The Big Adventure Continues: Charles and Chance Ride in an Very Old Buick and Visit Bauline, Newfoundland

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!

Guess what? We're going for a ride! That's Chance and me and our little cousin Frankie. Uncle Glen and Grandpa James are going to take the Buick for a spin. We're going to drive around the Avalon Peninsula and go to Bauline. That's a village, you know.

Uncle Glen says there are lots of horses under the hood of the Buick but I don't see any, do you?

I'm gonna holler "Boo!" at Chance and Frankie.

 So we have to take some food with us. I can help cook. I'm five, you know. Grandpa James says I'm the Minister of Stirring. Chance is too newborn to really help but Grandpa James says he is the Deputy MINI-stir of Stirring. We're gonna make sandwiches. I want peanut butter and bakeapple sandwiches. I want to take Smarties and root beer, too. Those are all yummy things to eat.

We're at the Government Wharf in Bauline. We could be fishermen when we grow up.

Chance and me are sitting on crab pots. I hope that doesn't make us crabby!

We had fun all day riding in the pretty Buick. Old cars are like old people, you know. They're lots of  fun.

This beautiful 1985 Buick LeSabre belongs to Uncle Glen. He lets us ride in it as long as we don't make it sticky with our peanut butter and bakeapple sandwiches.

 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 kind to friends and neighbours. Then you can eat peanut butter and bakeapple sandwiches. You can eat Smarties and drink root beer. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! We can go visit Uncle Glen and ride in the Buick! We can go to Bauline! Okay! Over and out!"

Pancakes for Breakfast

 Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, Grandpa James.  That's in Olde Sandwich Towne. Olde Sandwich Towne is in Windsor. Everybody knows that Windsor is in O Canada.

Grandpa James is really old. He was the second Canadian to get off Noah's Ark, you know. He's so old he remembers the invention of Saran Wrap!

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 can't talk. he's so little he doesn't even have any teeth. He just drinks chocolate owls' milk. We get it at Mac's. I look after Chance. He's a handful!

Know what Chance does? He takes off his diaper and climbs way up high on things. Then he can't get down. He makes little squawky noises 'cuz he's afraid.  I always say, "My son! Come down from there this instant!" Then I have to help him.

Know what we do? We help Grandpa James cook. He says we're ministers in the Kitchen Cabinet.  He says I'm the Mini-stir of Cooking. Chance is the Deputy Mini-stir of Cooking. We get to make yummy food and then we get to eat it! I l-o-v-e to cook. Maybe I will be a chef when I grow up. A chef wouldn't ever be hungry like those starving children in Belgium, you know.















Before we cook, we look in the Canadian Living Vegetarian cookbook for the right recipe. I know what a recipe is. It's the rules for cooking food. A recipe tells us how to make our favourite foods. I have lots of favourite foods. I l-o-v-e to cook porridge. I l-o-v-e to cook peanut butter and licorice sandwiches, too.
















Know what else? I l-o-v-e Smarties. Oh, wait! We don't have to cook Smarties. They come in a box. It's the bestest chocolate ever! We buy Smarties at Mac's Milk around the corner from our house. I know the Smarties rule. We have to eat the red ones last, 'cuz that's what the Smarties song says to do!

Chance and me are looking for a very special recipe. We want to eat pancakes with peanut butter and maple syrup on top. Before we can eat them, we have to make them, you know. They don't make themselves!

Grandpa James calls them flapjacks. They have two names.  It doesn't matter which name you call them, they taste yummy just the same and yummy is one of the four food groups in Canada's Food Guide, you know.

This is how we make pancakes. First Grandpa James gets down the big bowl. It's way up high on the shelf. We're not supposed to climb up there 'cuz we might fall off the counter top and get hurt.  If we climb up there, we have to sit on the Time Out Chair and think about what we did.

