BenSpark Family Adventures

Photo-A-Day #357 03/31/06 We are staying at the All-Star Movies resort. Our hotel theme is the Mighty Ducks. Our trip down was fantastic. Making use of Magical Destinations made everything so easy.

Have you seen that Disney commercial where two kids are too excited to sleep on the night before their Disney trip, Yeah, that is us right now. Dang commercials and their insidious attacks on our subconcious. So, instead of sleeping right now we are watching videos on VH1, which coincidentally actually still has videos, albeit only at 3:00am.

Photo-A-Day #356 03/30/06 Oliver and Duncan would not cooperate and get into the suitcases for a cute picture about them trying to stow away on our trip to Disney. Oh well, we leave tonight to go to a hotel near the airport for a quick trip in the morning. I can’t wait to be back at Disney again. Oliver finally cooperates on this goodbye picture. A Close up of Oliver’s sad face.

Photo-A-Day #355 03/29/06 Signs of Spring. These babies will probably be in bloom when we get back from Disney.

Photo-A-Day #354 03/28/06 Home tonight, packed for Disney. Got pretty much everything in one bag except for the helmet for the race. That will have to find a home in Allison’s bag. Duncan still chasing shadows.

No we are not expecting. Just to dispel any thoughts on that subject. Before I get all sorts of hate e-mail and phone calls, NO we are NOT expecting. But alot of our friends are expecting or in the case of Jen and Ben they have a beautiful baby boy named Brett who was born yesterday. Brett arrived on Monday, March 27, 2006 at 3:53 PM. (He shares the birthday with my sister Tara) He was 9 lbs.1.9 oz. and 21 inches long. Mom and Baby Brett are both doing great! Congratulations are also in order for Derek and Michelle, they are expecting and will be having a treat around Halloween. These are the babies I know about and have been given the clearance to post about. Congratulations to all of our friends and their growing families.

Have you heard the group of morons on the radio who talk about the NBC shows for that evening’s lineup. I absolutely hate them and hate the concept of whoever came up with this advertising scheme. I hate it when the regular radio personalities talk about the TV shows for that night and who always, always, always get something wrong about the show. At least the fake radio friends get it right about each show but it is so annoying. Stop it!

Photo-A-Day #353 03/27/06 So, I got one more piece of equipment for the feet. Yep, I have Superfeet inserts, Toe Crests, and now the Pediflex binders. I had another doctor’s visit today and I’m on icing my feet 3 times daily for 15 minutes each time plus the additional foot accoutrements. Dont worry Im still going to give it my best shot at the marathon on Sunday. The final race details just came out and Im not that happy. The reason is that there are no buses from our hotel to the start of the race. The only hotel that is getting bus service is the Pop Century resort. I was unaware of this before we made plans for the trip. Had I known we probably would have stayed at Pop Century instead of All Star movies, but in this case well have to get a taxi to drop me off and to get Allison over to the Boardwalk to watch me go by. The good news is that I have been reading the map incorrectly. I thought that the race route went along the road and then into Epcot then through the Boardwalk Area a...

Photo-A-Day #352 03/26/06 Happy Birthday Tara. Tonight we celebrated Tara’s birthday (Which is tomorrow) at the Colonel Blackinton Inn in Attleboro. We had a fantastic dinner and stayed there for about 3 hours. Erik had us get there before they did to surprise Tara, she was surprised. We had a great time.

Photo-A-Day #351 03/25/06 Allison and I spent a real homebody day. We did some cleaning, laundry and then caught an afternoon movie Failure to Launch (very funny, go see it), then we went to Dick’s Sporting Goods to get me a new pair of rollerblades for the marathon next Sunday. (I’ll break em in between now and then.) Then Allison got a nice grown up coat at Burlington Coat Factory and we had lunch at Memphis BBQ. Then we caught up on some of the taped shows from the past week. Oliver and Duncan fought for the clothes basket, Oliver won. Why duncan didn’t just sit in the other identical one is unknown.

Photo-A-Day #350 03/24/06 Tonight Allison and I went to dinner with Jenn, Beth, Amy and Ryan to Not Your Average Joes in Needham MA. I landed in Providence and shot up there to catch up just as they were about to order (they waited for me, very nice of them.) We hung out there till about 20 of 10 and then headed home. A very nice night out. I am burnt and wiped out and ready to get some sleep.

