Christmas Eve

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, James. He's really old. He was the second Canadian to get off Noah's Ark, you know.

 Oh. Wait! Chance lives with us, too. He's a newborn cubby someone left in a basket on our doorstep. He's a wee little thing. I look after Chance, too. He's a handful!

Know what? Chance and me are busy today. This is Christmas Eve, you know. That's the day before Christmas. That means there's only one more day until Merry Christmas comes to our house.

We got a big job to do. We're wrapping presents for our buddies and friends. It's hard work 'cuz bear cubs don't have thumbs, you know. We sing Christmas carols while we wrap. I'm a pretty good singer. Chance is too little to sing but he makes squeaky noises 'cuz he's happy.



We have a special present to wrap for Lily and Lulu. We got them Snakes and Ladders. It's our favourite game. We l-o-v-e to play Snakes and Ladders, don't you? It's the funnest game, honest!

Oh. Wait! Did you hear that? James is hollering, "Where are my handsome bear cubs? Where are my Sons of Windsor? Where are my Princes of Ontario? That's me! Charles! That's Chance! We're handsome bear cubs. We're Sons of Windsor and Princes of Ontario! We gotta go find James so we can get our ears tickled and our noses kissed.

This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Get ready for Merry Christmas. Then you can eat Smarties and drink root beer and eat Christmas cookies. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! We can wrap presents together! Okay! Over and out!"

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree!

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, James. Sparkle Road is next to Sandwich Street. That's in Windsor. I know where Windsor is. It's in O tario and that's in O Canada.

James is really old. He was the second Canadian to get off Noah's Ark, you know. He needs me.

Oh. Wait! Chance lives with us, too. He's a newborn cubby someone left in a basket on our doorstep. He's a wee little thing. He doesn't have any teeth. He just drinks chocolate owls' milk.  I look after Chance, too. Is he ever a handful!

Know what? Chance and me and James are wearing our Christmas toques. We always wear them when we decorate the tree. We put up the Christmas tree every December. We have to put it up so we have somewehre to put presents. I know where Christmas trees come from. they come from Canadian Tire.

Our tree is not too tall and not too small. It's just right. James says our tree is a genuine  60-centimetre Canadian Tire spruce. We hang garlands and pretty, shiny ornaments on the branches. We have a beaver with antlers to hang. Chance licks the ornaments and makes them all sticky. He can't eat ornaments 'cuz they're not in Canada's Food Guide. Chance can be a very silly little cub, sometimes. When it's all finished, our tree is the most beautifulest tree in the world!

We sing special songs when we decorate the tree. We sing Silent Night and Il Est  Ne Le Devin Enfant and O Christmas Tree and lots of other songs, too. Chance is too little to sing but he makes little squeaky noises. That's 'cuz he's happy. We get to eat the Christmas cookies we made. We get to drink the sorel punch we made. I l-o-v-e sorel punch, don't you?

Oh! No! Look at Chance! Chance climbed way high on top of the tree! He's not supposed to do that! I say, "My son! Come down from there this instant!" Of course, he's stuck up there. He's scared and he makes little squawky noises. Good think I'm five and can help him get down.

Chance is such a wee little thing he doesn't know that Santa's job is to sit on top of our tree so he can make a list and check it twice so he can see who's naughty and who's nice.

Cubs who do naughty things get a stocking full of coal on Christmas morning. Cubs who are on their bestest behaviour get yummy things like Smarties and gummy worms.

We put presents under the tree for our loved ones and our friends and our neighbours.

I l-o-v-e Merry Christmas. I can't wait for her to come. Our house will be full of special friends. Merry Christmas will bring Santa and Rudolph the Nasally Challenged Reindeer and the newborn Baby Jesus, the Little Drummer Boy and the angels.

Oh! Wait! I forgot the sheep and the Three Wise Guys who followed the OnStar to our house. We'll have lots of good things to eat and we can go outside and play. I hope we have snow for Christmas. Snowflakes are pretty.

 Oh. Wait! Did you hear that? James is hollering, "Where are my handsome bear cubs? Where are my Sons of Windsor? Where are my Princes of Ontario? That's me! Charles! That's Chance! We're handsome bear cubs. We're Sons of Windsor and Princes of Ontario! We gotta go find James so we can get our ears tickled and our noses kissed.

