When we moved from Los Angeles to Dallas we had a hard time leaving so many beloved friends. Harder still, it meant saying goodbye to cousins. My brother in law and his family lived only six miles from us. We were devastated to move several time zones away from them. My kids had been near their cousin-friends all their lives.
Before we left town I printed off five Flat Stanley cutouts. (I believe I used this one. There are many from which you may choose and there are girls too.) Each boy (my two and their three cousins) coloured their own cutout at our final family meal. I cut out each boy and laminated them together as families. (I used the packing tape method of laminating. As I was in the middle of a move packing tape was abundant.) We kept our three Flat Cousins and they kept my boys’.
Our first stop was Flagstaff. We awoke in the morning to snow! Of course we had to show our California cousins the snow we found in Arizona. What a marvel!
Snow with the Flat Cousins in Flagstaff
I had told my husband I wasn’t leaving the West without seeing the Grand Canyon. Naturally we took the Flat Cousins to see the Grand Canyon as well.
Flat Cousins at the Grand Canyon
We had terrible traffic the rest of the day, but our Flat Cousins made the trek more fun.
Flat Cousins in bad traffic
Finally we made it to New Mexico. We were just in time to catch the last remnants of the sunset in the Petrified Forest.
Sunset with the Flat Cousins in Petrified Forest
In Albuquerque they got stuck only once in some cactus. We rescued them, of course.
Flat Cousins in Albuquerque
Our next stop was Amarillo, Texas. Had our Flat Cousins ever seen the vast prairie before? It was so windy but we held on tight.
Flat Cousins in Amarillo, TX
They most certainly had never before seen Cadillac Ranch. Nor had we. What a sight!
Flat Cousins at Cadillac Ranch
Our final drive into Dallas we were in a terrific storm. Our Flat Cousins brought us sunshine and encouragement. What we didn’t know until later was that there were tornadoes in this storm! What a welcome to Texas for all of us!
Heavy Rains in TX (before tornado)
Our Flat Cousins stayed by our side. Before we knew it we had all safely arrived at our new apartment in Dallas. We couldn’t wait to show them all the amenities of our wonderful new place.
by the pool with the Flat Cousins
We had so much fun taking our Flat Cousins along on this grand adventure of ours. It definitely helped us deal with missing them so much. (We have since taken one of those Flat Cousins on an adventure around North Texas for a school assignment.)
This summer a lot of you are hitting the road. Whether you are going on a family adventure, or moving to a new place, taking along some Flat Cousins or Flat Friends makes the journey a lot more fun.
