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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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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Lots of people think that apes we see today are our ancestors. They’re wrong because apes that we see today are our cousins.

You know how you have a family tree with all your uncles, aunts, grandpas, grandmas, dad, mom, brothers, sisters, and cousins? It’s the same with apes. They have a family tree with their different species. We’re on the ape family tree because we are a species of apes. There are hundreds of species of apes. There’s neandertals, australopithecines, paranthropus, homo erectus, homo sapiens, homo antecessor, and a whole bunch of others. Our tree is full of ape species.

Most ape species come from Africa and climb trees. We apes, evolved through time. Instead of walking on four hands and climbing trees, we walk on two feet. It’s amazing how we can get new techniques as we evolve. We apes now have better speech and technology, thanks to evolution.

The past few months I’ve been going through the process of becoming a member of the Scarborough Fish and Game Association. It’s a 177 acre facility with many ranges across many shooting disciplines. Tuesday evening the membership finally voted me in as the newest member. Wednesday evening I took Skye down to the club and shot a paper target on one of the utility ranges. We both had a lot of fun.

Skye was very safe. She listened intently as I briefed her on safety procedures, range rules and firearm operations. She primarily shot with my Ruger Mark III Hunter .22 pistol. When that got heavy she switched to my Glock G26 9mm, but she didn’t like the harder recoil.

Her shots early were high and to the right. After discussing techniques to improve her accuracy she was able to shoot a loose grouping around the center of the target. I was quite proud.

We had a great time. She says she wants to go again, which I think is terrific. She’s an excellent shooter.

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I love Maine for many reasons. It’s the nicest place I’ve ever lived.

We have an ocean and mountains and lakes and woods and lighthouses. We have real seasons. I love to see the first snows of winter, see the new buds on the trees in spring, visit the hot sandy beach in summer, and photograph the beautiful foliage in autumn.

We have excellent hiking trails and beautiful islands around which to kayak.

I also love the proximity to Boston, New York and Montreal.

New Englanders are smarter than the people in other regions of the country. That’s a relief, for sure!

[audio:daddy_hayley.mp3]

Brent: What is so great about Family Night?

Hayley: I think it’s so great because we can all get together and have a time to be together and, like, spend time with each other.
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[audio:skye_daddy.mp3]

Skye: If you could change your full name to anything, what would you change it to?

Brent: I wouldn’t.
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A couple days ago Jason Gendron and I decided to go on a cruise in Casco Bay. We quickly sketched out some plans and Jason invited the rest of the Maine Flickr Meetup Group.

This morning the girls and I met Jason for breakfast at the Palace Diner in Biddeford. It was excellent, as usual! After Jason left I met a couple guys my age and enjoyed a conversation about iPhones and education (they both had iPhones and one was a local elementary school principal).

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This morning was absolutely wonderful. I spent it with Kirsten. After dropping her off at school I went to PHL to take some pictures of my new t-shirt. It was wicked cold out!

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We did it! We made it to lucky number thirteen. I really hate to celebrate an institution for which I have so much disdain. However, any excuse to celebrate you and us is good enough for me.

I love you, Babe. You make my world go ’round. You’re sexy and smart and funny. You’re the best mom on the planet and a damn good lover.

You complete me. I look forward to the next year together, and I cherish the hours, minutes and seconds.

Cheers.