The Big Adventure Ends: Charles and Chance Fly Home to Windsor

Chance and me and Grandpa James are going home. I get to help fly the plane.

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. He's so newborn he doesn't have any teeth! He just drinks chocolate owls' milk from his bottle. I look after Chance, too. He's a handful!

It's hard to say 'good-bye- to the people we love but if we say 'au revoir' it's not so hard. So Chance and me are saying, "au revoir" to Uncle Glen and Auntie Juanita. We'll be back!

It's time for us to go home. Grandpa James says all good things must come to an end. Our trip is almost over. We have to say 'good-bye' to Uncle Glen and Auntie Juanita. Wait! We don't have to say 'good-bye.' I forgot! We can say, 'au revoir'. That's French for until we see you next time. Miss Ines taught me that when we visited her in St. Pierre and Miquelon. We got to sleep overnight at her pretty yellow house. It's called Chez Ines. I know where Saint Pierre and Miquelon are. They're islands in the Grand Banks. They're in France. Bien sur!

Know how we'll get home from St. John's? We're gonna ride in an airplane!  We're flying on Porter Airlines. We show Miss Brenna, the purser, our tickets and we climb on board. We're going to fly from St. John's to Halifax and then we go to Ottawa and then we go to Toronto and then we get to go home to Windsor. That's pretty far. I think it's farther than the moon. I can see the moon but I can't see Windsor from St. John's. Can you?

I get to wear the headphones and Captain Henry's pilot hat. Chance thinks he's helping but he's not. He's too newborn to know how to fly a jet.

 Captain Henry and First Officer Brenna will take us all the way home. They're good pilots, you know. We help them fly the jet. Captain Henry asks, "Charles, where did you learn to fly a big jet?" I tell him I'm five and I learned how to fly airplanes at the Scruffy Maple Daycare Centre on Sandwich Street. Grandpa James says that learning to fly a jet is part of the Harper government's pre-school anti-terrorism initiative. I don't know what that means but my teacher, Miss Sephorah says it's our job to stand on guard for thee, you know.

I could be a pilot when I grow up. I could be a First Officer. Those are important jobs. They help people go to Newfoundland and Labrador and they help people who are from Away, you know.  I think they help people go anywhere and everywhere. That's good 'cuz O Canada's really big! 

Miss Brenna is our Purser and Miss Laura is our Flight Attendant. They have very important jobs. Miss Brenna let me wear her hat.

Miss Brenna and Miss Laura help on the plane, too. They remind us to sit up straight and put on our seat belts when we take off and land. They make everyone feel safe and happy.

Miss Brenna and Miss Laura bring us yummy food to eat. It comes in the box They didn't have any chocolate owls' milk for Chance but Grandpa James is smart. He brought some to put in Chance's bottle to drink.

Can you see us? We're flying home today.

Know what? They have washrooms on the plane. Grandpa James says it's a good thing they're indoor washrooms. Grandpa James says silly things sometimes. 

 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.

We have to get in our seats and buckle up 'cuz we're gonna land in a couple of minutes.  Auntie Debbie will meet us at the airport. Know what? The airport has a name. It's YGQ. We can give her hugs. We got her a present, too.

Wild blueberries are yummy and that's one of the four food groups in Canada's Good Guide. Grandpa James says they're full of antioxidents but I didn't see any. Sometimes Grandpa James is full of baloney.

We got her wild blueberry jam from Bidgood's grocery store in St. John's. She has to be careful about wild blueberries. They're wild and they might jump out of the jar and try to run!

When Chance and me are in Windsor, we're not from Away anymore 'cuz Windsor is our home. In case you forgot, Windsor is in O Canada. Windsor is the centre of the known universe and the nicest part of Detroit!

 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 take a trip together! We can go Away! Okay! Over and out!"

The Big Adventure Continues: Charles and Chance Visit Bonavista

My T-shirt has the Newfoundland flag and a puffin on it, too!

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!

John Cabot visited Newfoundland in 1497. He must be as old as Grandpa James!

Know what? Chance and me are in Newfoundland and Labrador. That's in O Canada, you know. Today we're visiting Bonavista. John Cabot visited Bonavista a long time ago. He was captain of a ship. The ship was The Matthew.  Captain Cabot landed in Bonavista. He named it New Founde Land. Captain Cabot is still in Bonavista but I think he's from Away. 

Grandpa James got me a new T-shirt at the gift shop in Bonavista. It has the Newfoundland flag on it and a puffin, too. I like puffins a lot, don't you? Puffins are pretty and they make good friends.

When I play tag with Chance now I can I holler, "I'm a huffin'! I'm a puffin'! I'm-a gonna get you! Chance makes little squeaky noises 'cuz he's happy. I always catch him 'cuz he's so newborn he can't run very fast. I'm five. I'm the fastest runner at the Scruffy Maple Day  Care Centre, especially when I wear my Cat-in-the-Hat sox that my friend Tanner gave me.

I can help with laundry. My new T-shirt will get nice and clean and fluffy and dry in the Inglis.

I don't want to take off my new T-shirt. Grandpa James says if I don't let him wash it, he'll put me in the Inglis with the shirt! I know! I'll wear my Windsor T-shirt while mine gets washed. When I wear a T-shirt, I'm not bear naked. That's a pun, you know. 