Photo-A-Day #349 03/23/06 I demonstrated in Marshall, MN today and then drove back to Sioux Falls, SD. I’m hanging out at a Fairfield Inn tonight and then off to home tomorrow. This ends a marathon week of work, and travel but next week I have one demonstration over the web and then we head to Disney on Friday. It will be nice to head out on a vacation even if it is a small one. I didn’t find much today for a picture, I walked around the Empire Mall here in Sioux Falls and didn’t see anything to take a photo of and then as I walked to my hotel I saw this guy letting the water loose from the fire hydrant and decided to take this. The whole street got flooded for a bit and so I had to hop up on the curb and dash around the water.

Photo-A-Day #348 03/22/06 Well, I finished my first trade show. Finished a presentation project that I worked on and presented with Peter. Now I am waiting to fly to my next site for a demo tomorrow in Marshall,MN. I fly to Sioux Falls, SD on a flight that was delayed and than not delayed so who knows when it will happen. Looking forward to an early night on my own timeclock. Only about one week till our trip to Disney. I also found out that Christopher Williams is going to be back at the Lyon’s Den in Norton on April 6th. That will be pretty sweet to get a picture of Christopher during the final week of one year’s work on the Photo-A-Day project. I’m going to continue it of course, it has become something I look forward too each day and I hope that you do too. Tthe plane did not leave on time, big surprise. I did finish both of the Lost books: Endangered Species and Secret Identity. Both were decent reads and having read all three while Lost has been in re-runs has made me so look for...

Photo-A-Day #347 03/21/06 Still in Charlotte and still obsessed with this park. I could spend all day there just enjoying the little things all over it. Unfortunately the weather is not letting me do that. Buzznet just added a fantastic feature I can post this to buzznet and to myspace at the same time. No more double duty, until you get to blogger, then I have to do double duty but for the most part this will post to both buzznet and myspace at the same exact time. I added more pictures to the North Carolina Gallery

Photo-A-Day #346 03/20/06 At the conference to set up early this morning, I stopped in the park to take this picture. All over the park are these signs. I really like this park, the theme is called art in the park. I added a few more images to the Charlotte, North Carolina gallery. Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote Tarzan of the Apes and the John Carter of Mars series.

Photo-A-Day #345 03/19/06 Day two in Charlotte, NC. I can see why many people are moving down here. It is a great city. And it is the center of the known world, or at least according to this sign it is. I really like being in this city. The park where this sign resides is a beautiful little oasis in the city that has many nice artistic touches including signposts that point to actual towns but when put together give the name of an author. I took a picture of the Mark Twain one, since he is great. I got a bunch more photos and will upload them as soon as I get a real internet connection instead of dial up. Maybe I’ll upload them tomorrow morning before the show starts up again.

Photo-A-Day #344 03/18/06 That crazy St. Patrick, dancing down the street banishing snakes. I am in Charlotte, NC and apparently they think it is Saint Patrick’s day because there was a parade through the middle of the main drag downtown. I know this because I arrived as it was just beginning. That meant that I had to improvise my directions somewhat because the place I wanted to be was directly on the other side of the marching bands, college floats and bagpipers. But since Charlotte is laid out as a city should be, not the jumbled mess of say I don’t know, Boston. I was able to pretty much go up and around the corner and come back down another street and get to the hotel no problem. I parked the car and then chanced checking in (because if you know me I was at my hotel extremely early, well before check in time.) They had a room for me so I went out to watch the parade and then when I had had enough I went in and got myself situated because I will be in Charlotte for 4 nights, yep th...

