Our New Puzzle

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 our cousin, you know.

We got a present from Nana Elizabeth. It's a puzzle. It's a puzzle about O Canada. We take out all the puzzle pieces and then put them together so we can see our home and native land. Puzzles are fun. We start with British Columbia. I know where British Columbia is. It's the first one on the left.

Look! Look at Chance! He's so newborn he doesn't know how to play with a puzzle. He's trying to eat Quebec! "My son! You can't eat Quebec! Quebec is not one of the four food groups! Put that down this instant!" Chance really is a handful. Frankie knows how to play with puzzles. He doesn't try to eat the provinces. Frankie's four. He's very smart.

We love our new puzzle. Grandpa James helps us write a thank-you note to Nana Elizabeth for the O Canada puzzle. Won't she be surprised when she opens the letter and sees pictures of us playing with it, too. We love Nana Elizabeth lots and lots and lots!

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 says, "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. Learn about O Canada. Then you can eat Smarties and drink root beer. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play puzzles with us! We can have a puzzle party with hummus and pretzels and apple juice, too! Okay! Over and out!"

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. I look after Chance. He takes off his diaper and climbs way high on things and then he can't get down. James says we have to watch him like a hawk. That's silly. We're not hawks. We're bear cubs! Chance is a real handful!

I know what today is. It's Happy New Year Day. That's the first day of the newborn year. James says it's 2011 everywhere except Ethiopia. It's 2002 in Ethiopia. That was a long time ago. Ethiopia is pretty far away, you know. We can't even go there on the train. Sometimes we go to Marathon House. That's downtown. They have Ethiopian food. I l-o-v-e Ethiopian food.

We watched the fireworks. Fireworks make a lot of noise. They're pretty. I wish we could eat fireworks. I bet they taste yummy. That's one of the four food groups, you know. Yummy, sweet, sticky and nasty. That's the four food groups. I can't find fireworks in Canada's Food Guide. Fireworks are how we know that Happy New Year Day is here.

I'm sitting at my desk. I'm thinking. Thinking is hard, you know. I'm thinking about my Happy New Year's Day list. I'm writing down all the things I will do this year to be a good citizen. Good citizens get to eat Smarties and drink root beer. Know what? Bear cubs in Quebec don't drink root beer. They drink cream soda instead.

1. Pick up my toys so James doesn't fall down again.
2. Don't bite Chance.
3. Eat brocollis and sauerkrauts without holding my nose.
4. Stay off the Time Out Chair.

That's a lot of things to remember!


 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. Do good deeds. Then you can eat Smarties and drink root beer. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! We can have Happy New Year's Day together! Okay! Over and out!"

Summer is Here!

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 help him remember. I reminded him that Summer came today.

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! 

Summer is here! Summer came at 7.25 this morning. I got up real early so I could see Summer come! I'm so glad Summer is here. We get to do lots of fun things now that Summer is here. Know what? Chance was born in October so he missed Summer last year.

Okay. Know what I'm doing? I'm making a list. This is an important list. This is a list of things Chance and James and me want to do this Summer. Ready?

1. Hunt lions in the back yard with our space ray guns.
2. Pick fruit off the trees and eat it.
3. Lay on the grass and watch the clouds go by.
4. Ride on the MV Jiimaan  to Pelee Island .

5. Swim in Lake Erie and have lots of picnics, too!
6. Climb trees with our buddy, Queen Elizabeth.
7.Go on VIA Rail to visit our friends and buddies in Quebec. 
8. Cook yummy food on the barbecue.
9. Eat Smarties and drink root beer. Oh! Wait! Wallermellon!

10. Ride our bikes up and down Sandwich Street. Oh, and make really loud siren noises, too!

I'm sure there's lots of  other stuff we want to do with Summer but I'm tired of thinking. I want to go play. We're gonna go pick cherries! I l-o-v-e cherries. They're yummy and that's one of the four food groups in the Canada Food Guide.

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. Have lots of fun with Summer! Eat Smarties and drink root beer. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! We can have fun with Summer together! Okay! Over and out!"

