BenSpark Family Adventures

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #00851 Tonight Andy was helping one of his friends create a Spider-Man in clay. His friend wanted to make the Spider-Man for her father who was coming home for the first time in several months. I noticed how well Andy does at explaining how to do simple steps. He’s also very patient with his friends, very much like he was with his cousins a couple weeks back. In addition to his Spider-Man he also made a little gingerbread house and a fox. He’s got a lot of talent for making things out of clay. Way more than I would.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #00850 I backed a Kickstarter for a band called Rock Sugar. They make some great music by making mashups of rock and roll and pop. They made an album called Reimaginator back in 2010. It has been ten years and their latest album is Reinventinator with 13 new songs. I can’t even tell you how many songs they wove together in each son, there are so many. I keep hearing something new with every listen. The album coins look incredible. Today was Stripe test for all of us at Karate and Krav. I managed to capture one photo of Eva while she was doing her test. She is fierce.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #00849 As I have been cleaning out the office and garage and basement and attic I have been finding things that I packed up when I moved my office from one side of the house to the other. In one of the boxes there were some items that I could put up on the walls but also some of my collection of Wheeljack Transformers figures. That is my favorite character so I try and make sure that I pick up any of the figures that I can find. There is a Masterpiece version out there but that may prove to be a little too expensive to get.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #00848 I’ve got to make some room in my garage for a training dummy. I purchased the BAS Body Action system and need space to set it up. So, I am going to take some things from the garage and put them in the attic and the basement so that I have enough room to use to work out. I’m also going to finally set up the water barrels. I placed an order for the water diverters to complete the setup.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #00847 It is National Pretzel Day and instead of a giant soft pretzel I went with the pretzel rods today. I usually pick up a tub of Utz Pretzel rods for snacking at work but the kids discovered them and they like them as well. I’ve discovered that I enjoy them a lot with the Onion and Chive Philly Cream Cheese. Not sure how I discovered that. I think one time I was looking for a dip and there wasn’t anything that I really liked so I tried the cream cheese and it was very good. It is also very good on salt bagels from Tasty’s. Maybe that is because they are like soft pretzels in their own right.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #00846 Not another birthday cake but Andy wanted to make a cake to enjoy with Mimi and Dano. He baked it the other day and decorated it. He was so excited to serve it to everyone tonight. We hung around home today. Had Chinese food, watched Spider-Man Homecoming, which Eva swears she never saw, but she did see it and then had some cake after the movie. It was a nice sendoff day to Mimi and Dano.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #00845 Today was a full day. It started off with a seminar at the Karate school. This was a special seminar with John Whitman. He showed us long gun defense and it was a really great seminar. When it was over he hung around a bit and we were able to get some photos taken together. Tonight we went to Roger Williams Park Zoo for the Asian Lantern Spectacular. This was a really nice event where we walked all around the zoo and were able to see huge lanterns that looked like animals. We got in at 5:30 so it wasn’t that dark, but once it got dark it really was incredible. I made a daily vlog about it.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #00844 I picked up a new piece of equipment, a GoPro Hero MAX. This is a waterproof camera that records video and stills and also makes 360 videos. I plan to use this on my kayak this Summer and make a bunch of videos for my YouTube channel. The camera is really cool and can do some major high end recording. So be on the lookout for more content with me using that camera.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #00843 Fortnite has crossed into the physical comic book world with the World’s Greatest Detective, Batman. This is not the first time that Fortnite has been a part of a comic, though. A few seasons back was the MArvel season and there was a digital comic that you could read on Fortnite that starred Thor and the characters of Fortnite. Now there is a comic with Batman that will go deeper into the story of Fortnite and what is happening this season. The comic came out great and if you purchase it you get a special code to unlock a new outfit within the game. The outfit is of Rebirth Harley Quinn. There will be several comics released in the next few weeks and months and each one of them will include a code for an outfit. I picked up two of each comic because I will be doing a giveaway of the comics once I have all of them in hand.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #00842 While we were at the Cape we were joined by the cousins. Andy brought some clay with him and he taught both of the cousins how to make clay turtles. He did a really nice job of instructing the kids. He was patient and he explained things very well. The kids made a bunch of turtles. The kids had an egg hunt and they had fun doing that, too. I think they really liked being able to spend time playing with their cousins. It has been a challenge not to be able to visit with everyone. It was also nice to spend a few days on the Cape with my parents. The kids enjoyed having fun with them, too. We did movies and walks and lots of fun things. We’re getting them ready for the Summer ahead.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #00841 Eva has all sorts of fashion ideas. Her auntie found some fun things at a thrift shop. Two of those things were a dress and a collared shirt. Eva envisioned them made into a jacket with her aunt’s help. So, between the two of them they created the jacket that Eva is wearing. There are a few more things that still need to be added to the jacket but they got pretty close to being completely finished. Eva joined me on my vlog today to talk about it.