we were able to find one set of footprints that Nicky might get a kick out of, since Oscar and Nicky played a LOT of Harry Potter Lego on the Wii.

 The Kodak Theater! Home of the Oscars! Which, in case you were wondering, Oscar thinks was totally named after him. Here they are across the street. That gold curtain is really gorgeous and dramatic in person. I'd noted it at the Oscars and I was thrilled to see that it's actually there all the time.

Here's O and FS in the entrance of the Kodak Theater. Those lit up columns are engraved with the names of each years' Best Picture.

At this point, I was feeling really bad for all those movie stars. They haven't eaten in five days and then they have to walk the red carpet and navigate those steps in their heels. True story: I read in the People Awards show issue (I was getting a pedicure; don't judge me) 

about four well-known actresses that seem like normal and sane humans and every single one of them, when asked about their pre-awards show preparations, said that they go on a juice fast for at least five days before the show. So these poor women are starved, delirious, and wearing 4+ inch heels. Think about that on Sunday when you watch them try and have playful banter with those reporters on the red carpet.)

Scenes from an LA parking garage. Sometimes I miss NY a lot, but this week, I really like being in LA.

This was our final Flat Stanley photo -- what everybody experiences in Los Angeles. Flat Stanley, meet the 110 freeway.

Showing Flat Stanley Los Angeles was a great way for Oscar and I (and the rest of our family) to seek out fun things in LA. We were thrilled to have him and we hope that Nicky enjoys out exploits -- and we hope we can show Nicky and his family all these sights in person someday soon.