BenSpark Family Adventures

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01096 We spent the last day of 2021 playing games, eating and enjoying each other’s company. In between playing on Andy’s new Oculus Quest VR we played some additional games together. We started out playing some Fortnite together. I picked up the Axolotl skin for Andy so he could play as that one. He even wore his Halloween costume to play. After that we broke out the Marvel Battle Stones game from Funko. This game uses a bunch of mini characters as play pieces and there are cards that are the battles. Rolling dice and using strategy are the best ways to play this game. We have a bunch of the add-ons and extras, too. I found some of the series two packs at Big Lots and so I picked them up before Christmas. We opened up a bunch of new characters. For New Year’s Eve we usually do a big meal of appetizers and things to pick on. This usually means checking through the freezer in the basement for whatever we might have down there. We were pretty much out of stock but ...

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01095 The other day I was in the attic and moving some things around and I found an unopened Marvel Collector Corps box with some Funko Pop figures inside. I also checked on a large Star Wars box that I had that contained about 11 Funko Star Wars Pop figures inside that I had not taken out of their boxes, or at least I had kept their boxes. I used to take them out of the boxes and throw away the boxes because there was no place to store/display them all. Now that I am using Command Strips to affix them to the walls I am going to add these to the wall collection. Still not sure what to do with all the loose ones. Still no where to display them.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01094 Tonight we tried a new place for dinner. I took the family to The Broaster House in Woonsocket. I had heard about it from a guy at the dojo. He talked about it a few times and I figured that we’d try it out. The Broaster House does a family style meal with salad, fries, rolls, pasta and sauce and broasted chicken. We’ve done the family style chicken dinner at Wrights Farm and that is pretty good but I wanted to try broasted instead of baked chicken this time out. It was pretty good but bland. the only thing that had a halfway decent taste was the salad because of the dressing. Adding some salt and pepper helped bring out some more flavor but it could have been better with much better sauce on the pasta. Andy got the Oculus Quest 2 VR for Christmas. He is having a super fun time with a game called Job Simulator. We also picked up Beat Saber and he’s loving trying that one but it can be very challenging. Eva is very skilled with that game.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01093 Santa brought Andy a radio controlled car. This one is crazy. It not only has the four wheels but it can raise and lower. It also has ten rollers on each wheel so that you can drift. I would like to see it faster but it is fun to drive around. Makes me want to pick up a much faster car to drive around this Summer. Andy does enjoy having fun with the car, though. We’ll have to get it to a nice place where he can test out all the features.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01092 My sister Shelby got me this new mug for Christmas. It is a giant mug and perfect for Winter hot chocolate. I can use it to enjoy hot chocolate with some Girl Scout cookies that we bought from my niece, Kylie.

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01091 We arrived on Cape Cod yesterday afternoon and had a really nice day. Today we were joined by my sister, Shelby and her family. The kids were so excited to see their cousins and play with them. Everyone hung out on the sunporch and we opened gifts in a much less frenzied fashion then past years. I actually got to see pretty much all the gifts that the kids opened. I was excited to see what Dylan thought of his gift. He really liked a remote control car that I had at the Cape last summer but it broke so we got him one of his own. We had fun driving it around the street and yards after we opened gifts. My Uncle Jim came to the house later on and he took the photo above of the whole family. We haven’t had one of those in a while. It was nice to capture one of everyone together in the same place. Later on we had pizza for dinner and then watched the movie 8-bit Christmas. I think the kids liked it. My parents did. I also captured the above photo of my Dad’s lights. H...

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01090 Christmas arrived today and we enjoyed a nice morning at home with the kids. We started off with some amazing cinnamon rolls that Allison made. Her best in years. She learned the secret of leaving them out over night so that they puff up to be huge and fluffy. The kids enjoyed giving us the gifts that they had gotten from the Christmas Shop at school and we enjoyed seeing them enjoying the gifts that they received from us and from Santa. We decided a little after the Summer ended that this year we would get one big present for everyone in the family and that would be an inflatable paddle board. So, during October and November we received 4 of them from Amazon and I put them into the garage. We picked out different designs and each one game in the same cardboard box so it wasn’t until I opened each one today that we were able to select which paddle board each person would get. Instead of wrapping these giant boxes we covered the stack of them with a blanket ...

