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!