Hide and Seek

Hanley Bear and I have just returned from a short visit to the south of England,  Polar and Grizzly went to stay with Grizzly's daughter and her family, so we got to play with Grizzly's grandcubs again.

We were very tired from the long journey when we first arrived and, when we got up after our afternoon nap, it was already bath and bedtime for the boys.  As it was still light, Hanley Bear and I slipped out into the garden to explore.  We found a slide, a bear-sized truck to drive and little house at the bottom of the garden.

'It looks like a shop,' I said.  'But there are things all over the floor.  I hope it hasn't been burgled!'

'There's food!' cried Hanley Bear, who was feeling hungry after our journey.  He tried to bite what looked like a tomato.  His little teeth wouldn't go through the skin at all.  'It's play food, not real food,' he said sadly.

We deduced it must belong to the human cubs so we tidied it all into baskets and put them on some shelves.  We found some money too.  We wondered if we should keep the money for our Paddington Fund but decided that must belong to the human cubs and, being very honest small bears, we put it in the till and closed the drawer, leaving the shop looking very tidy when the cubs' daddy came to close it up for the night.

The next morning, the cubs had a Forest Schools adventure to go on.  We quite liked the idea of going with them but woke up too late for breakfast and missed them setting off, so we made ourselves bear chairs out of Lego (for watching the FA Cup later).  We were trying these out when the boys came home and wanted to play.

'Let's play hide and seek!' suggested Hanley Bear, who had been wanting to explore the garden.  It is very pretty and there are shrubs and small trees to climb as well as lots of dense planting to hide in.

 We quickly scurried away while the boys counted to forty-five (because fifty was too much) and then they came looking for us.  We found lots of what we thought were very clever hiding places - under toys, among the foliage, up in the shrubs and even on the bird table - but every time the human cubs found us. 

Sometimes they lifted us up by our ears, which was what the cubs call 'owey' - meaning it hurts!  If you look after small bears, please don't pick them up by the ears.  Lift us up carefully by holding us just under the arms and keeping us the right way up, please.

The next day we went to the park with the cubs and tried swings and a big shiny slide for the first time.  We could climb up to the slide but slipping down looked very scary.  Hanley Bear stood at the top, not feeling brave enough to slide down, until the smaller human cub climbed up and then whizzed down the slide, holding Hanley tightly.

'Wheee!' went Hanley Bear.  'That was fun!'

Then the older cub carried me up and we flew down the slide together, then Hanley and I climbed back up and shot down the slide together, with the wind whistling in our ears, and the cubs caught us safely at the bottom.

We had so much fun with Grizzly's grandcubs that we hoped we could stay another day and go to the dinosaur park, but Polar and Grizzly had things to do at home and had to drive back the next morning.  The human cubs gave us big hugs before they went to school and nursery.  Hanley Bear and I were sad to say goodbye to our lively little friends but we hope to visit them again soon for more swings and slides and hide and seek.