Windsor Orchid Society Show

Here I am with Mr. and Mrs. Lee. They are very special people. They have a special job.  They grow orchids. I'm holding a lady slipper. That's a very pretty orchid. I hope it tastes as good as it smells!

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I'm five. 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! Oh. Wait! Frankie lives with us, too. He's four. We all go to the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre.

Know what? We got invited to the orchid show. Orchids are flowers. They are very pretty and they smell good, too.  Our buddy, Gwen, took all the pix. She's a very good camera lady.

There are lots and lots of different kinds of orchids. They grow almost everywhere in the world, you know. I could grow orchids when I grow up. I could be an orchid farmer! That would be the bestest job in the whole world!

Some orchids grow in picnic baskets. They look very yummy. We asked Grandpa James to buy us an orchid. We wanted to eat it. Grandpa James said, "My sons! You can't eat orchids! They're not in Canada's Food Guide!" We were a little sad.

This is Grandpa Foeke's orchid. It name oncidium. We just call him Onnie. Grandpa Foeke won two prizes for this beautiful flower. We can smell it but we're not allowed to eat it, you know.

Our buddy Mary had an orchid at the show. It was at the front door to welcome everyone.

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!  Grandpa James is hollering. "Where's Frankie? Where's my Knight of Knewfoundland and my Lord of Labrador?" 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. Stop and smell the orchids. Then you can eat Smarties and drink root beer. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! We can hunt for orchids in the back yard! Okay! Over and out!"

Eating at The Squirrel Cage

Hi! This is Uncle Xiaobin, Grandpa James and me! We're hungry as bears and we're gonna get stuffed at The Squirrel Cage. We even get to eat outside.

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I'm five.  I live on Sparkle Road with 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!

Oh. Wait! Frankie lives with us, too! He's four. He goes to the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre with me.

Uncle Scott and Uncle Xiaobin came to our house for a visit. We get to play together. We play Hide & Seek.  They bring us Smarties, sometimes. I always share my Smarties with them.

We get to eat outside at The Squirrel Cage. Food tastes even yummier when we eat out of doors, you know.

Today we're gonna have brunch at the Squirrel Cage. It's a restaurant. I didn't see any squirrels. I think they work in the kitchen.  The food is yummy. I'm eating quiche. Quiche is a kind of pie with eggs. I l-o-v-e quiche. I could have eggs Benedict. I like that, too. I could eat everything on the menu 'cuz it's all so yummy. I use my best manners when I eat. I don't want Grandpa James to say, "Charles! Don't eat like a pig." I'm not a pig. I'm a bear cub, you know.

I can make this Asiago and ham quiche disappear!

 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! Grandpa James hollers, "Where's Frankie? Where's my Lord of Labrador and my Knight of Knewfoundland?" We gotta get Frankie and go find Grandpa James so we can get our ears tickled and our noses kissed.

Jackson Park is a good place to play Hide & Seek.

We gotta find Uncle Scott and Uncle Xiaobin to we can all go to Jackson Park and play Hide & Seek.
  This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. 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 have fun together! Okay! Over and out!"

We Walk the Mayor's Riverwalk for BANA

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!

 Oh. Wait! Frankie lives with us, too. He's four. he goes to the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre with me.

This is His Worship, Mayor Eddie. He's the boss of Windsor, you know.

Every year, Mayor Eddie invites Frankie, Chance and me to join His Worship on the Queen's Birthday. We walk with the Crosstown Players for five kilometres through the park. We raise money for BANA. That's the Bulimia and Anorexia Association, you know. It's an important group. The people there help boys and girls to eat right and have good body images. That's a very important job.

Our friends and buddies pledge money for our walk. We give the money to BANA. We made lots of money for BANA  this year. We're glad to help 'cuz it makes Windsor a better place. We're good citiziens because we do our part. Oh, wait! Good citizens get to eat Smarties and drink root beer. I love Smarties. I love root beer, too!