 This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Be on your best behaviour. Be nice to everyone. Then Santa will know that you're nice and not naughty. Nice citizens get to eat Smarties and drink root beer. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! It's only 15 days 'til Christmas! We can play and wait for Merry Christmas to come. Okay! Over and out!"

Eating at Mr. Greek

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, James.  He is really old. He was the second Canadian to get off Noah's Ark, you know. He must be really old!

Oh. Wait! Chance lives with us, too. He's a newborn cubby someone left in a basket on our doorstep last year. He's a wee little thing. He doesn't have any teeth. doesn't even have a tail, yet!  

I look after Chance, too. He's always in trouble. He climbs way high on things and then he can't get down. I have to say, "My son! Come down from there this instant!" But he can't 'cuz he's afraid. Chance makes little squawky noises when he's afraid. I have to help him get down. Looking after Chance is a full time job. Chance is a handful! 

Guess what! Chance and me are dining out on the Danforth. We're in Greektown. We l-o-v-e to eat Greek food. When we're in Toronto our favouritest Greek restaurant is Mr Greek. It's a nice place to eat.

We get to share a lime margeurita. They're very tasty. It's a virgin margeurita. That means there's no alcohol in it. Bear cubs don't drink alcohol.

 We're hungry as bears. James says we'll eat like pigs. That's not funny. We're NOT pigs. We're bear cubs. James can be very silly sometimes.The nice server brings us a menu. That's a list of all the good foods we can eat. I want to eat them all.

I know the four food groups in Canada's Food Guide. They're yummy, sweet, sticky and nasty. I don't like nasty foods. I try not to eat them.

There are lots of yummy things in the menu but I have a favouritest food at Mr Greek. I'm going to order moussaka. I l-o-v-e moussaka. It's full of eggplant. It's kind of like shepherd's pie. Know what? There really aren't any shepherds in shepherd's pie. That's good 'cuz we shouldn't eat people. People aren't in Canada's Food Guide, you know. 

Oh, wait! Know what? Before I eat my moussaka, I want something else. I want to eat the flaming cheese. I l-o-v-e flaming cheese. It's almost as exciting as Canada Day fireworks. The nice server shouts 'Opa!' and sets the cheese on fire! The cheese goes "WHOOSH!" Then she stops the fire with a lemon. I'm pretty sure she is a fire fighter, too. 

Then we're going to have baklava for dessert. I l-o-v-e baklava. It's the yummiest dessert. I pour honey on top of it and I say, "Over the lips and past the gums, Look out, tummy, here it comes!" The baklava slides right down to my tummy. It's yummy and sweet and sticky! Good thing we're wearing our serviettes around our necks so we don't get all sticky and have to take a bath!

Oh. Wait! Did you hear that? James is hollering, "Where are my handsome bear cubs? Where are my Sons of Windsor? Where are my Princes of Ontario? That's me! Charles! That's Chance! We're handsome bear cubs. We're Sons of Windsor and Princes of Ontario! We gotta go find James so we can get our ears tickled and our noses kissed.

 This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Be kind to friends and neighbours. Then you can come with us to the Danforth  and eat Greek food in Greektown with us.

 Come over to our house and play with us! We can walk up to the Danforth to Mr. Greek. We can holler "Opa!" and eat moussaka together! Okay! Over and out!"

Remembrance Day

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, Grandpa James. He's really old. He was the second Canadian to get off Noah's Ark, you know.

 Oh. Wait! Chance lives with us, too. He's a newborn cubby someone left in a basket on our doorstep. He's a wee little thing. I look after Chance, too. He's a handful!

Chance and me are wearing our poppies. We get them from the nice people at the Royal Canadian Legion. We wear them on Remembrance Day.

Everybody wears poppies on November 11. We remember soldiers at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. Know what? this is 2011. That's a lot of elevens!  Lots of folks go to the Cenotaph to remember. Remembrance Day is on the $10 bill with the poem, too.

 I know the poem for today. It's In Flanders Fields. We learned it at the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre. It goes like this.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
      Between the crosses, row on row,
   That mark our place; and in the sky
   The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
   Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
         In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
   The torch; be yours to hold it high.
   If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

         In Flanders fields.

We remember our soldiers in the Canadian forces and all the hard work they do to keep Canada safe.
 Some of the soldiers are in the Royal Canadian Navy. Some of the soldiers are in the Royal Canadian Air Force. Some of the soldiers are in the Royal Canadian Army.