  We received a free copy of THE MITCHELLS VS. THE MACHINES on Blu-Ray – the Katie Mitchell’s Special Edition version. Opinions are our own. Andy and I originally watched this movie when it came out on Netflix. We absolutely loved it and thought it was hilarious. I laughed out loud many, many times as we watched. Well, now there is a special edition dvd of the movie that just came out and it contains over 2 hours of additional content. The Katie Mitchell’s Special Edition – available on Blu-Ray and digital- features over 2 hours of new content including an all-new short (Dog Cop 7: The Final Chapter) and Katie’s Extended Cinematic Bonanza Cut. The Blu-Ray edition is made as if Katie Mitchell would have made it herself, down to the packaging, menus and even a “surprise and delight” insert booklet from Katie. Katie’s Extended Cinematic Bonanza Cut includes over 40 minutes of deleted scenes. In addition, the Blu-Ray, DVD and digital versions of the film include fun activities to enjoy...

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01089 Our Christmas Eve this year was a little different than past years. We have had a tradition of having my parents and my sister and her husband to the house after 4pm Mass for a chicken stew dinner. This year with my parents living on Cape Cod the drive is a bit much back and forth so they did not come. We were joined by Allison’s friend Colleen and her mother, Sue. Colleen and Sue attended Mass as well and just happened to get the pew in front of us. They came back to the house after Mass and we enjoyed the traditional chicken stew that Allison makes. Mass this year was at Saint Mary’s Church and they have a nativity scene out on the lawn. I always get a photo of the kids by the nativity scene after Mass except for last year when we had to watch Mass on Facebook. I like seeing those Nativity Scene memories come up on Facebook each year, though. There was also some fresh baked bread that Colleen and Sue brought and this year I picked up a French Silk Pie fro...

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01088 Today we continued to get ready for Christmas. Allison put up the rest of the decorations last night and I moved the boxes back to the basement. Eva had her friends over for a Christmas gift exchange and games and lunch and to watch Stranger Things. I picked up pizza for everyone while Allison worked on Cinnamon rolls. I also helped Andy clean his room for a few hours. This consisted of me cleaning and he deciding on what to keep and what to toss. I found 6 water bottles in his room during that cleaning and we still have a long way to go to get the room to halfway useable. He wasn’t much help because his arm is in a cast now. Allison took him to get his cast this morning and he now has a pink and black striped cast. He picked the colors. We tried to suggest red and green for Christmas but his cast would be staying on beyond Christmas and he thought that wouldn’t make sense. All of Eva’s friends signed Andy’s cast for him. He was excited about that. The kids...

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01087 I received mugs and hot chocolate as promotional materials for the movie 8-Bit Christmas. I really enjoyed this movie and I am a fan of hot chocolate. I do prefer to have cookies with my hot chocolate but nothing in the house really fit the bill. Eva had made chocolate chip cookies a week and a half ago and even I wasn’t up for them. Plus there were only espresso chip left. I had picked up some of the Gingerbread Oreos and once you scrape out the middle of those they are halfway decent but they just weren’t going to do it for me. I opted for an option that does not go with hot chocolate. I decided on Cheez-Its because I had a craving for those and had bought them on Monday. However, the kids had been tearing through them and I wanted to make sure I got some. So, hence the combination. Wasn’t half bad. Today Eva and Allison and I went to see Spider-Man: no Way Home. Andy stayed with Miss. Colleen and Shamrock. They had a nice time. Eva had a great time watch...

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01086 Today at Eva’s class I decided to buy myself one of the new Krav Maga sweatshirts from the pro shop. They were doing a 20% off in stock sale and I had been eyeing this sweatshirt. I love my grey one but it is getting quite worn and pilly. That is a word, right? Today was a day to do a lot of running around. I had my class this morning and then went to get my booster shot for covid. I then ran some errands and picked up Andy for dentist appointments. Then picked up Eva and brought her to class. She was very excited because her friend Maddy was going to be there and Eva was going to be able to give Maddy the gift that she had made her. Eva painted the album cover from one of the bands that both girls enjoy. She did a fantastic job of it, too.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01085 The other day I went up into the attic to organize a few things and to get some Funko Pop figures that I still have in their boxes so that I can put them up on the walls. While I was moving things around I found a Marvel Collector Corps box. I have several of them that contain Funko Pop figures. I went to open this one only to discover that it was still sealed. I did not recall having a box that I had never opened but I guess it got lost in the shuffle. The box was a holiday themed collector corps set with an Infinity Gauntlet ugly sweater t-shirt, a Holiday Thor and Holiday Groot Pop figure and some Holiday themed shoot glasses (Toothpick holders) featuring Captain America and Thanos. I took those downstairs and did an unboxing video along side a set of Funko Bobblers of Groot and Rocket Raccoon that I still had in the box, too. Tonight we had Uncle Jimmy Christmas. I picked up Uncle Jim and then we picked up Eva and Andy. We went to Target and Andy picked...

