hayley

Hayley’s 8th Grade Promotion

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Hayley is done with middle school! Thursday evening Hayley was promoted from 8th grade into Thornton Academy at a ceremony held in the Thornton Academy gymnasium. There was a dance following at the Saco Parks & Recreation facility.

I took Hayley to see Cassie Shaw to get her very long hair trimmed Wednesday afternoon. Cassie is amazing, and it was fun for Hayley to get her hair shampooed, combed, blow dried, and straightened. I enjoyed being with her and talking to Cassie. Being an active dad is my favorite role!

We had a small promotion celebration at the loft before taking Hayley to the ceremony. Tonya and the girls prepared chicken salads and got balloons to decorate Hayley’s chair. Skye put together a creative scavenger hunt that Hayley enjoyed.

After dinner Tonya gave Hayley some nice Thornton Academy swag.

The entire ceremony lasted about an hour. We had good seats near the aisle where the promotees walked after the ceremony. Tonya gave Hayley a high-five as she passed.

Hayley reported having a fun time at the dance. She spent the night at a friend’s house after.

I’m excited to have Hayley move on to high school, where she will flourish. She’s excited to be out of middle school and all its myriad frustrations. I’m glad her school will be closer and that she’ll go with Jenna. My children are all growing up and moving on; I’m excited to witness and be part of their individual journeys.

Cassie combed out Hayley’s long locks before giving them a trim and blowdry.
Cassie blows out Hayley’s hair.
Hayley got her hair trimmed, blow dried, and straightened.
Jenna and Skye
Tonya got Hayley Thornton Academy swag for her 8th grade promotion
Hayley and Tonya hug after Hayley opened the gifts Tonya gave to her for promotion.
Skye does Hayley’s hair while Jenna looks at old yearbooks.
Jenna and Skye work in tandem to style Hayley’s hair and do her make-up for 8th grade promotion.
Jenna curls Hayley’s hair
Tonya screws gems into Hayley’s braid crown.
Hayley is all ready for her 8th grade promotion.
Everybody worked to give Hayley a beautiful bejeweled braid crown for her 8th grade promotion ceremony and dance.
Tonya applies final touches to Hayley’s hair before the ceremony
Hayley is officially done with middle school, after receiving her certificate.
Tonya gives Hayley a high-five after receiving her certificate.
Hayley with the flower bouquet Tonya gave to her.
I’m so proud of Hayley. My youngest kid is now in high school!
In our family, everything is a team effort. Hayley is fortunate to have two incredible older sisters.
Hayley and Tonya at Hayley’s 8th grade promotion.
Skye was very proud of her little sister promoting from 8th grade.
Jenna is glad her younger sister will be joining her at Thornton Academy next year.
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Festibond 2016 Date with Dad: Hayley

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On Friday the thirteenth I had my Festibond date with dad. We would normally have them before Festbond, but this year we decided to have them shortly after so we would have more time. For it, we together decided to go to dinner at Zapoteca (a mexican restaurant in Portland), then to take a painting class at Muse Paintbar. I had never done that kind of thing before, despite having a similar one close to us called Painting With A Twist, so I was very excited to try it out.

My dad and I have eaten at Zapoteca before on a previous Festibond date, so I knew I liked it. I always love spending time with him and I really enjoyed having this time to talk to him. He ordered a tequila flight, a margarita, and a steak. I ordered a cherry limeade and soup. My dad also requested bacon guacamole because we’d had it the first time we went there and it was phenomenal, but it wasn’t on the menu any of the other times he went. They ended up making it just for us due to it not being too busy at the moment. It came on a plate with chips in a short circular shape, as opposed to being in a bowl, and like the first time, tasted delicious. When the soup arrived, it had a bowl with the chicken, tortilla strips, etc dry and the waitress poured in the liquid part in from a small pitcher, which I found very cool. It was very hot, but also very good. My dad also gave me a few bites of his steak, which also tasted great. I didn’t eat very much, being a tiny human, and we left to walk to Muse Paintbar.

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Festibond 2016 Date with Hayley: Brent

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Hayley and I pondered, discussed, and researched what we might do for our Festibond date for some time. Nothing seemed worthy of the occasion. I knew she liked art and thought, perhaps, there was something we could do around that. Perhaps a visit to the Portland Museum of Art or the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. But Hayley seems to like doing art more than merely appreciating it. When I was a kid my mom got me private painting lessons and took me to a wood carving class. Of these and other experiences I have fond memories, and thought Hayley and I could do something similar. We should take one of these painting classes that have become so popular and that Kirsten did with a few of her friends from work. Of course! Hayley loved the idea, so we picked a night and I made the reservations.

Friday evening we drove to Portland and parked on the street between Zapoteca, where we had 17:30 dinner reservations, and Muse Paintbar. Perfect. We were seated immediately at a small table in the dining room. I ordered a margarita and a flight of Patron tequilas, which were very tasty. Hayley ordered a mocktail that was too sweet, so she drank water.