 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!

Grandpa James is hollering, "Where's Frankie? Where's my handsome Frankie? Where's my Knight of Knewfoundland and Lord of Labrador? 

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. Walk for BANA Then you can eat Smarties and drink root beer. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and walk with us! We can make Windsor a better place together! Okay! Over and out!"

Playdate with Pandoro

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 my baby brother but boy, he is a handful!

  Oh. Wait! Frankie lives with us, too. He's our cousin. Frankie is four. He goes to the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre with me.

 Pandoro came to our house for a playdate. Pandoro is a Panda bear. Panda bears come from Tranna, you know. Pandoro is the Prince of Tranna.

 Uncle Mark and Auntie Carolina and Auntie Connie came, too. The grownups visited and we buddies got to play. We played Hide & Seek. That's a fun game. I close my eyes and count to a hunnert while everyone disappears. Then I look for them. Chance is a terrible hider. He's so newborn he thinks that when he closes his eyes, he's invisible. He's not, you know. I can see him. Pandoro and Frankie hid in the laundry basket. They were easy to find because they giggled a lot. Laundry baskets don't laugh. They're silly cubs.

Then we bounced on the bed. We're all good bouncers. Bouncing made us hungry.

We make faces for our sandwiches. I love pickles. They're one of the Four Food Groups in Canada's Food Guide.

Then we built a tent so we could eat peanut butter and pickle sandwiches for lunch. We ate Smarties and drank root beer, too. It was the bestest picnic, ever!

Chance doesn't have any teeth, so he just drinks chocolate owls' milk. We get it at Mac's. 

After lunch, we hunted for lions in the back yard. We have space ray guns. We holler, "Goin' on a lion hunt, one, two, three! Goin' on a lion hunt, can't catch me!" We pretend squirrels and cats are lions. Lion hunting is fun.

Then, Pandoro had to go home. It's a long way to Tranna. That's where Panodoro and Uncle Mark and Auntie Carolina and Auntie Connie live. We said, 'good-bye' but we will see each other again and play some more.

 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!

Grandpa James is hollering, "Where's Frankie? Where's my handsome bear cub? Where's my Knight of Knewfoundland and my Lord of Labrador?" That's Frankie. He's a handsome bear cub. He's the Knight of Knewfoundland and the Lord of Labrador.

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. Do good deeds. Then you can eat Smarties and drink root beer. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and have a playdate with us! We can play Hide & Seek together! Okay! Over and out!"

A New Buddy

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I'm five, you know. 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!

Oh. Wait! Frankie lives with us, too! He's our cousin. Frankie is four. We go to the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre on Sandwich Street. That's in Windsor. Windsor is in O Canada.

We went to see the doctor. We met a new buddy. Celena is very nice. Celena makes us laugh.  I will tell you a secret. I think Celena is a princess. Buddies have two feet and friends have four feet, you know.

We got to share Smarties and drink root beer with Celena. That's fun. Maybe she can come to Windsor and ride bicycles with us and climb the sugar maple in the back yard and have a picnic.

 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!  Grandpa James is hollering, "Where's Frankie? Where's my Knight of Knewfoundland and my Lord of Labrador?" That's Frankie. He's the Knight of Knewfoundland and the Lord of Labrador.

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. Be nice 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 have fun together Okay! Over and out!"

Good-bye Merry Christmas!

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.

Chance got a chocolate toonie for Christmas. We're not supposed to eat money but it's okay if it's chocolate, 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!

Oh. Wait! Frankie lives with us, too! He's four and he goes to the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre with me.

At Christmastime we got lots of presents. Frankie and me got new hockey sticks. We can play Stanley Cup all winter! We shoot! We score!

Frankie and me got Space Ray Guns. That's good! We will need them next summer when we go on lion hunts in the back yard.

We got Smarties. We got lots and lots of Smarties.  Auntie Kerri gave us a Smarties Train! All aboard!" I holler. "Next stop is Chocolate Land!" Chocolate is our friend, Grandpa James says.

