A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...

There once was a little bear named Ajdin Salmonfisher.  He lived on the planet Tatooine as a bee farmer (not a bad gig, huh?)  Still, he wanted to search for something more.  One day, he found an interesting looking object on the ground.

"Hmm... what's this?" he said.  He picked it up.

*POOF!*

"Wow!" Ajdin said.  "I'm a Jedi Bear!"

"Not yet," a voice said.

"Who said that?" Ajdin said.  "Who's there?"

"I'm just a random voice that you have to listen to in order to finish this story.  Now, go to the planet Daaaaagooooobaaaaah to complete your Jedi training with Master Oooda," the voice continued.

"The Dagobah system?" Ajdin asked.

"No, the Daaaaagooooobaaaaah system.  You will understand once you get there," the voice said.

To fulfill his destiny as a Jedi Bear, Ajdin Salmonfisher went out in search of this great Master Oooda.

"Aaaaajdiiiiin," Master Oooda said, "welcome to Daaaaagooooobaaaaah.  Nooooow weeeee caaaaan cooooompleeeeeete youuuuuuur traiiiiiiniiiiing."

"Youuuuuu muuuuuuust leaaaaaaaaarn toooooooo truuuuuuuust youuuuuuuuur feeeeeeeeliiiings toooooo use the Fiiiiiiish.  Doooooo ooooor doooo noooot, theeeere iiiiiis nooooo tryyyyyy," Master Oooda said.

"Hmm... it seems like my training will take a long time," Ajdin Salmonfisher thought.  He yawned and took a nap.

"Tiiiiiibs.  Youuuuuuu muuuuust cooooonfrooooont Tiiiiiibbs," Master Oooda said.  "Theeeeeen aaaand oooonly theeeeen a Jeeeeeediiii wiiiiill youuuu beeeee.  Speeeeak slooowly I doooo."

So Ajdin Salmonfisher went out to find the Salmon Lord Darth Tibbs.

"Ajdin," Darth Tibbs said.  "I...am.... YOUR UNCLE!!"

"Uh, I knew that already," Ajdin said.

"Oh.  Well, then nevermind," Darth Tibbs said.  "How about we have some fish and honey?"

Darth Tibbs, Master Oooda, and myself (Ajdin Salmonfisher) hope you enjoyed this special blog edition!  May the FISH be with you!  Thanks to Jerry and Ben for sponsoring their fun Honeyween costume contest and for the yummy candy and card they sent us.

Happy Honeyween!  And stay tuned for more exciting episodes of SALMON WARS.

(My mom is trying to steal some Honeyween candy from me.)

...IOWA

After what seemed like several hours, the suitcase I was in came to a stop.  I peeked out of the bag and it looked like the coast was clear.  I was in a hotel room.  In Iowa.

Finally!  I could stretch my legs out on this nice bed.  I also watched some Sesame Street to relax.

I really liked the decor of the room.  It had a fishing/outdoors theme going.

I was feeling a little sleepy after traveling, so it was time for a quick pick-me-up.  I put a pot of coffee on.

Then it was time for some exploring.  I took a walk outside and saw lots and lots of cornfields.

I also passed by Iowa 80, which is the world's largest truck stop.  It looked beary large to me, but then again, many things look beary big to a little bear.

There was a scenic lookout along this stretch of highway so I climbed to the very top and had a nice view.

Then I kept on walking past more cornfields.  There were many wind farms also.

You can hear just how windy it got out in the field.  I was almost blown away.

After that, I hurried back and hid in the suitcase so my mom wouldn't find out I was a stowaway for this trip!

An adventure to... ?

My mom announced that she was going on a business trip and would be away for a few days.  That meant Uncle Tibbs was in charge.

"Ah, I do enjoy bearsitting," Uncle Tibbs said.  I have to say, Uncle Tibbs is a really cool bearsitter.

We gathered by the door to say goodbye.

My mom turned to leave with her suitcase.  But suddenly, a wave of curiosity and adventure came over me.  I made a run for it and jumped onto her suitcase.  Wherever she was going, I wanted to go too.

"Ajdin!  What are you doing?" Uncle Tibbs asked.  "Come back here!"