Our soldiers have important jobs. Some of the soldiers  are peacekeepers. Peacekeepers go to work when neighbours don't play nice. The peacekeepers call 'Time Out' and separate everybody so no one gets hurt. Some of the peacekeepers went to Cyprus and Rwanda and Bosnia. Some of our soldiers belong to DART. The DART Team helps people when disasters strike, like in the United States after Hurricane Katrina and the earthquake in Haiti and the cyclone in Mayanmar.

Some of our soldiers fight in wars, like World War One and Two and Korea and Afghanistan. Sometimes soldiers die. That's very sad. I sure hope that there aren't any more wars. Wars are not nice.

Oh. Wait! Did you hear that? Grandpa James is hollering, "Where are my handsome bear cubs? Where are my Sons of Windsor? Where are my Princes of Ontario? That's me! Charles! That's Chance! We're handsome bear cubs. We're Sons of Windsor and Princes of Ontario! We gotta go find Grandpa James so we can get our ears tickled and our noses kissed.

 This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Remember our soldiers. Be kind to friends and neighbours. Then you can eat Smarties and drink root beer. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! We can remember our soldiers together! Okay! Over and out!"

Happy Hallowe'en!

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, James. He's really old. He was the second Canadian to get off Noah's Ark, you know.

 Oh. Wait! Chance lives with us, too. He's a newborn cubby someone left in a basket on our doorstep. He's a wee little thing. He doesn't have any teeth. He just drinks chocolate owls' milk.  Chance climbs way up high and then he can't get down. I have to say, "Come down from there this instant, my son!" Then I climb up and get him, 'cuz he's afraid.  Chance is a handful!

Know what? We're dressed up. That's 'cuz it's Hallowe'en. We get to go visit our neighbours and friends. We ring their doorbells. When they come to the door we holler, "Trick-or-treat! Smell our feet! Give us something good to eat!" They have to guess who we are. I'm wearing sunglasses 'cuz I'm Ray Charles. Chance has an orange ghost hankie tied around his neck. He's the Littlest Hobo, except he's a Chance the bear cub, not London the dog. Oh. And Chance isn't on TV--yet. When our friends guess who we are, they give us goodies. We got Smarties and gummy worms and gummy bats and pumpkin cookies and Coffee Crisp and Cherry Blossoms and caramel apples and lots and lots of yummy goodies to eat. James will only let us eat a little bit every day. He says he doesn't want us to bounce off the ceiling. I'd like to do that, wouldn't  you?

Hallowe'en is a good holiday. We get to dress up and be very s-c-a-r-y. At the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre we're very, very scary. We shout "Boo!" and scare each other. That's a fun thing to do. At home, James helped us to carve a pumpkin. We made a very scary jack-o'-lantern. Then we put a candle inside. See?

Oh. Wait! Did you hear that? James is hollering, "Where are my handsome bear cubs? Where are my Sons of Windsor? Where are my Princes of Ontario? That's me! Charles! That's Chance! We're handsome bear cubs. We're Sons of Windsor and Princes of Ontario! We gotta go find James so we can get our ears tickled and our noses kissed.

 This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Good citizens get to go trick-or-treating. Then you can get Smarties and gummy bats and chocolate bars. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! We can trick-or-treat together! Okay! Over and out!"

Baking Cookies for Hallowe'en

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, James. He's really old. He was the second Canadian to get off Noah's Ark, you know.

 Oh. Wait! Chance lives with us, too. He's a newborn cubby someone left in a basket on our doorstep. He's a wee little thing. He's so little he doesn't even have any teeth. Chance drinks chocolate owls' milk. He makes little squeaky noises when he's happy and little squawky noises when he's afraid or hungry or has poo in his diaper. I look after Chance, too. He's a handful!

Know what we're doing? We're baking cookies. We're baking pumpkin cookies for Hallowe'en. When boys and girls come to our house and shout, "Trick or treat!" Chance and me will guess who they are and give them the cookies we baked. I'm sure they will like them 'cuz they're taste-O-liscious! We know 'cuz we ate them had to  make some more.

This is how you make pumpkin cookies. We measure all the ingredients in a bowl. Here are the ingredients. See?

