As we arrived, we walked into the convention and my eyes grew very big. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. There were bears everywhere of all different sizes and colors. There were even some pretty dolls there. I bet some little girl would have been amazed at all the dolls, just as I was amazed at all the bears!!
As we were walking around I spotted a bear who was just my size! His name was Seymore C. Trader. I noticed other people carrying bears just like him around. I looked at Larry and said, "You know what I would like better than pins in the whole wide world?" Larry asked, "What is that Theodore?" "I would like to have a little brother to share all my adventures with. It gets awfully lonely sometimes playing with my pins all by myself," I said. Larry looked at me and took me by the paw. The next thing I knew, I had a baby brother!! I was so happy to finally have someone my size around and he came with a few pins also.
Soon after that we ran into Supertrader Amy. I introduced her to my new brother Seymore and she gave both of us a big hug.
She asked, " Will you, Larry and your new brother be going to the Cast Blast?" I asked, "What is that?" Amy said it was a place were people who work at Disney could bring guests to see new pins that would be coming out the next year. "Pins," I said. That was the magical word for me. To think I would be able to share my love of pins so soon with Seymore. Amy told us that it was someplace different than we were and that we could follow her there. We would be her guests for the day there.
Well, we went and there were lots and lots of people there. I knew some of them from all my trips to the parks and I got to show off my new brother, Seymore to them. They all told me how lucky I was.
There were games to play and the prizes were.....yep you guessed it, PINS!! I couldn't wait to try those out. I soon discovered that I was too small to play, so Larry played for Seymore and myself. What a perfect way for me to start Seymore on his way to having a pin collection. I also saw some of his closest friends too! We had our picture taken with some them.
It was a great day and a little tiring for two little bears, but Larry said, "Wait there is more to our day. We will be going to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party this evening." I thought to myself......WOW so much to do in one day.
We told everyone good-bye and started out to Magic Kingdom to go to Mickey's party. I remember going last year and how much fun it was.
As we entered Magic Kingdom, I could see all the Christmas decorations and lights. I pointed them out to Seymore and he was simply..........amazed.
Larry said there was one stop we had to make and that was to buy the special pin for this party. Seymore still didn't understand all this fuss about pins........but I promised him that he soon would. Well......let me tell you........Seymore took one look at the pretty snowglobe pin and his eyes lit up. I knew right then that he would enjoy pins just as much as I would........that made me happy.
Guess what? They even had snow at this party, just like the Osborne lights!! I still can't get used to seeing snow in Florida. Up ahead I saw Mickey and Minnie dressed in their finest Christmas outfits. The next thing I knew, there was a parade with my friends Mickey and Minnie leading it. There were so many Christmas floats, too many for this little bear to count. There were Christmas songs being played as each float passed by..........I thought I could hear Larry humming some of the songs.
All of a sudden everyone got really excited. I couldn't quite see so I asked Larry to pick both of us up higher. I could see a man in a red suite with white fur. Then I remembered..........only Santa dresses like that! Yes, it was jolly old Santa himself. He was waving and wishing everyone a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS..........along with some ho ho ho's. I'm almost sure I saw his belly shake, Santa's belly not Larry's.
Now I know from all my adventures to Walt Disney World that after every good parade fireworks follow. I was kind of worried about Seymore and asked Larry to hold both of us real tight........BOOM.............there was the first one! It was so pretty and it lit up the night sky. Everywhere you looked, you could see fireworks in the sky.........they were in the colors of blue, red and green......just to name a few.
We also went and saw Mickey's Twas the night before Christmas stage show. All my buddies were singing to us and I told Seymore I had met most of them.
It was turning out to be such an exciting day. A new brother, meeting old friends and the sights and sounds of Christmas. What more could a little bear ask for? Yes, that's right pins, pins and more pins............to share with my new brother and Larry of course!
I would like for everyone to remember that Christmas is a special time to be shared with friends and family. Sometimes some of us have to spend this time away from the people who mean the most to us. So on December 15, Larry, Seymore and I will be holding a special pin meet at Downtown Disney. At this pin meet we will be collecting new toys for children with cancer who at the Tampa Children's Hospital Cancer Ward. If you would like, bring a new toy for a child ages newborn to 18, unwrapped. You can't imagine the smiles that will be put on these children's faces.