Photo-A-Day #343 03/17/06 Happy Saint Patrick’s Day everyone! Today is one of my most favorite eating holidays. For the past few years 3 including this one (I think) we have made Corned Beef and Cabbage and Potatoes and Carrots in the Crock Pot. This year we have two Crock Pots going all day to make over 8 pounds of Corned Beef. Why 8 Pounds? We are having a dinner of ten people tonight and want to make sure that there is enough left over for Allison to make some Corned Beef Hash! Although I leave for North Carolina tomorrow morning so none for me. In case you don’t know about all the history of Saint Patrick’s Day, here is a children’s site that explains it pretty well. Why a children’s site? I did a search and this one was the most easily accessible to all. Tonight we had Andy and Rondi over for dinner. Tara and Erik and Mom and Dad and Elise were also here for dinner. I made about 8 pounds of corned beef and am pretty sure I ate at least a pound of it, it feels like I did. I am so s...

Photo-A-Day #342 03/16/06 Taco Night! Tonight Allison made tacos and we hosted Jen and Elise. Elise is up this way on work and took a day off so she could stay here with Allison for the weekend.

Photo-A-Day #341 03/15/06 Ghost Cat.

Photo-A-Day #340 03/14/06 I took my Rollerblades out for the second time this week. Glad the weather has been cooperating. I am only 19 days away from the Disney 1/2 in-line marathon. I am actually selling the protective gear seen here. They are slightly used, a few scrapes and whatnot but the kneepads are stretched out and do not fit anymore. Someone with bigger knees would be better suited to these ones. The wrist guards and elbow pads are in perfect shape but you can’t find just knee pads anywhere. So I bought a new set of all three pairs. They fit great and I am feeling very excited about the 1/2 marathon.

Photo-A-Day #339 03/13/06 I’ve got to get out of the house, A picture of Oliver almost every day for the past week. But he is just so dang cute. Tonight Allison and I went to the Fortune House for dinner. Great meal as usual.

Photo-A-Day #338 03/12/06 Today was a nice little lazy day at home. I toyed with various focal points for this picture and decided that the focus on the paws was the best photo of the bunch. I love the detail in the texture of the blanket and the sharpness of fur on Oliver’s back leg.

Photo-A-Day #337 03/11/06 So after the Buffett ticket blitz, Allison and I went to the mall so she could use a gift card from Filenes. While she was in Filenes I went to borders and got the other two LOST novels, I tried to call her and then tried to find her and eventually found her in. Then I sat on a bench to begin reading the book. All of a sudden I noticed that some little kid is barreling towards me with those light up shoes. He stops in front of my and begins to wave. I see this out of my peripheral vision, I slowly look up in my, oh so patient way, all the while thinking, “Where are this kid’s parents?” when I then recognize that it is my cousin Matt’s son Keith. So my expression changes and I am very happy to see Keith because he is such a happy and joyful kid, and I know him. I look over and Matt and Annie are laughing. We made plans to have dinner together later this evening. We went home and I tested out my Rollerblades (you know because I’m doing 13 miles on them in 3 week...

Hulk mad and apparently constipated. It is once again Jimmy Buffett ticket time and also time for the yearly rant about the suckiness of the big evil ticket giant Ticket -#!@$!’n- Master. Actually this year we did much better than last year. Marcia was 2nd in line at Filenes and she got 6 reserved lawn tickets for Saturday. But guess what? We can’t even use them! So it looks like Thursday will most likely be the day that we may be looking to trade for tickets. Shouldn’t be a problem. My buddy Peter got 6 reserved lawn tickets for Thursday. We are buying two from him. We used AOL Instant messenger to communicate while buying tickets, it was a fast and frantic morning, but overall pretty fun way to do something like this. Allison and I got blocked out of the site and got nothing. In preparation for getting tickets this year I put on my Far Side of the World 2002 shirt and my Mardis Gras beads, a Hawaiian shirt, three Buffett books, (Where is Joe Merchant, A Salty Piece of Land and Tales ...

Photo-A-Day #336 03/10/06 Today’s photo was inspired by today’s comic on You’ll Have That. Notice how it looks like Duncan is twisted all around. The bonus photo is of Oliver and Duncan being good brothers and nice to eat other. And that didn’t even end up in a fight (which happens a lot)  

Yesterday I was traveling from Minneapolis to Providence. I got to the airport early and wandered around poking into the shops and getting some breakfast, I took the Snoopy picture below and then I made my way to the gate. At the gate I noticed someone who looked familiar to me. But I wasn’t sure so I didn’t go over and say anything. I would hate to make a mistake and find out that someone wasn’t who I thought they were. My flight from MSP (Minneapolis/Saint Paul) went to ORD (Chicago) and from there on to PVD (Providence), spend many days in the airports and cities no longer have names. I thought to myself, if this person is who I think she is then she is from Rhode Island so if she is in the waiting area for this flight then she is definitely who I am thinking she is. Well she was in the waiting area but I still did not go over and say hello. I kept wondering if she would recognize me but she did not. I got on the flight and saw her and her traveling companion get on the flight. I ha...