• 300 ml all-purpose flour
• 5 ml baking powder
• 5 ml baking soda
• 5 ml ground cinnamon
• 2 ml ground nutmeg
• 3 ml salt
• 100 ml melted butter 
• 300 ml  sugar
• 250 ml cooked pumpkin puree
• 1 egg
• 5 ml vanilla extract
•  
• 
  

 Then we stir them up. James says I'm the Minister of Stirring. I l-o-v-e to stir. Chance is the Deputy Mini-Stir. That's a pun, you know. Then we put the dough on a cookie sheet. Then we put them in the oven.

We are very careful not to get too close 'cuz the oven is very hot. I have to hang on to Chance. He wants to go in the oven with the cookies! He can't do that! He'd get all crispy! Bear cubs shouldn't get burnt. Bear cubs have to be safe. If we got burnt, we'd have to go to Hotel-Dieu and see the doctor.


Now the cookies are in the oven. We set the timer and we watch them bake. The cookies have to bake for 12 minutes. That's a long time.  I only have to sit on the Time Out Chair for five minutes and think about what I did. Five minutes is a long time. Twelve minutes is really long! I wonder what the cookies are thinking about while they bake. I know what they should think. They should think about me. I'm as hungry as a bear and I'm gonna eat those cookies all up! While we wait, we sing The Prune Song and laugh.

Oh. Wait! Did you hear that? The timer is ringing! I know what that means. It means the cookies are done. We have to turn off the oven and the cookies have to come out of the oven. James takes them out but we can't eat them, yet. They're too hot. When they cool off, we get to eat one. Cookies are yummy and yummy is one of the four food groups in Canada's Food Guide. We want to eat more but James says we can have another one after we eat supper. We're gonna have pumpkin soup for supper and pumpkin cookies for dessert!

Oh wait! Did you hear that? James is hollering, "Where are my handsome bear cubs? Where are my Sons of Windsor? Where are my Princes of Ontario? That's me! Charles! That's Chance! We're handsome bear cubs. We're Sons of Windsor and Princes of Ontario! We gotta go find James so we can get our ears tickled and our noses kissed.

 This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Good citizens get to help bake pumpkin cookies for Hallowe'en. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! We can bake pumpkin cookies together! Okay! Over and out!"

Thanksgiving Day

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, James. He's really old. He was the second Canadian to get off Noah's Ark, you know. He must be more than a hundred years old!

We live in Olde Sandwich Towne. That's in Windsor. I know where Windsor is. It's in O Canada.  Windsor is the centre of the known universe and the nicest part of Detroit. I learned that at the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre. Know what? We can look out the window and see Detroit.



Detroit is next door but it isn't in O Canada. It's in the Knighted States. They are nice neighbours but they have a different boss. Queen Elizabeth is our boss.

She's a very good queen, you know. I'll share my Smarties with her when she comes to our house. We'll climb the sugar maple in the back yard and I'll say, "Your Majesty, hold out your hand and say 'Please' and I'll share my Smarties with you. Oh. Wait! Your Majesty, don't forget to eat the red ones last!" It's a rule, you know.

 Oh. Wait! Chance lives with us, too. He's a newborn cubby someone left in a basket on our doorstep. He's a wee little thing.  Know what? Chance doesn't have any teeth, yet. He just drinks chocolate owls' milk in a bottle. Chance takes off his diaper and climbs way high on things and then he can't get down. I have to say, "My son! Come down from there this instant!. He makes little squawky noises 'cuz he's scared. I have to help him get down.  He's a handful!

Know what today is? Today is super special 'cuz it's Thanksgiving Day.  We get to eat Thanksgiving dinner. It's a special dinner for a special day. Thanksgiving is everywhere! Juanita and Glen have Thanksgiving in Newfoundland. Margaret and Reid have Thanksgiving in Nova Scotia. Andres has Thanksgiving in Prince Edward Island. Francois and Maria have Jour de l'Action de Grace in Quebec. Elizabeth has Thanksgiving up in Tranna. Lois has Thanksgiving in Alberta, too! Bonnie and Terry have Thanksgiving in British Columbia. We're all thankful. Thanksgiving is everywhere! It's really big! This is the day we are thankful. James says we should be thankful every day. Before we eat James asks us to say what we're thankful for.