We got Kinder Eggs in our stockings! We love Kinder Eggs! They're yummy, sweet and sticky. That's three of the four food groups in Canada's Food Guide, you know.

I got Caillou and a pop-up Christmas book and Jelly Belly, too. We got chocolate toonies. They are giant sized! The toonie is almost as big as Frankie and Chance.

Know what? Christmas is over. Merry Christmas is gone but she'll be back next year.

Christmas all the Time is our favouritest Christmas album.

This is how we say 'good-bye- to Merry Christmas. First we put on Nana Ruth's album and sing along.  I will tell you a secret. I think Nana Ruthie is a princess. Frankie thinks she is an angel. Maybe Nana Ruthie is an angel princess!

Now our Christmas tree is bear naked, just like us!

Then we take all the decorations off our little tree and put them in the red box. Then we put away our Christmas tree. It's a rota Picea canadensis. I know what that is. It's a Canadian Tire Spruce tree.

The tree sleeps in the cedar chest. It will be there when it's time for Merry Christmas next time!


 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!

Grandpa James is hollering, "Where's Frankie? Where's my Knight of Knewfoundland and my Lord of Labrador?" That's Frankie! He's our Knight of  Knewfoundland and our Lord of Labrador!

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. 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! Bring your hockey stick and we can play Stanley Cup! Okay! Over and out!"

Merry Christmas is Here! Merry Christmas!

Christmas dinner is special at our house. All the foods are yummy and sweet and sticky. We don't have to eat nasty foods like broccolis and sauerkrauts on Christmas.

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!

Oh. Wait! Frankie lives with us, too! Frankie's four. He goes to the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre with me. That's on Sandwich Street. Sandwich Street is in Windsor. Windsor is in O Canada, you know.

Merry Christmas came when we were asleep last night. She brought Santa and the elves and Elvis and the Newborn Baby Jesus and the Little Drummer Boy and the Three Wise Guys who followed the OnStar to our house!

Know what? Merry Christmas brought us gifts! We open our presents after breakfast.

 Christmas breakfast is special. We get to eat in our Christmas jammies. We get to eat special pancakes. The pancakes look like this. We put peanut butter and maple syrup on our pancakes, too. When I was a wee little cub I couldn't say 'syrup'. I used to say 'syrple'. I still say 'syrple' for fun sometimes and we all laugh out loud.

 When we're finished eating we say, "May we be excused?" We help clean off the table. We rinse our dishes and stack them in the dishwasher.

Our presents.

Now, we get to open our presents! They're under the Christmas tree. Grandpa James says our Christmas tree is a rota Picea canadensis.  That's Latin for Canadian Tire Spruce.

We got lots of presents. Frankie and me got space ray guns! Now we can play Lion Hunt in the back yard next summer!

We got Smarties and candy canes and chicken bones from Ganong Brothers' and books. I got one of my favouritest books, Jelly Belly. I can read, you know. I make Frankie and Chance laugh when I read to them.

We have special food for Christmas, you know.

Unwrapping all those presents make me hungry. I'm as hungry as a bear! We have special food for Christmas lunch. We eat tourtiere . Tourtiere is yummy and that's one of the Four Food Groups in Canada's Food Guide. We get to eat guacamole and chips, too. Know what we got for dessert? I'll tell you. We got cheesecake with bakeapple topping. I love cheesecake. I love bakeapples, too. Bakeapples come from Newfoundland and Labrador. Some people call them cloudberries. Everything is yummy and we're stuffed!

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.

Grandpa James is hollering, "Where's Frankie? Where's my Knight of Knewfoundland and my Lord of Labrador? That's Frankie! He's our Knight of Knewfoundland and our Lord of Labrador!

 This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Be kind to friends and neighbours. Then you can eat tourtiere and cheesecake and bakeapples with us. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! We can share Christmas together! Okay! Over and out!"