Pineapple Crush  has its own Facebook page.

We get to drink pineapple Crush in Bonavista. I l-o-v-e pineapple Crush. It's yummy and that's one of the four food groups in Canada's Food Guide. The only place you can get pineapple Crush is in Newfoundland. We're gonna get some to take home with us!

We get to eat outside at the Bonavista Social Club.

We have lunch at the Bonavista Social Club. It's in Upper Amherst Cove. That's next door to Bonavista. You can't get lost 'cuz it's right on the ocean. They make very good pizza there and lots of other yummy foods, too. We get to eat outside in the sunshine. Grandpa James says everything tastes better when we eat it out-of-doors.

Now we're gonna go to the Garrick Theatre. It's a really big place. Auntie Juanita says 200 people can come here--and bear cubs, too. That's a lot of friends and buddies, you know. We have to here so we can see our buddies, Shannyganok and hear them sing.

Shannyganok is a band. They sing lots of old songs about Newfoundland. Chris tells funny stories, too. Know what? Chance and me sing. We have a band. I play a washtub bass and Chance is so newborn he just bangs on the tambourine. We sing songs for boys and girls. We sing for boys and girls at Children's Fest in Windsor.  Windsor is our home. We're from Away.

Shannyganok sings one our favouritest songs. They sing All Around the Circle. Bless their little cotton socks. We know that song! We can sing it with them!

Mark, Mike, Chris and Bob are our buddies.

 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.

We wanna go inside the theatre and get good seats for the show. It' sold out, you know.

This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Be kind to friends and neighbours. Then you can eat Smarties and drink pineapple Crush. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house! We can drink pineapple Crush and go to Bonavista and see our buddies, Shannyganock! Okay! Over and out!"

The Big Adventure Continues: Charles and Chance Visit Newfoundland

Chance and me play with an airplane at the airport in Halifax. Chance is so newborn he thinks he can ride outside on the wings but he'll fall off.

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!

Miss Amelie has an important job at Air Canada. She is the purser.

We're flying to Newfoundland and Labrador! Well, just Newfoundland. Labrador is the other part. Grandpa James says we'll go there sometime. Miss Amelie is the purser in charge of this Air Canada flight. She's the boss of the passengers. She tells us to sit up and put on our seat belts so the plane can go. Miss Amelie is very nice. She brings us juice to drink. Know what? I'm gonna tell you a secret. I think Miss Amelie is a princess! 

When we get to St. John's we're as hungry as bears, you know. Uncle Glen picks us up at the airport. It's a really big place and the workmen are making it bigger!

When we get home we have lunch. My tummy is growling. I'm really truly as hungry as a bear! Know what we get to eat for lunch? We get to eat seal flipper pie. I l-o-v-e seal flipper pie. It's yummy and that's one of the four food groups in Canada's Food Guide, you know. Grandpa James says seal flipper pie is full of Vitamin C. That's good for growing bear cubs like me.

Seal flipper pie is one of my favouritest foods. We get it at Goodbid's Grocery Store.

Because I ate all my seal flipper pie, I get to have bakeapple pie for dessert. I l-o-v-e bakeapple pie! Some people call them cloudberries, you know. They're not from Newfoundland. They're from Away. I don't know where Away is but it is pretty far from Newfoundland.

I say, "Look out, bakeapple pie! This is me, Charles the bear cub! I'm gonna eat you all up! Good-bye bakeapple pie! Over the lips and through the gums, look out tummy, here it comes!" And then I do a magic trick. I make the bakeapple pie disappear. I could be a magician when I grow up. I could make bakeapple pies disappear. That would be an important job. No. Wait! I want to be the Minister of Pie Eating. That's a  really good job!

Grandpa James is very fussy. He says he only likes two kinds of pie: Hot and cold. He thinks that funny.

Now that we're full of good food, we can explore Newfoundland. Remember it rhymes with the word 'understand.' I know where Newfoundland is. It's in O Canada. It's the first province on the right. I learned that at the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre,  you know.

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. Use your indoor voice when you fly in airplanes. I know! come over to our house and play with us! We can go to Uncle Glen's house and eat seal flipper pie and bakeapple pie! Okay! Over and out!"

Surprise Visitors

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 a tail, yet. He doesn't even have any teeth. Chance just drinks owls' milk out of his bottle.  He makes little squeaky noises when he's happy and little squawky noises when he's hungry or has to poo.  I look after Chance, too. He's a handful!

Know what? We got surprise visitors. I love surprises!  Grandma Bonnie and Grandpa Terry came to our house! They live in British Columbia. That's pretty far from our house. I know where British Columbia is. It's in O Canada. I can show you on the map. It's the first province on the left. We had fun with Grandma Bonnie and Grandpa Terry. They kissed our noses and tickled our ears. We went out to eat. Chance got apple juice. I got chocolate milk and a bendy straw. We played games and we shared a box of Smarties, too.


When Grandpa Terry and Grandma Bonnie left our house, they got on a plane to fly to Newfoundland and Labrador. That's in O Canada, too. I know where Newfoundland and Labrador is. It's the first province on the right. Miss Jackie taught us all about  in jogfree class at the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre.

 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. Good citizens get to eat Smarties and drink chocolate milk with a bendy straw. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! We can have fun together! Okay! Over and out!"