We measure a cup of all-purpose flour and a cup of whole wheat flour and pour them in the bowl. I know how much a cup is. It's 250 millilitres. It says so on the side of the measuring cup. Miss Jackie taught me that. She's my teacher at the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre. Then we add a 15 mls of sugar. Then we measure out 7.5 mls of baking powder. After that we put in five mls of Cow Brand. That's baking soda. Baking soda comes from cows, you know.


We stir everything up really really good. I'm very good at stirring. Chance thinks he's helping but he's not. He's too newborn. He just gets flour all over himself but he's happy and having fun. He makes little squeaky noises when he's having a good time. Look at him! He's hiding in the crisper drawer in the fridge! Come out of there this instant! That's not a good place to hide, my son!

Next we put 500 mls of buttermilk in another bowl. Then we pour in 30 mls of canola oil and two eggs. We mix that up real good. Then we pour the liquid on the flour and stir that up, too. That's a lot of stirring, you know!

Then Grandpa James brings out the frying pan. It's black. That's because it's made out of cast iron. James says it belonged to his great grandmother and it's more than 100 years old. That must be really old! I bet Grandpa James is older than that.  When the frying pan is hot James pours oil into it. That's so the pancakes don't stick. Then he pours in the batter. I know what batter is. It's newborn baby pancakes.

When the pancakes have little bubbles on top and they're golden brown on the bottom, Grandpa James turns the flapjacks over with the pancake lifter so they can cook on the other side. He's really good at flipping them up in the air and catching them. He says flipping flapjacks should be an Olympic sport.




When the pancakes are ready, we put peanut butter on them. I make smiley faces. Then we pour maple syrup on them. I I l-o-v-e peanut butter, don't you? Sometimes Grandpa James put Smarties in our pancakes. Sometimes he puts pieces of apple. I like apple smiley pancakes.




Before we eat, we say grace. I say, "Thank you God for all the yummy food you make, especially pancakes and maple syrup and butter and peanut butter. I will eat them all up God, 'cuz I'm as hungry as a bear. PS God, please send lots and lots of pancakes to all the starving children in Belgium, okay? Thank you, God. Amen." Amen means the end. I say 'Amen' so God knows I'm done talking to Him. It's what polite bear cubs do.

Then Grandpa James says, 'bon apetit' and we eat the pancakes. I know what 'bon apetit' means. It means, 'Enjoy your food.' It's French. Oh! Sometimes we have French toast. That's another yummy breakfast.

Chance doesn't have any teeth. He just drinks chocolate owls' milk out of his bottle. He licks the syrup off my pancakes and then he is all sticky. Good thing we have a bathtub!

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. Do good deeds. Be kind to your friends and neighbours. Help make breakfast.  Then you can eat pancakes with great big gobs of peanut butter and lots and lots  of maple syrup on top.

Oh! Wait! Come over to our house! We can make pancakes together and we can put peanut butter and maple syrup all over them! Okay! Over and out!"

Places We Don't Eat Peanut Butter

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, too. He's a handful! 

There are places where we do NOT eat peanut butter even if it is yummy and yummy is one of the four food groups in the Canada Food Guide. We don't eat peanut butter in the bathroom. We don't eat peanut butter on the living room carpet. We certainly do not eat peanut butter in bed.

Bear cubs who eat peanut butter in the bathroom or the living room carpet or in bed might get everything sticky. That's another one of the food groups in the Canada Food Guide. Bear cubs who disobey would have to sit on the Time Out Chair and think about what they did.  I don't like the Time Out Chair. I don't like to think about what I did. Thinking is hard, you know.

I'd rather ride my blue bike up and down Sandwich Street and dig holes in the back yard and climb the sugar maple and eat Smarties. That's more fun that the Time Out Chair. Know what else? Chance is a copy cat. I don't know why he's called a copy cat. He's not a cat. He's a bear cub. I think he's a copy cub. Chance does everything I do but I'm the one who has to sit on the Time Out Chair. James says Chance is too little to understand. I have to set a good example for him.



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. Obey the rules so you don't have to sit on the Time Out Chair.  Good citizens eat Smarties and drink root beer. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! We can dig holes and play Space Invaders! Okay! Over and out!"