"Aaaaaajdiiiiiiiin," Ooogie said, "cooooooooome baaaaaaaaaaaack."

I zipped open the suitcase and squeezed myself inside.

"Bye Ooogie!  Bye Uncle Tibbs!" I yelled.  "See you soon!"

Now the real question was... where were we going?

Connect the dots

My mom has been working on some dot-to-dot puzzles in this book.  She is not home right now so I am going to sneak a peek.  It says Dot-to-Dot for Grown Ups, but I wonder if they are suitable for little bears also.

Wow, this puzzle looks tricky.  There are several hundred dots to connect.  I'll give it a try.

Finishing this puzzle requires a bit of patience.  Hmm, something is taking shape here.  It looks like...

...like perhaps...maybe...

...a bear!

Fall Farm Fun

I think it's time for some fall festivities!  Today I went to a farm.  I started off climbing some bales of hay.  That was fun but I soon realized that I am a magnet for hay.

Then I saw a large tractor at the farm and climbed aboard.

So this is what it's like to be a farmer bear.

No trip to a farm would be complete without an adventure in a corn maze.  Here I am about to enter the cornundrum.  Beary clever, whoever thought of this.

I went inside and tried to find my way out.

Then I came to a fork in the road.

I also saw some aliens in this corn maze.  I guess it's true what they say about aliens landing in cornfields.  These aliens were beary friendly.

But I was still stuck in this corn maze!

Would I ever find my way out?

Phew!  I finally found the exit of that corn maze.  Next, it was time to visit some animals.  Here was a dairy cow.

Next, I fed some goats.

 Then I visited some beary hard-working bees.

Right next to them was a stand full of honey!

I also picked a pumpkin on our way out.  Maybe I will enter Jerry and Ben's pumpkin carving contest.  Fall is fun and also my favorite season - be sure to do some fun fall things!

Postcard from Little Fox

A few days ago, I received a postcard from Little Fox.

"Isn't this neat, Ooogie?"

"Ooo," Ooogie said.

Thanks for the postcard, Little Fox!

Ooogie's Race

"Ajdiiiiiin," Ooogie said to me.  "I wiiiiiiill beeeeeeee in a raaaaaace toooooday.  I hooooooope youuuuuu caaaaaaaan cooooome."

"Sure, Ooogie," I said.  "I'll definitely be there."  And with that, he turned around and went to get ready for the race.

Now Ooogie is my friend, but I couldn't help but wonder why he had entered himself into a race.  He isn't, umm...beary fast on land, you know?  Still, I had to admire his courage.

Ooogie got ready at the starting line.  His opponent was the one and only... Flops!  Flops was the fastest rabbit in our neighborhood.  I began to wonder how this race would turn out.

Uncle Tibbs and I gathered at the finish line.

BANG!  The starting pistol went off.  Flops took an early lead with one gigantic hop and was well on his way to the halfway marker.  Meanwhile, Ooogie had not even crossed the starting line yet.

"You can do it, Ooogie!" I cheered.  But I was not really sure if he could do it.

Flops quickly made his way towards the finish line.  I buried my face in Uncle Tibb's leg.  A defeat such as this one was too painful to watch.

"Don't worry, Ajdin," Uncle Tibbs reassured me.  "I think I know what will happen."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well, when a turtle and a rabbit race each other..." he paused.  "Just watch and see, Ajdin."

Suddenly, Flops stopped just before the finish line to snack on some carrots.

"Mmm...CARROTS!" Flops said.  "NOM NOM NOM...."

With Flops still munching on the carrots, Ooogie continued slowly but surely.

Ooogie was more than halfway there.  Flops was still distracted by the carrots.

"GO OOOGIE GO!" I cheered, more confidently this time.

Finally, Ooogie neared the finish line.

Flops jumped towards the finish line at the same time.  It was beary close, a photo finish, in fact!

Let's take a closer look at the footage.  The winner was...

OOOGIE!

"Wow!  You did a great job, Ooogie!" I congratulated him.

"Thaaaaaaank youuuuu," he said.  "Neeeeeever giiiiiive uuuuuuuup, Ajdiiiiiiiiin."

Ooogie is right, don't you think?