Dear Grady and West End School,

Thanks for sending Flat Stanley to visit us here in Hawaii.

We had a really good time because there are a lot of fun things to do here in Honolulu, which is on the island of O'ahu (third one from the left). We taught Stan how to surf one day on the North Shore. We also took him on a scuba dive to see the state fish: the humuhumunukunukuapua'a!

We made him a lei made of out the state flower: the pua aloalo or the yellow hibiscus and let him climb the state tree, the kukui (or candlenut tree).

We did take him on a boat so that he could see a Humpback Whale (they live here near Hawai'i during winter).

Here is a picture of the state flag.

It looks a lot like the British flag, doesn't it? It has one stripe for each of the major islands of Hawai'i.

People here have parents who come from a lot of different countries so everyone eats all kinds of things. The Native Hawaiians introduced us to poi (kind of a purple potato). We also love Japanese saimin (a noodle soup) and Chinese manapua (a bun with meat inside).

In the package we put the following: a flower lei for Ms. Watson to wear; a package of nuts and jellies from Hawaii (the guava is great!); a bag of macadamia nuts (an important crop in our state); and a bag of the favorite thing kids love here: li hing gummi bears. Watch out though! They will make your mouth pucker up like crazy!

Thanks again for the visit with Stan the Man. Good luck with your States Projects--that sounds like a really fun idea!

With love and aloha,

Sean and Lurana O'Malley

(Grady's cousins)

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