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01084 Each year I attempt to pick up some Christmas donuts for the family from Honey Dew Donuts. Sometimes they have some really nice looking ones and other times it is just colorful sprinkles. We got lucky today with a Gingerbread man and a winter themed one that probably should have had a snowman on it. They also have gingerbread men cookies and I like to have those while I am at work. I only have half the night to work tonight. Then I am off until the new year.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01083 Andy got his first broken bone yesterday. He has a buckle fracture on his left wrist. He was playing on the playground at school and tripped over a railroad tie and scraped a chunk off his knee and got a green branch fracture or buckle fracture on his wrist. We did not know it was fractured until this morning when he and Allison went to Urgent Care. He’s got a splint on his wrist for now and then will be getting a cast later this week. He does not seem to be too much in pain from the wrist. He’s been more in pain over his skinned knee. That he can see so he is more upset about it. Here’s a fun fact. Andy broke his arm at age 10. I broke mine at age 10 as well. Both breaks were on Church Street directly across the street from each other. I was in the front yard of my parent’s old house and Andy was on the playground in front of the rectory of the church.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01082 We received a free copy of The Ultimate Aang and Korra Blu-rayTM Collection from Nickelodeon. Opinions are our own. We have an interesting history with Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra in this house. I noticed that Avatar was on Netflix and suggested that the kids and I begin watching it together. After watching the first episode and the kids not being as enthused as I thought they would be we stopped watching. Then Eva watched the entire series on her own and loved it. She then dove into The Legend of Korra. Now she was the expert on both shows and I had to play catch up when I was the one who wanted to watch the shows in the first place… with the kids. Well, we can watch the shows from start to finish now with this new collection from Nickelodeon. The Ultimate Aang and Korra Blu-rayTM Collection came out on December 7th and it is filled with so many extras including 80 minutes of never before seen content. One of those bits of content is...

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01081 Eva earned her brown belt in Jr. Krav Maga today. Eva has been progressing very well in the art. She does have to work on her aggression during classes. she has no problem banging me around but she’s less aggressive with a partner. I know she has more power to show in each class but she steps back a little. I’m sure that this will change over time as she gains more confidence in her abilities. now that she is a brown belt she is on a six-month rotation for her belts. Things get much more intense at this level and she’s about a year and a half out from testing for her black belt. She is still very focused in class and loves going. We haven’t been able to coordinate with her usual partner though. Maybe next week. Eva made her a really nice gift.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01080 Andy has earned his Advanced Red Belt today. This means that he will be testing for his black belt next. I am not sure if he understands the gravity behind this. The good thing for me not earning mine on the first try is that I can do what I can to help Andy earn his in his own time. It may be in 6 months, it may be longer than that. He’ll get there but a lot of hard work has to happen first. Lots of additional training and practice to get to the level needed to earn that black belt. Andy is with his instructor, Mr. Kyle. When Andy began, Mr. Kyle was an assistant and now he runs the classes for the advanced Karate Kids. We’ve been with ABD long enough to see Kyle make a lot of progress from an assistant to a full instructor. He’s very good with the kids. He’s patient with Andy, too. Andy has poses that he does with each of the instructors and assistant instructors. Mr. Zack is one of the assistants. He goes with a Piggy Back with Mr. Zack. Andy has a postc...

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01079 I’ve been opening the Playmobil Back to the Future III Advent Calendar. Today the item inside was the modified Winchester Rifle that Doc Brown makes in order to take a sniper shot. Doc’s hat was also with the set. This goes well with Doc Brown in his true western wear for 1885. The set has been so much fun to open each day. I am enjoying it very much and also the LEGO Marvel Avengers Advent Calendar that I have been opening each day, too. The videos have been fairly well received, too. Here is the one from today.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01078 Tonight we went to La Salette Shrine to see the lights and also to participate in a prayer service with the school. We gathered at the Nativity scene and had the service. Then we walked around the grounds to see the lights. They are as beautiful as they always are and the night was mild so it was nice to walk around and check them out. We also took a walk around inside the nativity scene collection. They have so many of them and they are beautiful. So many countries and materials. Amazing. After looking at the nativity sets we walked around the little pond that has the nativity alphabet. We try and get a shot on the far end of the pond to capture all the lights behind us. My phone has a cracked front camera so every photo I take with it has weird light effects. It was even worse when there is nothing but a bunch of lights. I get crazy lens flares. I used Allison’s phone for the full family selfie.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01077 We put the Christmas Tree up today. This year we decided to go with our artificial tree. I know it was a hard decision for Allison because she loves real trees. The thing is, real trees are harder to find, more expensive and much smaller than they have been in years. We have a very nice artificial tree that has been on the front porch the past couple of years. It is a really nice tree and all the branches are sturdy so they can hold many of our ornaments. We even have a full collection of Hallmark ornaments from every year that we have been a family. They are my most favorite ornaments. Last year I bought 2006 and 2007 to make sure that we had them all. I printed up the photos the other day for 2006, 2007 and 2021. Andy must like photo ornaments as well since he picked up a photo ornament for the tree. I then realized that we do not have many family photos in portrait size, most are landscape oriented. I will have to move the hook on the frame. It is a nice...

