Our Trip on VIA Rail

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! Hi climbs way up high on things and then he can't get down. He makes little squawky noises 'cuz he's afraid.

Know what? I'm at VIA Rail. I'm helping Grandpa James buy a ticket. We're going to Toronto. Grandpa James says six million people live in T.O. That's a lot of people, you know. I wonder why they live so far away from Windsor. Windsor is the bestest city. It's the centre of the known universe and the nicest part of Detroit.

 I know that Toronto is the capital of Ontario. I know where Ontario is. It's in O Canada, our home and native land.

We're waiting to get on board. When we ride on the train, we are on our best behaviour. We use our inside voices and we say 'please' and 'thank you' to the nice people with the beverage and food cart. Know what? We always get chocolate milk to drink. I know where chocolate milk comes from. It comes from the dairy case at Sobey's. Grandpa James says it comes from chocolate cows but sometimes he makes up stuff, you know.

I l-o-v-e to ride on VIA Rail. Trains are lots of fun to ride.We can look out the windows and see everything. Trains go fast, you know.  Chance likes to ride on the train, too. Chance doesn't talk 'cuz he's so newborn but he makes squeaky noises when he's happy. Whenever I say, "Train!" Chance makes squeaky noises and runs to get his suitcase.

The seats on the train are very comfy. They have little dinner tables. Chance is so little he has to sit on the table to drink his chocolate milk. Know what? We get bendy straws for our chocolate milk. Bendy straws are special. I think they make chocolate milk taste even better!

Sometimes we climb up high and look at the other people on the train.  Grandpa James says it's not polite to stare at them. Chance stares at me. I stare right back at him. We stare and stare and stare. I make faces at him. If he laughs first, I win. If I laugh first, he wins.  I almost always win that game. Oh. Chance thinks he's invisible when he closes his eyes. He's not. I can still see him. Newborn baby cubs don't know any better.

When the train stops at Union Station we're in Toronto. Grandpa James says all roads lead to Toronto. Even railroads. I know when we're in Toronto 'cuz we can see the CN Tower. It's really tall. I bet Chance would try to climb up to the top of it if he could. I don't know how I would get him down. It's so tall it touches the sky! That's way taller than me. I'm one metre and 41 centimetres tall. That's pretty tall, you know.

We learned about the CN Tower at the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre. Miss Jackie is my teacher. I will tell you a secret. I think Miss Jackie is a princess. She's pretty. The CN Tower has a restaurant at the top. We can ride up to the top on the glass elevator. It goes really fast and makes my tummy feel funny. The top is 533 metres up in the air. Miss Jackie says it has 181 storeys and is the third tallest building in the whole wide world! When we get to the top I would ask the nice people for chocolate milk with a bendy straw.

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. Be on your bestest behaviour when you ride VIA Rail. Then you can eat Smarties and drink root beer on the way to Toronto. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! We can ride on VIA Rail together! Okay! Over and out!"

Home Sweet Home!

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, James. He's very 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 rode in the train all day. We played games and ate lots of yummy food. The people at VIA Rail are very nice. We got to drink milk with bendy straws. Chance and me got sleepy, so we took naps. When we woke up, we were home in Windsor. It's fun to travel and see our friends but it sure is nice to be home and sleep in our own beds. We got lots of snow in Windsor. We can go outside and make snow persons! Oh, wait. We have to unpack our suitcases, first. Chance is hiding in my suitcase. He thinks he will surprise me. I will pretend to be surprised. We have to put away our things. We'll have some pictures to put up here, soon.

Did you hear that? James is hollering, "Where's my handsome bear cubs?" That's us! Charles and Chance! We're handsome bear cubs. We're gonna go find  James so he can tickle our ears and hug us and kiss our noses, too. This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens! Take time to make a snow person today. Over and out!"

Sick of Being Sick

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy James. He is forgetful and really old. He was the second Canadian to get off Noah's Ark.  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.

We got Austrian Measles. Only bear cubs can get Austrian measles. When  James opens the curtains or turns on the lights our eyes hurt. We got fevers. Chance is really sick. He is too little to talk. I know he's sick 'cuz he doesn't make happy squeaky noises. He doesn't make squawky noises like when he's hungry or has poo in his diaper. Chance makes sad little measly noises. I hug him and he licks my nose.. James hugs both of us and holds us tight. Know what? We get to drink Canada Dry with bendy straws. We have to get lotion rubbed all over us 'cuz the measles make us itchy. I'm sick of being sick. I sure hope we get well soon! We got a lot of holes to dig in the back yard!

This is Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Drink Canada Dry with bendy straws so you don't get Austrian's measles."

My Dream about Tanner

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy James. He is forgetful and really old. He was the second Canadian to get off Noah's Ark. I think he must 20 years old. That's really old!  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 really sick. We got Austrian measles. We are burning up with fever. I fell asleep and I had a dream. I dreamt that my friend Tanner came to our house to play with Chance and me. We had fun. We dug holes in the backyard and we played Hide & Seek, too. We had Smarties and root beer for lunch. Tanner is a big 'ole yeller dog. He is my first bestest friend. When I woke up Tanner was gone. It was a dream 'cuz Tanner died before Christmas. He was sick. He had cancer. I miss my friend a lot. Chance and me are sick but  James says we won't die from Austrian measles. That's good to know.

James has Canada Dry for us. Know what? He holds us tight and hugs us. We get to drink Canada Dry right out of the can. We get to drink it with bendy straws. Chance drinks out of a bottle. He's too little for a bendy straw. It hurts to swallow. James puts a cool washcloth on our faces. It feels good. He's singing some songs. I'm sleepy. I'm going to fall asleep. This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, drink Canada Dry with a bendy straw when you're sick. Over and out!"