I am a bit behind on this one because there are already three of them out there but this week’s book picks are the novelizations of the TV show LOST. Today I read book #3 Signs of Life and it was pretty good, I now have to read books #1 Endangered Species and #2 Secret Identity because I think that there are things from the other books that connect to book #3. It was a good book, entertaining and it captured the characters pretty well. Here is a list of the books planned at this time. Lost: Endangered Species Lost: Secret Identity Lost: Signs of Life Lost #4 Lost #5

Photo-A-Day #335 03/09/06 This is a nice Snoopy and Woodstock statue that is in the Minneapolis Airport. I’m not sure why it is there but it made me smile.

Photo-A-Day #334 03/08/06 Today after my demonstration today I drove back to Minneapolis and went to the Mall of America. That place is huge I walked around for hours and had dinner at Famous Daves. There is an amusement park in the middle of the mall. It is a fantastic mall. Great time. The place is huge! A three story Lego store!

Photo-A-Day #333 03/07/06 I am in Redwood Falls, MN. It is about a 2 1/2 hour drive from the MSP airport. The hotel I am in is a non chain called the Redwood Valley Lodge. It is a basic hotel with paper thin walls and the WWF is staying right above me, at least it feels that way. I drove for hours along a seemingly endless road through towns like Screaming Otter Gulch and Wild Turkey Gullet or something like that (not real names of town but close). This is the famous Pizza Barn, it is a midwest thing. It is a good place to eat, they have a giant pizza buffet that also includes chicken too. Apparently they cater to the Lenten crowd. Interesting. I finished reading Fluke today, good book.

Photo-A-Day #332 03/06/06 Here is our dapper duncan relaxing on the couch. I just love taking pictures of our cats.

Photo-A-Day #331 03/05/06 Stopped at Dan and Marcia’s today. We had a nice lunch with Dan and Marcia and Aunt Sandy. Took some pictures of Bonnie and Clyde, this one came out best, it is Bonnie.

Photo-A-Day #330 03/04/06 Tried to send a PAD via the Treo, it went to the wrong gallery, and it looked terrible. Went snowshoeing and took a bunch of nice pictures.  On Monday I wrote a blog post about this past weekend's trip to go snowshoeing in New Hampshire with Uncle Wayne and Aunt Cindy. Allison and I had a great time with Uncle Wayne and Aunt Cindy trekking from the Kancamagus to Waterville Valley. On Friday Allison and I rode into work together and then up to New Hampshire. A couple of traffic snafus along the way but we finally made it to Woodstock NH by 9:45pm, actually earlier than anticipated. We spent some time catching up with Aunt Cindy and Uncle Wayne and their friend Barbara. We watched the new show Conviction and then headed to bed. Our snowshoe trip last year took us up and downhill for a very long day ending in a steady uphill climb to the Zealand Falls hut. It was a tremendously fun trip but very challenging. This weekend's trip was to be a vast contrast f...

Photo-A-Day #329 03/03/06 Not a great picture but very colorful. That is one of the things I love about my desk, it has personality. This week has been long and tough. Allison and I are heading up north after work to go Snowshoe with my Aunt Cindy and Uncle Wayne in New Hampshire. It will be nice to get out and get some fun exercise. Oh and get some great outdoor shots as well. Finally something interesting to take pictures of.

Photo-A-Day #328 03/02/06 Back home and our little Oliver is admiring, mom and dad’s honeymoon scrapbook.

Photo-A-Day #327 03/01/06 Live from the Elmira/Corning Airport. This is a prop that was hanging on the wall in the area right before the security checkpoint. (I’m too burnt out form the past two days to come up with something really interesting to write about right now.)