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #00840 We went to the Cape today. It is school vacation week and we are spending some time with my parents. We were unable to see them during Easter so now we are celebrating a late Easter. I took the kids down with me and Allison had her sewing class so she stayed home and will join us tomorrow. Andy lost his iPad for a few days and I took him for a walk over to the little pond near the house so he could do some exploring in the natural world instead of a Minecraft one. He was reluctant to go with me at first but once we got there he was excited to see the snails and other creatures.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #00839 Over the past week Eva has done some major cleaning in her room and because of that she has rediscovered some half begun projects like this Loop by Loop art project. She was working on it tonight. I actually got fairly decent sleep today. So nothing much else is going on.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #00838 After yesterday’s vlog and it being so depressing about the cat I figured I would talk today about some Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles toys that I have. Hot Wheels has made some character cars for the four turtles and The Shredder. They also made a replica of the Turtles’ Party Wagon, their yellow and green van. There were also some Hot Wheels Monster Trucks. I’m always on the lookout for Hot Wheels Character cars. I had collected the Star Wars ones for a while and the Marvel ones but I stopped Star Wars because thee were just too many. Marvel ones come out so sporadically that I still get them when I can. But occasionally there are other ones that come out that are just too good to pass up. The Disney ones are amazing and now there are Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ones that are done so well. This afternoon Allison had a special zoom baking session with some of her friends. They made Strawberry Tiramisu. We had that with a very nice dinner that Allison prepar...

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #00837 I did buy a few new toys for my birthday. One of them is this new Soundwave figure that is part of the Transformers R.E.D. line. This is a poseable non transforming line of Transformers. They are great for posing into show accurate positions. For example this is Soundwave ejecting Laserbeak from his chest. The set even included hands that were set for specific positions so that Soundwave could perform the ejecting motion. Our cat, James, is having some issues. I talk about it in today’s vlog.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #00836 This morning on my walk a hawk landed over on the park. It was hopping around a bit. I thought it might have something in its talons. The image is zoomed because, obviously, I’m not getting close to a hawk. They are my favorite bird, too. Once in a while there is one that perches on our roof or in one of our trees. Around my place they do have their pick of prey, too. Tons of squirrels. Maybe those ladies feeding the squirrels in the park are just fattening them up for the hawk.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #00835 We’re back walking at the park in the mornings and it is a great time of year because we are seeing the beautiful sunrises that are happening each morning. Allison and I will start the walk and then she’ll head home to get ready for school. I will keep walking a few more times around the park and every other day I will run a few times around the park. I got myself some new bluetooth headphones that will stay in my ears as I run around the park. I also have a special vest coming that will hold my phone for me. It is also reflective. I don’t really run on the road or at night but it is a good safety feature.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #00834 Spring has arrived and with it are new Hosta shoots. Soon they will be blooming and covering all of that area around a tree on the yard. The tree is blossoming, too. In an instant the whole yard will be green. Of course, that means that the Wisteria is going to go crazy, too. I’ll be trimming that back very, very soon.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #00833 I’m using the fitbit more now because I got back into walking and have also started running. I have to run a mile for my krav black belt test and I have to run it in a certain amount of time. Today I went and got over 10,000 steps for the first time in a long time. This will be a more regular thing as I continue to train.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #00832 Both kids enjoy playing Minecraft. Andy plays way more often but when Eva gets the chance she makes some pretty spectacular stuff. Minecraft is a game I simply cannot get into. It is first person and that makes me a little woozy just thinking about it. I much prefer a third person perspective when I am gaming. I like being able to see my character actually doing the things. However, the kids really enjoy playing this game and they are always creating fun worlds to play in.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #00831 Allison has made many amazing things through knitting. Her most recent creation is a sweater that she made with some mystery yard that she purchased a while back but didn’t like the project for it so she put the yard away and found another pattern that she did like. So she finished the project today and also blocked it and was ready to wear it out. I also took a photo of the sweater from the back. She did an amazing job.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #00830 I often share my birthday with other events. Back when I used to travel and go to movie premieres and stuff like that I had some incredible birthday adventures at age 41 and 43. I’ve also had birthdays where I’ve attended the annual Father Daughter dance at Eva’s school. Last year it was cancelled completely because of the pandemic. This year we could do a virtual father Daughter Dance. We bought kits that included sparkling cider, cups, a candle, a frame and a gift card to the whisk and paddle bakery. I think the actual date was for tomorrow night but I got a very good shave and a beard trim so that I could take my new license photo today. We started off by getting dressed up. Eva was looking quite sharp in her vest and pants. She did her hair fancy, too. We opened the sparkling cider and had a toast. Then we put on some music on our phones and danced a round for a while in the back yard. I can only wonder what the neighbors thought of that. I took the nig...

