Riding on VIA Rail

It's fun to ride on VIA Rail. The train goes to lots of places.

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 too newborn to eat food. He just drinks chocolate owls' milk from his bottle. I look after Chance, too. He's a handful! Oh! Wait Frankie lives with us, too. He's four, you know.

Sometimes we go to Toronto on VIA Rail. Last summer we went all the way to Halifax. That's pretty far from our house in Windsor, you know. I know where Halifax is. It's in Farewell Nova Scotia. We learn all about geography at the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre.

Our buddies Yannick and his friend make our train trip lots of fun!

The trains sleep under the CN Tower in Toronto.

We got VIA Rail pins. They're pretty nice but Chance tried to eat his. We don't eat VIA Rail pins.

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

We have a brand new train station in Windsor. It's very nice.

This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Use your inside voices on the train. Be polite. Then you can eat Smarties and drink root beer. Oh! Wait! Come and play with us! We can ride home from Toronto together! Okay! Over and out!"

Windsor is the bestest place to live. Grandpa James says Windsor is the centre of the known universe and the nicest part of Detroit. Windsor is in O Canada.

Today is Family Day

Chance  (left) and Frankie (centre) and me (Charles) love to play Snakes and Ladders.

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!

Know what? Today is a holiday. It's Family Day. I know what a family is. It's us! Our family is me and Chance and Frankie and Grandpa James. We all live together in a nice house on Sparkle Road. That's in Olde Sandwich Towne. Olde Sandwich Towne is in Windsor. I know where Windsor is. Windsor is in O Canada.

We got aunties and uncles and nanas and gramps, too!

I don't have to go to the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre today. We get to stay home and play! We play Snakes & Ladders. Frankie rolled a five. He's gonna move his marker five spaces. I help him count to five. That's easy! One! Two! Three! Four! Five! I have to help Chance count and move his marker for him. Chance is so newborn he tries to lick his yellow marker. I have to say, "My son! Take that out of your mouth! You can't eat yellow markers, my son! Yellow markers aren't in Canada's Food Guide."

Know what's in Canada's Food Guide? Gingerbread persons. We're gonna bake some gingerbread persons today.  I love to bake them. I love to eat them, too! I'm a very good cook. Grandpa James says I'm the Minister of Stirring. Chance is too newborn to help but he thinks he's helping. Grandpa James says Chance is the Deputy Mini-Stir of Stirring. Frankie is a good helper. Frankie is the Bearon of Baking, you know.

 Chance has red mittens. He wears them his red mittens all day long. He wears his red mittens at night when he sleeps, too. Chance is so newborn he thinks if he wears red mittens it will snow. I have red mittens, you know. I only wear my  mittens when I go outside to play in the snow. Frankie has red mittens, too.

Sometimes Chance gets his games mixed up. Look at Chance. Chance climbed into the Snakes and Ladders box. Chance wants to play Hide & Seek. Chance thinks we can't see him when he closes his eyes. Grandpa James says all newborn cubs think they're invisible when they close their eyes. I have to say, "My son! Come out of the Snakes & Ladders box this instance!" Chance can't get out. He makes little squawky noises. I have to help him. Chance is a handful.

We bake gingerbread persons on Family Day. We love to make gingerbread persons but it's more fun to eat them all up! Gingerbread persons are yummy and that's one of the four food groups in Canada's Food Guide.

 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! Oh, wait! Grandpa James is hollering for Frankie, too! "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. Do fun stuff with your family today. Then you can bake gingerbread persons and have a tea party and eat Smarties and drink root beer. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! We can play Snakes & Ladders! We can have a tea party, too! Okay! Over and out!"

Rock Stars at Children's Fest

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 climbs way high on things and then he can't get down. I say, "My son! Come down from there this instant!" Chance can't get down, so I help him. He's so newborn he doesn't even have any teeth. Chance drinks chocolate owls' milk from a bottle. I look after Chance, too. He's a handful!


Know what? We got tambourines. One for me and one for Chance. Tambourines make noise. I love to make noise, don't you? We use them when we sing. Chance and me know lots of songs. We know Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and the Prune Song and Farmer Brown and All Around the Circle and lots and lots of songs. We're pretty good singers. Well, Chance is too little to sing but he makes squeaky noises 'cuz he's happy.  We practise 'cuz we're gonna sing for boys and girls at Children's Fest at the Safety Village. That's in September, you know.

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 eat Smarties and drink root beer. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! We can sing songs together! Okay! Over and out!"

Geography Lesson

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, James. He's old and forgetful, so I have to look after him. 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? We're in downtown Windsor today. I climbed way up here so I can see everything. This big 'ole maple leaf  is what cars and trucks see when they come out of the tunnel. Windsor is our home. Windsor is in Ontario. Ontario is in  O Canada.  O Canada is really big, you know. It's bigger than our back yard! O Canada is our home and native land. Know what else? It's a song we stand up to sing. We look at the maple leaf flag and the picture of Queen Elizabeth when we sing it.  James says, "Windsor is the centre of the universe and the very nicest part of Detroit." Detroit isn't in O Canada. It's in Michigan. That's in the Knighted States. I know my phone number and my address and my Postal Code. It's important to remember those things.

Oh! Wait! What happened to Chance? I'd better get down from here and find him. He's so little he might get lost. He doesn't know our Postal Code or anything!  He's a real handful. James is missing, too! I don't see him. I don't hear him hollering, "Where's my handsome bear cubs? Where are the Princes of Windsor?" Okay. I gotta go find them both before they get into trouble! This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Look after your little brother and  your buddies. Know where  you live so you don't get lost. Over and out!"

Things I Know About Newborn Cubbies

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, James. Someone left a newborn cubby on our doorstep. I hope we can keep him. I asked God for a baby brother. I think God put cubby on our doorstep. He's like that you know.

I know things about our newborn cubby. He can't eat Smarties cuz he doesn't have any teeth, yet. He drinks condensed owls' milk out of a bottle and he's always hungry. I smush up Smarties and put them in his milk. Oh. Wait! How will he drink the red ones last? When he's not hungry he sleeps and poos. I help change his diapers. They're stinky. Cubby is really tiny. He doesn't have a tail. He will grow a tail but he won't grow pockets or thumbs. I can hold cubby in one paw. I hold him up in the kitchen sink while James gives him a bath. Cubby laughs and splashes in the water. I let him play with my yellow ducks. Cubby can't talk, you know. We nap together. He licks my nose. It tickles.

Know what? Cubby doesn't have a name. I sure hope we find one for him. Oh. Wait! I know! You can tell me what name you want cubby to have! Yeah! Good idea! Okay. The winner can ride my blue bike up and down Sandwich Street and help me dig holes in the backyard and we can play with cubby, too! This is me, Charles the Bear Cub, saying 'over and out!'