Skye and I went to Otto’s Pizza and a Portland Pirates’ game for our Festibond date. It was her idea, and I was pretty excited about it.

During the drive to Portland we talked about Skye’s relationships with her sisters, Festibond, homeschool and what it’s like to be an adolescent girl. It was nice to get to know Skye better and have some exclusive time with her.

Otto’s was good, as usual. Skye ordered her favorite slice: mashed potato, bacon, and scallion. I got one of those and a pepperoni (the sauce is crazy delish). We continued our conversation from the drive, which was nice.

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This year Hayley wanted to go ice skating for our Festibond date. Which was great, because I wanted to go, too.

Unfortunately, when we arrived at the Portland Ice Arena we discovered that it’s a cash-only operation and I only had $2. We walked down the hill to a credit union with a drive-up-only ATM. So we walked a bit further and found an ATM that would dispense the cash we needed. It was a chilly walk that took time away from skating, but it was nice being together. I gave Hayley a piggy-back and shoulder ride much of the way, which she enjoyed.

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My Festibond date with Jenna yesterday was wonderful. She asked to go bowling, then to dinner. So that’s what we did.

We bowled at Bayside Bowl for an hour. Jenna used the lane bumpers, but got good enough that she wasn’t using them much. She asked for lots of bowling tips, and I gladly gave her my best advice. One thing I love about Jenna is her dedication to perfection and perseverance. Many times she made her approach only to stop, reset and try again. She makes me very proud.

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It’s been five years since we stopped celebrating Christmas and made up our own tradition: Festibond. While our Festibond activies have evolved over the years–we didn’t give each other gifts this year–we have kept true to the intent: maximize family bonds through quality time, letters of affection and lots of hugs. Festibond 2011 has been all that and more.

Yesterday morning we started Festibond at Cracker Barrel in South Portland. It was less than awesome, but we enjoyed being together. After breakfast I finished writing my letter to Kirsten while she and the girls made final preparations of the bounty of tasty snacks.

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Skye went skiing! Her school had a “BAM Day,” in which students were able to choose activities to expose them to new and fun physical activities. Although skiing was one of the more expensive of the many choices, I encouraged her to do it because I not-so-secretly want her to be my partner on the slopes. As the day approached she was nervous, but excited. I was, too.

I wasn’t going to go, as I didn’t want to be one of “those dads.” Read the rest of this entry…

Hayley and I watched “Gulliver’s Travels” for our Festibond date. It was a fun movie we both enjoyed. It’s always fun to see Hayley laugh out loud. The theater was mostly empty, which was nice. Hayley enjoyed her milk chocolate cookie dough bites, popcorn and lemonade.

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When I first asked Jenna where she wanted to go on our Festibond date she said to the Boston Museum of Science. That was a bit too much. Her next request was sledding, but unfortunately the good snow we got on Festibond had mostly melted by the time we were ready to go on our date. We both settled for the movies even though, as she stated emphatically, it wouldn’t be conducive to us bonding much.

We sat in the middle of a mostly empty theater and shared a medium popcorn while we watched “Little “Fockers.” It was mostly dumb, but Jenna seemed to enjoy it and told me several times how much she enjoyed being on a date with me.

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As part of our Festibond traditions I take each daughter out on a date. Kirsten does the same. It has been a great way for us to strengthen the individual bonds that make our family close. Skye asked me to take her ice skating for our date. I think she got the idea from Kirsten’s date with Hayley. Regardless, I was excited to spend time with Skye. Also, it has been about twenty-five years since I’d last skated and I knew it was going to be fun. I played ice hockey as a kid in Alaska and remember those years with fondness.

The Family Skate Center in Falmouth is a wonderful facility that features both an indoor hockey rink and an outdoor skating pond. After Skye and I had our skates laced up we headed outside where Maine was experiencing unseasonably balmy 40+°F temperatures. Much like my return to snowboarding the week prior, I was a little rusty on skates. I could stay upright, cross-over in the turns and skate backwards, but none of it was pretty. Skye had been only one other time and was quite unsteady. I didn’t mind, and enjoyed holding her hand as we made our turns around the frozen pond.

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Festibond is a celebration our family invented in 2007. It’s quite simple, and more wonderful than I can possibly express. Essentially, we write each other letters before the big day and assemble them into keepsake booklets. Then, on the day we celebrate Festibond, we go to breakfast as a family. After breakfast we read each other our letters, open a few gifts and give lots of hugs. After the letters are read we spend the rest of the day playing games, talking, watching movies, eating snacks and whatever else we enjoy doing together. We have never had Festibond on Christmas day, because on Christmas nothing is open and that would be inconvenient.

This year we did Festibond on December 27th. It was blizzard conditions outside, which I really liked. We ate our breakfast at the new Cracker Barrel in South Portland. The food was okay, and it was very nice to all be together.

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Today my dad and I went on a date to the Falmouth Family Ice Center. On the drive I enjoyed talking to my dad about school and things going on in my personal life. Even though I act embarrassed when he teases me, I like the attention that I get from him.

We had the greatest time ice skating. Outside there was a frozen pond and inside was a hockey rink. I enjoyed skating on the pond outside because the ice was not as slick as the hockey rink. It was also warmer outside. Wherever we were I was happy because I was with my dad. While many people were zipping past us, we were just slowly skating and having little conversations.

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