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01076 I stopped in to Cumberland Farms tonight and noticed that they had decorated and saw that there were two stockings next to each other. There was an Eva and an Andrew one. I took a quick snap of the stockings. We’ll be working on our own Christmas decorations this week. We’ve already got the tree up. We’re going with our artificial tree this year because there are not many trees out there and they are very expensive. Luckily everyone got on board with this and this time we are putting the tree in the living room. I’ll be posting up photos once we decorate it.

Nintendo sent me a free download code for Mario Party Superstars for me to play and review. Opinions are my own. Be the family game night superstar in your house when you introduce everyone to the new Mario Party Superstars game for the Nintendo Switch. This game is a series of fun mini games that you can play as you ace around the board to collect as many stars as possible and become the superstar of the game. The thing is that no matter what it is anybody’s game. You could be way out in front and have tons of coins and tons of stars and the next moment the player in last place comes from behind to win it all. I’ve seen it done. I personally cannot find any rhyme or reason to how to win but it is fun trying. I’m very good at all the minigames and end up winning most of them but sometimes that is not enough. I may end up landing on a Bowser spot and he does something nasty to me like takes all my stars. He’s not very nice. I played this a few times with my son Andy and he did enjoy it....

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01075 The other day I had to go to the attic to find my Playmobil Back to the Future set. As luck would have it I found it in the very last bin that I looked in and while I was looking I found a bunch of Funko Pop figures that I had packaged up and they were still in the boxes. I have many Funko Pop! figures that I took out of the boxes and tossed out the boxes. Well, I have discovered that I can display my POP! figures in their boxes using some 3M Command Strips. So, I put up another 15 or so of them and they aren’t even all in the photo. There are more on the wall to the left. I’ve got to get back up to the attic and clean up the mess I made looking for the back to the Future toys and when I do I’ll look for more FUNKO Figures to add to the wall decorations.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01074 It snowed a little overnight. This photo was taken later in the day when there was very little snow left. The cars had a light layer of snow on them and it was cold. Will we have a snowy winter, I am not sure but I am ready to go with the new Snowblower.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01073 Eva is working on a new cosplay based on a character that she likes from Minecraft. Or rather the character is a person who is a Minecraft player and her cosplay is of the avatar of this person. She is very excited about it and has been working hard on makeup and her costume. The wig was the first thing.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01072 I received a free copy of the book 100 Things I Love About Dad. Opinions are my own. My friend Jeff Bogle recently published the book 100 Things I Love About Dad which is a book filled with so many prompts for kids to write about what they love about their dad. Jeff is a great dad and he is also a very insightful person. The book’s prompts are varied and will provide dad with so many great moments to relive based on what the kids enter. Jeff also includes additional pages called Extra Love. These are blank pages where kids can write up even more memories that they have of their dad.

We received a couple of free books from National Geographic to check out and review. Opinions are my own. Andy loves animals and he loves learning all about animals. While he is mostly into Axolotls now he likes so many other animals. He has a great time looking through the National Geographic books to find out all about some amazing animals. Ultimate Book of African Animals by Emmy Award-Winning Filmmakers Beverly and Dereck Joubert (ages 8-12, hardcover, 192 pages) Ready for an adventure of a lifetime? With National Geographic photographer-filmmaker duo Beverly and Dereck Joubert as their guides, readers are transported to the plains of the Serengeti, the sands of the Sahara and the shaded nooks of the rainforest. Dereck and Beverly are eight-time Emmy award-winning filmmakers, National Geographic Explorers-in-Residence and wildlife conservationists who have been filming, researching and exploring Africa for over 35 years. By sharing their stories of life on safari and Beverly’s jaw-...