The Next Day

The next day we had to get up early, despite having been out late. Everyone had to get to school. Holden had a field trip scheduled and Flat Abbie, Flat Keira, Flat Casper and Flat Cade were all excited for another adventure.

First we had to make a quick stop to get some coffee.






Then we were ready to go. We headed into San Francisco. Flat Abbie, Cade, Keira, and Casper really wanted their picture taken as we drove over the Golden Gate Bridge. We always like to keep our guests happy, but as it turns out this was a little dangerous.


Pretty soon we reached our destination. The Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park. This is the oldest wood and glass conservatory in the Americas. We were all fascinated by the exhibit named Chomp. We learned about carnivorous plants!


Just then we thought we heard Aidan saying he wanted to take a look. So we tried to get a little closer so he could see through our eyes. Our guide cut open one of the plants so we could take a look inside.
See all the bugs? Keira wasn't sure if she liked looking at the bugs, but Casper thought it was really cool that a plant ate bugs. Abbie quite liked the orchids and thought she might try to grow a few of her own later.
We all took careful notes and then it was time to head home.
The sky had darkened and it was pouring down rain. All of the Flat Selves begged to have their picture taken by the Golden Gate Bridge. " Please! Please! " They cried. This time I decided to pull over:
Cade wanted to know how long it took to build the Golden Gate Bridge. Casper knew the answer! A little over four years.
Keira frowned, why isn't the Golden Gate Bridge painted gold?"
Abbie knew the answer to that question. "Well Keira, she explained, the bridge isn't called the Golden Gate Bridge because of its color. Its called the Golden Gate because the Golden Gate Strait is the entrance to the San Francisco Bay from the Pacific Ocean.
" Thanks, Abbie!" Keira smiled because she loves learning new things.

Then it was time for a rest because tomorrow these Flat Selves from New Zealand will be headed back to San Francisco, this time for a field trip with Oliver's class.
Good night Flat Abbie, Flat Cade, Flat Keira, Flat Casper ( and Aidan too even though he isn't flat).

The Flat Selves Have Arrived

After a long journey across the Pacific Ocean Flat Abbie, Flat Cade, Flat Keira and Flat Casper arrived in California at Brookside School. They were pretty relieved when the teacher opened the package. They had been squished in there! It was time to say goodbye to Flat Holden. He went to join his flat classmates and hear about their adventures all over the country and the world.

Flat Abbie, Cade, Keira and Casper were sent to Holden's home along with all of the brochures and materials which had been enclosed. Holden only had a few minutes to look over everything before it was time to go to the pool. Holden is on the swim team so he has to practice. Flat Abbie, Cade, Keira and Casper wanted to watch. They thought his practice went pretty well and were quite impressed when they got to see Holden's ribbons from last week's meet as well as his special best time ribbon which meant he'd beat his previous record!







Then it was time to go home and rest a bit before dinner. Finally Flat Abbie, Cade, Keira and Casper would have a chance to meet everyone in our family. Jeff was not yet home from work, but the Flat selves were able to meet Catharyn, Holden ( 8), Oliver (6), Griffin (4) and Laurel (4). They also met 3 cats, Chloe, Paddington, and Walle, and our dog, Maisie.

There wasn't a whole lot of time to rest. After dinner Jeff came home long enough to pick up Holden and the Flat Selves, and leave again. It was time to head back to Jeff's work where Holden and the Flat Selves were in for a special treat. You see, it happens to be the 30th anniversary of the movie The Empire Strikes Back. Lucas, which is where Jeff works, was having a special screening of the movie in their own movie theater. They were allowing each employee to bring one guest to come see the movie. We thought it would be OK if the Flat Selves came along because they were flat and no one had mentioned anything about any rules involving Flat Selves. Jeff took the Flat Selves and Holden on a little tour around the campus before the movie started. The Flat Selves liked meeting Yoda,

















Boba Fett
and Darth Vader,




















but were a little nervous when they met with King Kong.










Cade wanted to see Darth Vader up close.
Everyone liked watching The Empire Strikes Back but they were all pretty tired by the time it ended.