Have Suitcase Will Travel

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy,  James. He is old and forgetful. Sometimes he forgets where he put his teeth!   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 climb in the suitcase and eat licorice. I tell Chance stories about when I went to like Cub Camp in Quebec. I tell him stories about places we wanna go, like Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. They're far away. I tell him about Florida and Oregon. Florida and Oregon are in the Knighted States. Chance can't eat licorice. He doesn't have any teeth. I let him suck on a licorice stick. He likes pineapple licorice the best. It's fun to go on trips, even if it is just a make-believe trip in a suitcase on the living room floor.


Oh! Did you hear that?  James is hollering, "Where's my handsome bear cubs? Where are the Sons of Windsor? Where are you my Princes of Ontario?" That's us! Charles and Chance! We're gonna run find James so he can kiss our noses and tickle our ears and make us laugh right out loud. It's time for our nap. Chance is already asleep and I'm getting sleepy. Okay. We gotta go nap. This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Travel. Bon voyage!"

On Track with VIA Rail

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, James. I have to look after him 'cuz he's old and forgetful. Today he forgot his glasses. I found them. They were on his head!   Oh, wait. Chance lives with us, too. He's a newborn cubby someone left on our doorstep one morning. He's a wee little thing. I have to look after him, too.

Look at me! I'm way up here on the VIA Rail sign. I l-o-v-e to ride on the train. It goes fast. It goes faster than my blue bike with the Canada flag on it. We go lots of places on the train. We go to London to visit our buddy Darryl. We go to T.O. to visit the doctor. We go to Cornwall to see William and Michael. Know what? We can go all the way to Montreal on the train. That's in Quebec. People say 'bonjour' in Quebec. That's 'cuz they speak French. Know what? I can speak French cuz I went to bear cub camp in Quebec last summer.

Oh, wait! We can go to Florida. I don't know where Florida is but Susan J. lives there and I can climb way up high  and eat oranges right off the orange tree. See! I can buy my own ticket at VIA Rail. Chance is so tiny he doesn't have to buy a ticket. He gets to ride for free. That's a good thing 'cuz he doesn't even know how to push the buttons. We get to eat on the train. The food is yummy. Know what? They don't have brocollis on the train. I hate them. Brocollis are nasty. Nasty should be a food group in the Canada Food Guide. I eat them 'cuz Special Ed James says I have to be a good sample for Chance. He copies everything I do. He's a copycat. I don't know why we say 'copycat.' He should be a copycub.  I hold my nose and eat my brocollis. Did you hear that? James is hollering, "Who's a handsome bear cub? Who's a Son of Windsor? Where's my Princes of Ontario?" That's me! Charles! That's Chance, too!  I better get down from here. I want James to tickle my ears and kiss my nose until I laugh right out loud. Chance doesn't really laugh. He's too little. He makes squeaky noises when he's happy. This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, 'Be good citizens! Get ready to travel! All aboard!"

Marshmallows

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live with my buddy James, on Sparkle Road. That's right by Sandwich Street. I look after him 'cuz he's really old and forgetful. Today he forgot me!



Look what I found! I'm at the Mill Dollar Store. I found marshmallows. I l-o-v-e marshmallows. We ate them at the Happy Cub Camp this summer in Quebec. I know what marshmallows are in French. They are called guimauves.

Know what? Marshmallows taste just as good in French as they do in English. I know how to roast marshmallows over a fire--but make sure the fire is outside the house, okay? I will give $1 to Allen, the nice man who owns the store and I can take the whole bag home. I wonder if I used to like marshmallows when I was just a cubby. I'll ask  James.

Oh. Wait! Did you hear that? James is hollering, "Who's a handsome bear cub? Who's a Son of Windsor? Where's my Prince of Ontario?" That's me! Charles! I gotta go get my ears tickled so I can laugh right out loud. This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens and eat all your marshmallows. Starving children in Belgium would love to eat marshmallows. Bye for now!"