Okay. I'm thinking about all the things I can be thankful for. I'm thankful we get to eat pumpkin pie today.I l-o-v-e pumpkin pie. It's yummy and that's one of the four food groups in Canada's Food Guide. Chance and I helped make the pie. We get to stir. James says I'm the Minister of Stirring. Chance is the Deputy Mini-Stir. We get to lick the spoons. I like to stir things, don't you?

I gotta lotta things to be thankful for. I'm thankful for our family. I'm thankful for James and Chance and Uncle D and Auntie A and Lily and Lulu. Some bear cubs don't have any family at all.  I'm thankful for all my friends and buddies. I'm thankful for porridge and Smarties and gummy worms and all the good foods except broccolis and saurkrauts. I hate them. They're nasty and that's one of the four food groups in Canada's Food Guide, you know.

I'm thankful for the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre and Miss Jackie who used to be my teacher but she sailed away to Halifax and my new teacher Miss Sephorah. I think Miss Sephorah is a princess.  I'm thankful for my blue bike with the Canada flag on it and my Ninja Turtle toothbrush and my Cat-in-the-Hat sox that make me run faster than anyone. I'm thankful for the sugar maple tree and my space ray gun. That fills up the whole paper. That's a lot of thankful!

 Know what else I'm thankful for? Turkey. We got turkey with stuffing. I l-o-v-e turkey and stuffing. The stuffing has Smarties in it. It's really, really yummy.

Oh. Wait! Did you hear that? James is hollering, "Where are my handsome bear cubs? Where are my Sons of Windsor? Where are my Princes of Ontario? That's me! Charles! That's Chance! We're handsome bear cubs. We're Sons of Windsor and Princes of Ontario! We gotta go find James so we can get our ears tickled and our noses kissed.

 This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Be thankful today 'cuz it's Thanksgiving Day. Be thankful every day! Then you can eat Smarties and drink root beer. Oh! Wait!  We can eat pumpkin pie, too! Come over to our house and play with us! We can be thankful together! Okay! Over and out!"

Visiting Dr. Greg

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, James. He's really old. He was the second Canadian to get off Noah's Ark, you know.

Oh. Wait! Chance lives with us, too. He's a newborn cubby someone left in a basket on our doorstep. He's a wee little thing. He doesn't have any teeth. He doesn't even have a tail! I look after Chance, too. He climbs way high on things and can't get down. I have to help him. He's a handful!

Guess where we are? We're visiting Dr. Greg. He's my dentist. Dentists are tooth doctors. Dentists look after our teeth. It's time for my checkup. Dr. Greg says, "Open wide, Charles." I open w-a-y wide so Dr. Greg can look inside my mouth. I don't have any cavities this time. That's 'cuz I brush and floss my teeth every day after I eat.  I brush like this. "Back and forth like a choo-choo train and up and down like an aeroplane!" Brushing my teeth is fun. Know why? 'Cuz I have a Ninja Turtle toothbrush and Spiderman toothpaste.

Chance doesn't have any teeth but Dr. Greg checks his gums. Chance has healthy gums. One day he'll cut a tooth and it will be healthy.

Dr. Greg gave us something nice. It's a tooth timer. I set it on the sink and I brush until all the sand falls to the bottom. That's how I know I'm done.

Then we get ready for James to read us  our bedtime story and hear our bedtime prayers.

 Oh. Wait! Did you hear that? James is hollering, "Where are my handsome bear cubs? Where are my Sons of Windsor? Where are my Princes of Ontario? That's me! Charles! That's Chance! We're handsome bear cubs. We're Sons of Windsor and Princes of Ontario! We gotta go find James so we can get our ears tickled and our noses kissed.

 This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Brush and floss after every meal. Then you can eat Smarties and drink root beer. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! We can brush and floss together! Okay! Over and out!"

Thinking

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, James. He's really old. He was the second Canadian to get off Noah's Ark, you know.

 Oh. Wait! Chance lives with us, too. He's a newborn cubby someone left in a basket on our doorstep. He's a wee little thing. He doesn't even have any teeth. He just drinks chocolate owls' milk in his bottle.  He doesn't have a tail, yet.  I look after Chance, too. He climbs way high on things and then he can't get down. I have to help him. He's a handful!

Know what? I'm thinking. Sometimes I just lie on the carpet and look up at the ceiling and I think. Thinking takes a lot of work, you know. I have to line up ALL my thoughts inside my head. That's what thinking is.