Father's Day

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, too. He's a handful! 

Know what? Today is Father's Day. Today we get to do nice things for our fathers. Chance and me don't have a father. Well, not a father bear. We have James. See, fathers aren't just relatives.  Real fathers love us, no matter what. James loves us with all his heart. That makes James our father, even if he doesn't look anything like us.

I know what fathers do. Fathers hold us tight us in the middle of the night when we wake up from bad dreams. Fathers sit with us when we're sick with Austrian measles. Fathers put us in the Time Out Chair when we do something we shouldn't. Fathers laugh with us while we sit in the big 'ole sugar maple out in the back yard and share a box of Smarties. Fathers help us make forts in the living room on rainy days. Fathers give us our baths and read our nighty-night story to us and hear our bedtime prayers before tucking us into bed.  Best of all, fathers hug us when we come running and they tickle our ears and kiss our noses and tell us we're handsome bear cubs.

Chance and me have a surprise for James. We worked on it all morning. We hid under the bed so he wouldn't see us make the surprise. We made a Father's Day card for James. It's a special card. It's a  heart made out of peanut butter. It says, "We love u James". I spelled out all the words with Smarties. Red ones. We saved all the red Smarties for a long time, you know. We're supposed to eat the red ones last. That's what the Smarties song says. We saved all of our red Smarties for this card. James always says, "Save the best for last!" Now he will know how much we love him. We love him  so much we gave him all our red Smarties!

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 nice to your father, no matter what shape or size or colour he is. Share Smarties and root beer with your father. Don't forget to tell him you love him.   Okay! Happy Father's Day!  Over and out!"

Shopping

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 things like, don't put the phone in the fridge! 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!

Know what? We're at the store with our buddies Lulu and Ella. We're all in a shopping buggy that looks like a car. I know what shopping is. It's when we buy things. If we buy something made in O Canada that  means people work. Then they can buy gummy worms and root beer for their families. Miss Jackie taught us all this at the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre. She taught me about art. I can colour inside the lines and I can paw paint, too. Oh! Wait! I know something made in O Canada. Peanut butter! I wonder if Mars bars are made on Earth. I'll ask James. He knows lots of stuff.

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. Buy things made on Earth! Then you will help people work.  Okay! Over and out!"

Sub-tropical Southernmost Ontario

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, James. He's forgetful and really old. He was the second Canadian to get off Noah's Ark, you know.  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. I look after Chance, too. He's a handful!

Know what? Last week we had snow. Mr. Sunshine melted the snow and James says spring is in the air. I don't see any springs in the air. We see robins.  Canada geese are flying north.  The days are longer. It's hard to be sleepy when it's still light outside. I want to dig holes in the back yard. So does Chance. We don't really have palm trees on Sparkle Road but James says Windsor is in the Canadian banana belt. You can't fool me. I'm five. You can't make belts out of bananas, you know.

We got lots of fun things to do today but first we have to make our beds and eat breakfast. This morning we're eating pumpkin pancakes with peanut butter and maple syrup on top. I l-o-v-e pancakes. They're yummy and sticky. That's two of the four food groups in the Canada Food Guide. Chance is so little he doesn't have teeth. He drinks condensed owls' milk from his bottle.Good citizens eat all their food. Starving children in Belgium would love to eat pumpkin pancakes.

Did you hear that? James is hollering? "Who's hungry? Where's my handsome bear cubs? Where are my Sons of Windsor? Where are my Princes of Ontario?" That's me! I'm a handsome bear cub. I'm a Son of Windsor. I'm a Prince of Ontario! So is Chance!

We gotta go find James so he can tickle our ears, kiss our noses and make us laugh right out loud. This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens! Make your bed and eat pumpkin pancakes. Be on the look out for robins and Canada geese! Okay. Over and out!"