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #00829 Hasbro makes some pretty amazing action figures. I have always loved Transformers and I have a ton but I saw these new Transformers R.E.D. figures and had to pick them up. They have made five Generation One figures so far. I have picked up Optimus Prime and Megatron and have Soundwave and Bumblebee on order. The only other one I know of is Starscream but he appears to be an exclusive or something because I can’t seem to place an order for him. I’ll have to make sure I check Walmart once in a while to see if I can find him like I found Megatron and Optiums Prime. I like these figures because you can interchange their hands and put them into poses from the movie and the cartoon. They even come with the energon weapons that they only used in the first episode. That was a nice touch for the fans.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #00828 Allison made me a very nice cake tonight. However, the cakes each sat in the pans a little too long and they did not come out cleanly. Oh well, it is nothing that a little extra frosting can’t fix. I walked in and she said “Shhh.. don’t tell dad about his cake.” We laughed like crazy over it When I went to take a photo of this cake. I am pretty sure she did not want me to share this cake fail. Oh well, it still tastes great and Allison knows how to fix it so I’d have never even noticed.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #00827 When LEGO started making Mech suits for some of the Super Heroes and Villains of the Marvel Universe I started picking them up. I built the Captain America one recently because I have been watching a lot of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. That is the new show on Disney + and it is awesome! The events take place after those of Avengers: Endgame. It plays like a big time action movie and I’m loving the interaction between the two main characters. They work very well together in this show and I am excited to see what happens in the last couple episodes. We’ve already seen so much and there are many surprises to come.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #00826 Thirteen years ago I took a photo of a pigeon. A few months ago I was approached by someone who wanted to use the photo for a book cover. The book came out recently and they sent me a free copy. They also sent a very nice note and some money. It was a very nice sentiment. We are looking forward to reading the book. If you want to get a copy or learn what it is all about check out their page at Payhip. – https://payhip.com/tripledeckerpress. Last year when the pandemic hit Andy and I were training with America’s Best Defense: North Attleboro – Krav Maga at home and we gave each other the stripes we earned. Last year Eva was not yet enrolled in classes. In the span of a year Andy and I advanced three more belts each. Green then Brown. Then Andy earned Advanced Brown and I, Red. Eva enrolled in Jr. Krav Maga and earned White, Yellow, Orange and then her Purple last week. I can’t wait to see where we are in another year’s time.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #00825 It is a little crazy that for the second Easter in a row we are away from our family because of the pandemic. We made do by having a mini egg hunt with the kids inside. That lasted for about 4 minutes. They are very quick now. Eva is aging out of it but will hold on. I think I was 26 on my last one. But she is keeping the magic alive for her brother. We had a fantastic lunch from Chub’s Blue Pig BBQ. We pre-ordered it and enjoyed it in the afternoon. It was a relaxing day for the most part. We did drive to parking lot church and had to park on a side street but we got to watch on Facebook Live and enjoy it. We did facetime with our families and are looking forward to the next few weeks when we can see everyone again.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #00824 Allison and the kids made some Easter cookies today. We’re ready for tomorrow and it will once again be a different sort of holiday. We’re home. We won’t be visiting my parents until school vacation week the week after next and at the end of that week the kids will she Allison’s parents so we’ll get some family time, it is just not happening on the holiday. We have a few things planned for tomorrow. We are going with our Easter meal from Chub’s Blue Pig BBQ. Last year it was from the Blackington, which was good but we figured we’d switch it up a bit this year.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #00823 The kids had a day off of school today and so we had some time together. Andy and I played some Marvel Battle World which is a game from Funko. We’ve gotten some of the figures from Funko and I’ve picked up some additional sets to try and complete the whole set of figures. We are not that close but we have plenty of them with which to play. We did open a couple new sets so we did get some additional figures plus a special edition figure. I enjoy this a lot because it is a game that Andy can get into and he has so much fun playing win or lose.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #00822 Because of the COVID close contact Eva was unable to attend Jr. Krav last Thursday which was graduation and she was graduating to her purple belt. This was a very special graduation because this means that she moved from the lower belts to Black Belt training. This means that Eva goes to another side of the room when the class splits after the warm up. Eva was so proud to earn this belt, too and it really stinks that COVID prevented her from having that moment. So, before class got under way Mr. Brochu got Eva up in front of the class and presented her the belt so that she could train that day wearing it. She was very, very proud and she was also elated because one of her friends in the class was there and he also advanced to purple belt. She did not think that was going to happen and she was thrilled to see him in class and wearing a purple belt. It is buddy week so the curriculum doesn’t start for the next session until next week. That means that there ar...