I think about lots of things, you know. I think about Miss Sephorah, my teacher at the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre. I think she might be a princess. I think about Smarties and gummy worms and root beer. I think about Chance. I think I'd better be a good example so he grows up to be a nice cub, like me.

I think about Thanksgiving. I think about being thankful. I'm thankful for lots of things. I'm thankful we climb on board VIA Rail and go to see Lulu and Lily and Uncle Darryl and Auntie Alexandria. I'm thankful for them. I'm thankful we get to eat yummy food like turkey and mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie, too!

Sometimes I think about Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas comes to our house every year. She comes on the 24th of December. That's Silent Night, you know. She brings Santa and the elves and the newborn Baby Jesus and Mary and Joseph and the sheep and the shepherds and the little drummer boy and the wise guys who followed the OnStar from Bethlehem to our house. Know what? It's only 108 days until Merry Christmas. I think I'd better be good so I can get presents. I need to think about what to get Chance and James and our buddies and friends, too.

James has a saying about thinking. He says--

If the thought you thought you thought
Was not the thought you thought you thought,
Then the thought you thought you thought you thought
Was not the thought you thought at all!

 Oh. Wait! Did you hear that? James is hollering, "Where are my handsome bear cubs? Where are my Sons of Windsor? Where are my Princes of Ontario? That's me! Charles! That's Chance! We're handsome bear cubs. We're Sons of Windsor and Princes of Ontario! We gotta go find James so we can get our ears tickled and our noses kissed.

 This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens and think. Thinking is good. Then you can eat Smarties and drink root beer. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! We lie on the carpet and think together! Okay! Over and out!"

Windsor Pride 2011

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, James. He's really old. He was the second Canadian to get off Noah's Ark, you know.

Oh. Wait! Chance lives with us, too. He's a newborn cubby someone left in a basket on our doorstep. He's a wee little thing. I look after Chance, too. He's a handful!

Chance and me are wearing rainbows. That's 'cuz we're proud bear cubs and we're at Pride. Our buddies Jay and Heather are proud, too.

I know what Pride is. It's how we feel when we're nice to ourselves. We feel good. We're kind to others, too. Chance and me are proud. We're proud every day.

It's a hot day, even on the river front. Know what? James says we can get ice cream. We get to go to Busker's Ice Cream Parlour. That's on Tecumseh Road.  I LOVE ice cream, don't you? I don't know what kind of ice cream I want. It's hard to choose. They're all yummy and yummy is one of the four food groups in Canada's Food Guide. I know! I want every flavour! I will eat them all! Chance can help me. He's good at licking things. Know what? He tried to lick the Christmas tree ornaments. That's 'cuz he's a wee little thing an doesn't know any better. We're gonna eat orange sherbet. That's very yummy. Chance will help me lick it ALL up!

 Oh. Wait! Did you hear that? James is hollering, "Where are my handsome bear cubs? Where are my Sons of Windsor? Where are my Princes of Ontario? That's me! Charles! That's Chance! We're handsome bear cubs. We're Sons of Windsor and Princes of Ontario! We gotta go find James so we can get our ears tickled and our noses kissed.

 This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Be nice to yourself and kind to others. Then you can be proud. You can eat Smarties and drink root beer. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! We can eat orange sherbet and be proud together! Okay! Over and out!"

Ahoy! We're Off to Pelee Island!

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, James. He's really old. He was the second Canadian to get off Noah's Ark, you know.

 Oh. Wait! Chance lives with us, too. He's a newborn cubby someone left in a basket on our doorstep. He's a wee little thing.  He doesn't even have a tail, yet! Chance doesn't have  teeth. He just drinks chocolate owls' milk out of his bottle.  I look after Chance, too. He climbs up high on things and can't get down. Then he makes little squawky noises 'cuz he's afraid. I have to help. I say, "Charles to the rescue!" Then he makes little squeaky noises. That means he's happy. Chance is  a handful!

We're off to Pelee Island today. I know where Pelee Island is. It's in Lake Erie. It's got water all around it. That's 'cuz it's an island. It's really far south. It's at the very the bottom of Canada. If we sailed any further we wouldn't be in O Canada anymore. We'd be in the Knighted States. That's a different country. They have a different boss. The boss of Canada is Queen Elizabeth. She's pretty nice, you know. She even has her own song.