We also ordered bacon guacamole, which we’d had on a previous visit but is not on the menu. The kitchen agreed to make it for us, and we were both grateful they did. It’s very tasty. For our entrées Hayley ordered the Sopa Azteca and I got the Carne Asada con Mole Negro. My steak was so good that if I described it you wouldn’t believe me. It, and I know this is so cliché, melted in my mouth. The fat in the meat was cooked so that it added this wonderful buttery flavor. I digress.

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Festibond 2016 Date with Jenna: Brent

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Jenna suggested that for our Festibond date this year we go on a drive to somewhere–it didn’t matter–and I could take some pictures. What she really wanted, I think, was a lot of time where we could just talk without distractions. I enjoy my every conversation with Jenna, so was thrilled by her suggestion. We decided to drive west to find a covered bridge or two in New Hampshire.

On Saturday morning we stopped by Fernleaf Bakery in Saco so Jenna could get a pastry. The fresh olive oil and herb bread looked so delicious we purchased one of those, too. We had no plans to stop for lunch, so I figured we could snack on it during our drive. I’m glad we did. It was delicious! We ate three-fourths of the loaf between us on the drive.

After Fernleaf we stopped at Elements in Biddeford to get Jenna an apple cider. Then we were off. Apple Maps took us down the Turnpike before turning us west into rural New Hampshire.

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Festibond Date With Dad: Skye

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As part of the Festibond tradition, I recently went on a date with my dad. It didn’t take a lot of planning to decide what we want to do. He and I share a love for watching hockey and it’s something we do seasonally. For one of our past Festibond dates, we went to see a Portland Pirates’ game. However, they no longer play in Maine so my dad suggested we go to a Boston Bruins’ game.

We booked a train to the city and tickets to the game. Dad picked me up early from school on Thursday to catch the 14:47 departure. The ride to Boston was mellow, but pleasant. I enjoyed conversing with Dad before napping and completed some homework considering we wouldn’t arrive home until early in the morning.

A train ride with Dad to Boston.

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Festibond 2016 Date with Skye: Brent

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For our Festibond date this year Skye suggested we watch a hockey game together, something we’ve enjoyed doing in the past. I was thrilled at the suggestion. The Portland Pirates are no longer a team here, so I suggested instead we take the Downeaster Amtrak train to Boston to see the Bruins. I’ve been wanting to see them since we moved to New England back in 2007. I got us two of the last seats available, then booked business class tickets on the train.

The following day, Thursday, Skye got out of her last block a bit early. I picked her up from school and we headed to the train station in Saco. The ride down was uneventful. We both planned to do work so brought our laptops and iPads, but it occurred to me on the train that we would not be able to bring our backpacks into the TD Garden, and because of terrorism we would likely not find public lockers at North Station. Fortunately, a Google search pointed me to a blog that suggested we might be able to leave them at Sullivan’s Tap for a small fee. When we got to Boston we found the dive bar and, sure enough, they let us leave our bags for $10 each.

We were early to the game, which was fine. We found our seats and got some food. Skye got fried chicken tenders and I got a sausage with onions and peppers and a few beers. And shelled peanuts.

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Festibond 2016 – Hayley

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Festibond this year was great, as usual. It’s sad to have Mom missing from the tradition, but we enjoyed each others company and the wonderful activities. We began the morning on Festibond with everyone pretty much getting up and begin to get ready for the day. There was also some working on the letters to each other. Once everyone was up and ready (in our matching clothes) we headed to Miss Portland Diner for breakfast. It was a short wait for a booth in the old part of it.

Breakfast at Miss Portland Diner

The food was good, and the discussions were great. It’s always very nice to spend time like this as a family. We next returned home, where, in a manner reflected across the last few Festibonds, we completed our letters. I was the last to finish mine, and as I so/after I completed them, we set up the snacks. The things to be done were mostly the assembly of the food and cutting up fruit and vegetables/quickly making the dips for both. The previous day had been when we did a lot of the preparing, such as shopping and baking. There was fudge (made by Skye), triple chocolate chip cookies (made by me), caramel popcorn (made by Jenna, fruit and a cream cheese fruit dip, veggies and a ranch dip, crackers, cheese, meat, chips and guacamole (made by Dad), and Martinelli’s.

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Festibond 2016 – Brent

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Ten years ago Kirsten and I decided to stop celebrating Christmas with the girls. We didn’t like its symbolism, religious heritage, and most of the ways people celebrated. However, we did like the idea of spending time together with intentional focus on strengthening our relationships. We created our own traditions and called them, collectively, “Festibond.” Our Festibond celebration, in which we go on dates, write and read letters to each other, play games, put together puzzles, and eat way too many snacks, has always been my favorite day. Festibond 2016, our tenth, was Saturday. It was my favorite day of the whole year.

Kirsten died in May. Every day since has been, to some degree, more prosaic than if she were still here. I was concerned that Festibond this year would be somber instead of happy and joyful. Indeed, we missed her as we do always, but our celebration was wonderful, happy, heart-warming, and close, as I’d hoped. The girls have embraced the spirit of Festibond from its inception. Squabbles that would happen on other days don’t. Everybody pitches in to make it all happen. We smile, we laugh, there may be singing, and we give each other lots of hugs. It’s impossible to describe just how special and penetrating it is, but I am always moved and wish every day in our house could be more Festibond-like.

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