Cocoa and Navy Beanie Enter the Halloween Contest!

Hullo!!! Did you see that Sandy did a Halloween costume!! For Jerry & Ben's annual Halloween contest... Hmph... we should do SOMETHING too!!!

But what??? Maybe we could cook a scoobie snack??? Or carve a pumpkin???

Ooooh... I know!!!! Wait a minute!!!

Let's make the Witches' Brew Hot Chocolate!!!

This will be sooooo good!!!!
Cocoa: "But... we should have costumes too!!! AND a pumpkin!"

Alrightee!!! First we need to heat up some milk. The packet says to use a saucepan but...

The microwave works just as well... 

And then you mix it up and voila... green hot chocolate!!

It looks less green here...

But it's green!!! Now we just drink it!!

Slurp, slurp, slurp...

Cocoa: You know... I'm more of a cocoa hot chocolate mouse... white chocolate is like sacrilegious to this mouse and...
Navy: Stop hemming and hawing and just drink!!! It's quite yummy....

oooohhhh... I don't feel good... ooohhhh...

Navy!!! Was that stuff Polly Juice Potion or something??? ooohhhh.... 

Navy??? Navy? Where'd you gooooo??? Ooohhhh... I don't feel good...

OMG!!!! It's a dementor!!!!! Did it get Navy already....

Ahhhhhh....

Now there's TWO dementors!!!! Everyone runnnnnnn!!!!!

Did you know dementors squeak and giggle????

And these two can't fly... but tumbled off the chair back and...

Surprise!!!!! It's us!!!!!! 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Sandy's Halloween Conundrum

***Editor's note... this was originally planned for Halloween 2019 (or 2020)... hence... no mice!

 

... no... I can't do that... I was a mummy a few years ago...

Think... think... what else... a ghost? Nah... Jerry went as a ghost... that's not going to work...

C'mon stuffie brain... something...

Oh, hello... I am trying to come up with a costume idea for Jerry & Ben's annual Halloween contest...

It's getting hard now... I can't think of anything for this year... sigh.

I need a drink... maybe that will lubricate... my... brain... 

Wait!!! I've got it!!!

Oh... it's gonna be so good... stay tuned....

***Cue the music***

Hello... it is I, Smokey the Bear!

Remember... Only YOU can prevent forest fires!

Today, I am out in the forest looking for evidence of illicit and unextinguished campfires... In case you didn't notice, this past year was a beary BAD year for wildfires in western North America...

Here, we have a fire ring... it is good to have a fire ring but...

You also need a source of water to extinguish your campfire... so that when you leave it is cool to the touch.

This looks like another old campfire ring...

But this old camp has a bigger problem...

Garbage... old cans and jars and bottles... 

Remember... Only YOU can keep the forests clean! If you pack it in... pack it out!! I am going to have to come back here with a garbage bag...

Remember... Only... You...

Alright... whew... that was hard work. Time for a snack!!!

And a photo with Mr. Pumpkin Head...

This is what happens when you are a celebrity... everyone wants their photo taken with you...

Remember... Only You....

Editor's Note... GASP!!!
Smokey the Bear is Retiring in Canada!!!

Canada's Firesmart program has retired Smokey the Bear!!!! And introduced Ember the Fox.

The shift is away from fire suppression (which can be bad as it leads to mega fires)

to living with some forest fires (to burn forest floor fuel before it builds up and creates mega fires).

And... “Another factor is authenticity: we felt it was time for Canada to have its own voice regarding wildfire preparedness; everything about Ember was conceived, designed, and developed by Canadians for Canadians." Cause, really, Smokey the Bear was never Canadian... but American...

Too bad her name couldn't be Firefox!!

Hmmm... wonder if Little Fox will try an Ember the Fox costume?

PS. From Navy and Cocoa... stay tuned... OUR ENTRIES are coming in another blog post!

An Island Visit

Editor's note: This was before Cocoa Beanie came home!

We went on a grand adventure today... first down to the water!!

And then onto a little boat!

To get over to the little island!

It's a stunning fall day!

And we area going to do some exploring!

This totem pole has a beaver on the bottom

Hullo Mr. Beaver!

It's soooo pretty here!

So we sat and soaked up some sun for a bit.

Can you believe this weather? Although... we could really use some rain!

There's cool driftwood on the beach too.

And this is the place with the neat rock formations where stuffies can play a fantastic game of hide and seek! Can you see us???

How about now?

Heh-heh!!!

Apparently it's the salt water that does this... soooo cool!

We decided to go for a little hike too.

Cause that's what stuffies do!

So pretty here.

And we visited this thing! It's the top of an old air shaft from the coal mines that used to be here. 

We come to the island lots! And last time, Mama got a little photo through the crack around the edge of that door, but we couldn't see much!

This time we noticed someone's made a little hole around the concrete foundation!

Nope... can't see nothing!

Still nothing!

Ooooohhh... there we go!!! But what does it show us??? not sure... Is that a pit with a frame that's rotted? So mysterious!

And there's the foundations of an old building!

Then we hiked back...

And lounged on the beach for a bit...

And napped...

And had some yummy lunch!

But then it was time to go...

We have yet to see the cinnamon coloured racoons that live here!

But it was a great outing!!