Today is Leap Day 2012

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. I look after him, 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 just drinks chocolate owls' milk. I  look after Chance, too. He's a handful!

Know what? Today is February 29. It's a special day. It's Leap Day. Leap Day only comes once every four years. That's why it's called Leap Year. We get an extra day to play and have fun. Only once every four years is a long time to wait. I'm five, you know. Even Merry Christmas comes every year.

We get to do special things on Leap Day. We play Leap Frog! That's a fun game. I leap over Chance and then he tries to leap over me. He's so newborn he can only leap a little. I help him and we holler, "Wheee! Oh! We get to cook green spaghetti and sing silly songs. James tells us stories about the Olden Days. The Olden Days were a long, long time ago. I think they started in 2006, you know.

Know what else we do? After I eat all my vegetables, then I can eat a Kinder Egg for dessert. Every one of the chocolate eggs has a surprise toy inside. I l-o-v-e Kinder Eggs, don't you? They're yummy and that's one of the four food groups in Canada's Food Guide. Kinder Eggs are a special treat. Chance just licks his Kinder Egg 'cuz he doesn't have any teeth. I have to help him eat his Kinder Egg.

We got matching race cars in our Kinder Eggs. Oh! We can race them at bedtime, under the covers after our bedtime story and after we say our prayers and James kisses our noses and turns out the light for the night. I have a flashlight, you know. My flashlight looks like a green mouse. It has a bright nose.

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 your friends and neighbours.  Then you can eat Kinder Eggs and drink root beer on Leap Day. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! We can play Leap Frog and eat lots of Kinder Eggs, too! Okay! I'm gonna go to sleep and dream about Kinder Eggs! Good night! Over and out!"

Dim Sum is Yum, Yum, Yummy!

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.

 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 from his bottle. I look after Chance, too. He's a handful!

Know what? Chance and me are in Chinatown today. That's in Toronto the Good. We go to Toronto on VIA Rail. When we are in Toronto the Good we get to eat Dim Sum. Dim Sum is really fun. James says that Dim Sum means 'little bites of heaven.'  The ladies bring food on carts. We choose what we want to eat. I l-o-v-e the chiu-chao dumplings and the pot stickers and the sticky buns and the tofu and everything! Good thing I'm as hungry as a bear!

Chance tried to climb into the hot and sour soup. I had to pull him off the table. The soup is hot and he might get hurt!

By the time we're all done eating, I'm really stuffed! Then we go to shop in Chinatown. It's fun to go to the stores and see what they have. In Chinatown, they have everything!

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. Then you can eat Smarties and drink root beer. Oh! Wait! Come over to Chinatown and shop with us! We can eat Dim Sum together! Okay! Over and out!"

Yummy Gummies

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 looking at all the gummies in the machine. When I put a quarter in the machine we got a whole paw full of gummies. I l-o-v-e gummies, don't you? Gummy worms and gummy fish and gummy fish are taste-o-liscious. Gummies are in Canada's Food Guide. They're yummy and that's one of the four food groups. They're full of Vitamin C, too. I could eat gummies all day long, couldn't you? Sometimes James puts gummy worms in my porridge. That makes breakfast 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 nice to friends and neighbours. Then you can eat gummy worms. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! We can have a tea party and drink apple juice and eat gummies together! Okay! Over and out!"

Be our Valentines

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. I help him remember.

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 so newborn he doesn't even talk. He makes squeaky noises when he's happy and little squawky noises when he's hungry or he has to poo. He's a handful!

Know what? St. Valentine's Day is coming. It's a special day. It comes every February. It's the day when we say, "I love you" and Je t'aime." It's the day we give our hearts.  I know who St. Valentine is. He's a big boss. St. Valentine is in charge of love and roses and something else. Oh! Wait! I almost forgot! St. Valentine is in charge of Smarties and hugs and kisses, too! Wow, St. Valentine must be a very busy boss!

We send valentine cards to friends and loved ones. The nice people at Canada Post take them to your house. I know a St. Valentine poem. I'm an Internet poem star, you know. Wanna hear my poem?

Smarties are red,
Smarties are blue,
Smarties are happy
'Cuz we love you!

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. Send St. Valentine's Day cards and Smarties to your friends and loved ones.  Then you can eat Smarties and drink root beer. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! We can have fun together! Okay! Over and out!"

Waiting for Happy New Year

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 or a tail! He just drinks chocolate owls' milk. We get chocolate owls' milk at Mac's. He takes off his diaper and climbs way high on things. Then he can't get down. I have to help him get down. I look after Chance, too. He's a handful!

Know what? Happy New Year is coming! We're waiting for Happy New Year. We get to wear Happy New Year hats and blow noisemakers. Chance's hat is too big. He climbed inside of it. When the clock strikes twelve it will be Happy New Year. James says the new year is 2012. That's a really big number. I can't count that high--yet. I will be able to count higher, soon 'cuz I go to the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre on Sandwich Street. Oh! Wait! It will only be 359 days until Merry Christmas comes to our house.

We gotta make Happy New Year's resolutions. I know what a resolution is. It's a promise to do better. I promise to share my Smarties. I promise to use my inside voice when we play indoors. I promise to play nice. That's a lot of resolutions!

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, "Happy New Year!" Then you can share your Smarties and share your root beer, too. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! We can have Happy New Year together! Okay! Over and out!"

Making Ice Cream on Boxing 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.

 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? Today is Boxing Day. That's the day after Christmas, you know. We're playing with Lily and Lulu. We're cooking. We're cooking ice cream in this little machine. Ice cream is yummy. That's one of the four food groups in Canada's Food Guide. We're making vanilla flavoured ice cream. That's good. James asked us if we wanted to make broccoli ice cream. That sounds nasty. I don't like broccolis. I have to hold my nose and take two bites, anyway. James says I have to set a good example for Chance 'cuz I'm bigger and older. That's not fair 'cuz Chance is a newborn baby cub. He just drinks chocolate owls' milk.

The ice cream tastes really good. James says that homemade food is better than store-bought food.
Know what? Sometimes we put ice cream in a glass and pour root bear on top. That makes it a float. Ice cream floats are really yummy. I could drink them all day!

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 so Santa can bring you an ice cream maker. Then you can eat ice cream and drink root beer. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! We can make ice cream and root beer floats together! Okay! Over and out!"