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.

Brent's perfect bowling form

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My date with Dad was splendid. For this date we both went bowling at Bayside Bowl in Portland, Maine. It was loud and crowded the whole time we were there, but the funny thing is that I completely forgot all the noise when we were putting on our bowling shoes.

Dad bowling

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Festibond this year was on December 27. We went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast, like we did last year. It was really loud and distracting. I ordered cinnamon streusel French toast with bacon and eggs. The streusel tasted like cinnamon rolls. It was very delicious. I also ordered hot cocoa. The food was good, but we didn’t enjoy Cracker Barrel very much, so we’re planning to go to Sea Dog Brewing next year.

Breakfast at Cracker Barrel

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It was the 3rd of January. But not just the 3rd of January. Tonight it was date time for me and Dad.

I got dressed and everything. I wore a pink skirt with a belt, white tights, a white collared button down shirt tucked in, leather boots, a ponytail and a rose clip in my hair.

I brought my lyrics book just in case I wanted to sing in the car. But I still suggested I wouldn’t need it, because I would be talking to Dad on the way to the Cinemagic movie theater.

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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.

Little Fockers

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One of our Festibond traditions is going on dates with mom and dad. First I went on a date with Mom. We went to “Silly’s,” a restaurant in Portland, Maine. The first time I went to Silly’s (with the whole family), the place was crowded. So we couldn’t, shouldn’t, and wouldn’t eat there. This was my first time eating at Silly’s. Mom and I had fun pointing out what was silly. They had pictures hanging on the wall that had stickers saying “eat at Silly’s” somewhere in the picture in funny places, the menus were in lunch boxes, the ceiling lights were decorated to look funny, and so on. I ordered “the Elvis shake” that Mom showed me. It’s a milkshake with peanut butter and bananas. You have GOT to try it! I don’t know how to explain it, but I hope these three words will work. It. Was. Awesome. That was basically my whole lunch, because I didn’t like the $7 pepperoni pizza I ordered. I only ate one tiny slice. Oh, and the slices were small.

Drinking my "Elvis" shake at Silly's

Yesterday the girls and I spent some time at Fort Williams while we waited for Kirsten to be moved to a proper bed on the sixth floor. We had a great time climbing on the rocks and playing wiffleball.

Supra-Orbital Craniotomy
Kirsten Uhler, Cogitations, August 23, 2009

We climbed on the rocks before playing wiffleball

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Today Kirsten and I had the opportunity to visit Jenna and her classmates for an “Author’s Tea Party”. Jenna read to us a non-fiction book and then a book she wrote titled, “All About Wildlife”.

She did a fantastic job writing and illustrating her book. She discussed classes of animals, geology and the environment, dietary requirements, evolution, extinction and predation.

While reading her book she skipped the following sentence so as not to offend her classmates or their parents:

None of anything is made by Mother Nature or God. It’s all called Science.

After each pupil read their book the group was allowed one comment and one question. After one boy read about “little stars” Jenna asked, “How do you know the stars are small unless you’ve seen one up close?” Brilliant question, I thought.

Jenna listened as Miss Holland addressed the audience

Jenna read to us a non-fiction book

Jenna read to our group her book, All About Wildlife

Jenna likes the science section best

Jenna and Thomas, a past crush

Jenna and her second grade teacher, Miss Holland

Yesterday Jenna turned eight years old. We celebrated all day. Kirsten had to work; we missed her.

Jenna and I made blueberry muffins for breakfast. We enjoyed the parade at the 36th Annual Old Port Festival before having lunch with Kirsten at the hospital. After lunch the girls played at the Children’s Museum of Maine for several hours. In the evening we ordered pepperoni pizza from Papa John’s and the girls watched a video Jenna selected at Movie Gallery. When Kirsten got home Jenna opened gifts. It was a terrific celebration.

Jenna prefers Jiffy muffins to muffins with real blueberries

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What did the pickle say when he wanted to play a card game?

Dill me in!

What did the teacher say to Gwen when her pencil broke?

Get a penguin!

What do you get when you have a nervous cow?

A milk shake!