We go to Pelee Island on the boat. The boat has a name. It's the Pelee Islander. It's a nice boat. James says it can hold 86 passengers and 14 cars. Wow! That's a lot! Know what? Boats have birthdays. The Pelee Islander was born in 1960. That's really old, you know. I'm wearing my life jacket in case the captain hollers, "All hands abandon ship!" I don't think he'll say that today but I'm ready. Chance is too little to wear a life jacket but he can float with me. He isn't heavy. I won't let go. Promise.

When we get to the island we go to the Pelee Island Winery. That's where they turn grape juice into wind. They have picnic tables. We bring out the cooler and set the table. Then we say grace and we get to eat lunch. Know what? All that sailing made me as hungry as a bear. I get to eat egg salad sandwiches and drink Canada Dry. I get to drink out of the can but I don't have thumbs so I have to hold it like a sippy cup. I hope I grow thumbs one day.

  Chance gets chocolate owls' milk. Oh! We get chocolate chip cookies for dessert. We made them yesterday. They're yummy and that's one of the four food groups in Canada's Food Guide.

We went on a tour. We learned all about baby grapes. Did you know that when they grow up they turn into wine? It's true. It's a good story. We met Steven and Joey. They're the bestest story tellers. They are lots of fun to hang out with. Joey tickled my nose. I love having my nose ticked, don't you?


I'm pretty sleepy. I'll tell you 'bout the rest of our adventure the next time, okay?

Oh. Wait! Did you hear that? James is hollering, "Where are my handsome bear cubs? Where are my Sons of Windsor? Where are my Princes of Ontario? That's me! Charles! That's Chance! We're handsome bear cubs. We're Sons of Windsor and Princes of Ontario! We gotta go find James so we can get our ears tickled and our noses kissed. This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Be kind and true. Help neighbours and friends.  Then you can eat Smarties and drink root beer. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! We can go to Pelee Island together! We can play with Joey and Steven! All aboard! Okay! Over and out!"

Happy Birthday O Canada! Happy Birthday to Me, Too!

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, James. He's really old. He was the second Canadian to get off Noah's Ark, you know. Oh. Wait! Chance lives with us, too. He's a newborn cubby someone left in a basket on our doorstep. He's a wee little thing. I look after Chance, too. He's a handful!

Know what? This is July 1. Today's my birthday! It's O Canada's birthday, too! I'm five. O Canada is 144. That's really old--but not as old as James. We're having a party with the cast and crew and friends of the Crosstown Players. 

Everybody sang  the Happy Birthday Song. We got balloons. Chance tried to eat the balloons. That's silly. We can't eat balloons! Chance is a newborn cubby and he doesn't know better. He tries to eat everything. We ate chocolate birthday cake with white icing and real strawberries. It looks the Canada flag. W had ice cream, too. They're yummy and sweet and sticky. That's three of the four food groups in Canada's Food Guide. I'm sure glad it's not broccoli cake or sauerkraut ice cream. I hate broccolis and sauerkrauts. They're nasty. Nasty is the other food group in Canada's Food Guide. I have to hold my nose and take two bites, anyway. If I don't, I have to sit on the Time Out Chair and think about all the starving children in Belgium. James says they'd be happy to eat broccolis and sauerkrauts. I know! I can put all my sauerkrauts and broccolis in an envelope and mail it to them! Good idea!  That's sharing! Sharing makes me a good citizen. Good citizens get to eat Smarties and drink root beer. I shared with my buddies and friends. I gave everybody a box of Smarties. They're my favouritest food in the whole wide world. I wonder if they have Smarties on the moon? I sure hope so.

Know what I got for my birthday? I got presents! I got Legos and a Spiderman cap and an O Canada puzzle and a big toy dump truck and five new story books--My Bible Friends. I can read, you know. That's because I go to the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre on Sandwich Street. I learn lots of things there. Chance likes it when I read to him. He sits really still and he doesn't even try to eat the pages.

Oh! Wait! Did you hear that? That's James hollering, "Where's my handsome bear cubs? Where are my Sons of Windsor and my Princes of Ontario? That's me, Charles! That's Chance! We're handsome bear cubs. We're Sons of Windsor and Princes of Ontario! We gotta go find James so he can tickle our ears and kiss our noses!

This is me, Charles the bear cub, saying Happy Birthday O Canada! Happy Birthday to Me, too! Come over to our house and we can eat chocolate cake and ice cream, too! Over and out!