Crackers and Peanut Butter

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy,  James. He forgets lots of things. He says that's 'cuz he's old. He remembers the invention of time. That's a long time ago! He must be 20!   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 got peanut butter and crackers. I l-o-v-e peanut butter and crackers. They're yummy and yummy is one of the four food groups in the Canada Food Guide. We're eating crackers in bed. We're not supposed to eat in bed unless we're sick. Chance doesn't really eat. He's too little. He has to grow some teeth. Chance drinks condensed owls' milk out of his bottle. I'm five, you know. I'm too big for a bottle. I have a sippy cup with Spiderman on it. Crackers and peanut butter taste better in bed.


Oh. Wait! I hear James! He's hollering, "Where's my handsome bear cubs? Where are you, Sons of Windsor, my Princes of Ontario?  Oh! My! Who's eating crackers and peanut butter in bed? I'm gonna get you! Oh! No! We might be in trouble! This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Eat crackers and peanut butter in the kitchen. Bye for now!"

Peanut Butter & Me

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. I live with my buddy,  James, on Sparkle Road.

Know what? It's raining so we're staying indoors today. Maybe we'll build a tent in the living room and eat peanut butter and licorice sandwiches in the tent at lunch time.  James has a surprise for me. He brought out the picture album with pictures of when I was a newborn cubby. Look at me! I was really little! I liked peanut butter when I was a wee little thing. I'm five but I still l-o-v-e peanut butter. It's yummy and sticky and that's two of the four food groups in the Canada Food Guide. Peanut butter is so good for bear cubs they put our picture on the jar.

I wish I had a little brother to play with. I want to buy one at Canadian Tire. I got $8.57 in Canadian Tire money.  James just laughs, tickles my ears and says, "Fat chance, Charles. You're a handful and a half, already." If I had a baby brother, I'd be really good. Honest.

Okay. I gotta go. We're having chocolate milk and we have lots of pictures to look at--pictures of me in the olden days when I was just a cubby. Bye for now! This is me, Charles, saying, "Over and out!"

Happy Face

Hi. This is me, Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live with my buddy James, on Sparkle Road.

Look at this! I made a happy face. It's as big as me. Special Ed James says I'm growing like a weed. I don't want to grow like a weed. I want to grow like a bear cub.

Know what? Bear cubs don't have pockets or thumbs. When I get older I hope I will grow pockets and thumbs. I can't eat this happy face. Sometimes I make happy faces with peanut butter. I can eat those. They taste yummy and that's one of the four food groups in the Canada Food Guide.

Happy faces make us feel good. This one is for d James. I know it will make him smile. If you make a happy face for someone, you're being a good citizen and you get to eat wallermelons and licorice, too. I gotta go. We're going down to the river and feed the ducks. Wait! I know! Come with us. I got lots of popcorn and jar of pickles. Do you think the ducks would like pickles? Okay. See you there. Bye for now. This is me, Charles, the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Feed your duck friends pickles. Won't they be surprised! Over and out!"

Peanut Butter

Hi. I'm Charles the Handsome Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy James. I look after him 'cuz he's forgetful and really old. He was the second Canadian to get off Noah's Ark. He's older than peanut butter. That must be really old.

Know what? I'm at Westside Foods. I'm gonna put all this peanut butter in this buggy and take it home. I know things about peanut butter.

1. Peanut butter comes from little bear cubbies. It is squeezed right out of them. See the sign? It says, "Squeeze."
2. Peanut butter is sticky. Sticky is one of the four food groups in the Canada Food Guide.
3. Peanut butter makes good paw paint and we can eat it, too.
4. I always make peanut butter happy faces on my pancakes.
5. NEVER fall asleep in bed with an open jar of peanut butter.
6. I know how to make peanut butter and orange juice sandwiches.

That's what I know about peanut butter. Now I'm gonna go find my buddy James and see if we can go down to the Detroit River and watch the ducks. Maybe we can feed them peanut butter! Yeah! Okay! I gotta go! This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Take peanut butter to the ducks when you go to the river. Bye for now! Over and out!"