BenSpark Family Adventures

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01398 Imagine finding out that you were positive for COVID moments before heading out to trick or treat on Halloween. It’d be devastating. Well, that is what happened to Andy today. He’d been coughing for a while now but for some reason, today he was coughing more than normal. So, Allison tested him and found that he was positive for COVID. This was a precaution before heading to a friend’s house to trick or treat and well, it was really rough for Andy. Despite attending two trunk or treats already and having more candy than he’s gonna know what to do with it still stinks that he couldn’t go out on Halloween. So, he’ll be homebound and quarantined for the next week. He’ll also have to miss one of his more favorite things and that is rock climbing on Wednesday, but at least he won’t be sick with COVID for his birthday at the Rock Climbing location. to help cheer him up we let him trick or treat at our doors in the house.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01397 This afternoon we had Eva’s friends over for a little birthday party. she had her cousin, Amanda, 3 friends from school and her friend from Dungeons and Dragons. They cam over and watched the movie Labyrinth. They weren’t quite sure what to make of it but overall they had a fun time laughing and screaming at the movie. Movie watching is a lot different with kids now. They chatted and debated about the movie all the way through. I could hear them from upstairs while I played Fortnite with Andy. After the movie we got some pizzas for dinner and enjoyed them with the kids. They were having fun. Eva has some very nice friends who care very much for her. They gave her perfect gifts for her personality. We enjoyed the cupcakes and singing to Eva. The kids watched another show together and had a great time. Eva was very happy after the party. This morning Andy and Allison were ambassadors for Saint Mary-Sacred Heart School. Andy brought up the gifts and then the b...

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01396 Andy worked on some cupcakes for Eva’s birthday get together tomorrow. Eva’s having a few friends over to watch Labyrinth tomorrow. Andy insisted on being the one who made her cupcakes for the party. These are all his designs. He did a fantastic job on the mini snickers bar spiders. He does a great job at decorating. We’re working on the cleaning up after yourself part, though.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01395 We had a great time at the annual Trunk or Treat at America’s Best Defense tonight. Eva and I had put together the trunk and she helped me give out the candy to the kids. We went with a pirate theme because that is a costume that Eva has and one I could easily put together for myself. I would like to get some other pieces for the overall costume in the future but for now, it looks good. Andy was a strawberry cow and he had so much fun running all around and playing with his friends. He invited his friend Bella to come for the night and he introduced her to his friend Hailey and the three of them went from car to car several times over. They also went to the Haunted Dojo a couple of times, too. At one point towards the end of the night I found the three of them doing candy swaps on the ground in the parking lot. They really enjoyed their time together. My friend Liz had a LEGO themed trunk and my friend Mia had a Nintendo themed trunk and they were right nex...

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01394 Andy had a half day at school today and Allison had the day off. Allison was out running errands and she texted me to see if we could take Andy out for lunch. I suggested KC’s Classic Burger Bar because Andy had asked if we could go last night after his Rock Climbing class. We had some leftover meatloaf to use up so we did that instead. It was nice to spend some time just with Andy, we don’t often get the chance to just have him with us. Today was also stripe test for each of us. Mine was in the morning and it was very tough but I earned my stripe. Eva and Andy also did well on their tests in the afternoon. Then Eva and I went back again for our sword class and we learned that the form contains a shoulder roll while holding the sword. Yeah, neither of us liked hearing that, nor did my back.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01393 Well, they are supposed to glow. My idea for the trunk or treat decorations was to do a pirate theme with the trunk itself being the mouth of a shark. We took some cardboard to make the teeth and we first attempted to spray paint them but the spray paint did not stay on. I then picked up some white poster paint and painted the jaws a second time. When they were dry I sprayed them with some glow in the dark paint. I want the jaws to glow in the dark. I also picked up some fun lights to put inside the car to light things up, too.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01392 On Friday we are putting together a trunk for Trunk or Treat at America’s Best Defense. This is an annual event that I enjoy very much. I love that ABD does this for the students. They also run a haunted dojo and the kids love it. Eva and I are putting together a pirate themed trunk and we’ve gotten our costumes together and also some decorations. One of the fun things I found was an inflatable treasure chest that when inflated it can hold 48 cans. This would be perfect for holding candy. I also got a jolly roger pirate flag and Eva claimed it as her own when we are done using it.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01391 Allison learned about Bluff Cakes on Tik Tok and she placed an order for us to give them a try. She ordered a Chocolate Peanut Butter, Chocolate Chip, Funfetti and a Tipsy George which was a bourbon caramel flavor. They were decent cookies but almost too big. I prefer my chocolate chip cookies with a tollhouse recipe. That is my favorite way. I did like the chocolate peanut butter cookie, though. Allison loved the Tipsy George and the kids enjoyed all of them.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01390 We received our tickets to the Rhode Island Comic Con. This is the 10th anniversary of the event but it will be the first time that we will attend. I got tickets for me and for Eva to attend so that she can do some cosplaying and meet other cosplayers. This is also going to be one of the biggest comic cons that we will have attended. I’m looking forward to it very much.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01389 Tonight I took Andy over to one of his friends houses for a pre-trunk-or-treat party. They had invited the whole 4th and 5th grades over to their house. Andy got lots of compliments on his costume because it was once again a unique one that was homemade. There were a ton of kids at the house and the family there got pizzas and pretzels for everyone, beers for the parents and juice boxes for the kiddos. They really did a nice job at hospitality. We got all the kids together and took some photos, too. When it was time to go to the Trunk-or-Treat I walked up to the church parking lot with Andy and dropped him off with his friend Bella and her mom. She was going to be taking Andy home when the event was over. He had a great time there at the event. When he came home he had a huge bucket of candy. Pretty good timing because his snack bucket was getting pretty light. Eva spent the day at King Richard’s Faire with her Dungeons & Dragons group. They had a nice ...

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01388 This year Andy decided that he would get a Strawberry Cow for Halloween. Allison got him a white sweatshirt and pants and then they sewed on some pink patches. They also sewed on black hooves and then added giant googly eyes to the sides of the top of the hoodie. Tonight Allison was out so Eva helped finish up the costume with Andy. It was nice to see the two of them working together.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01387 Our Dojo is offering an adult sword class. We learn the black belt form for sword over the course of six weeks. Eva has always wanted to learn sword so we signed up together to give it a go. It is easier than nunchuks were but still pretty challenging. Our swords are wooden practice swords and they have very smooth handles. So, I picked up up some tape from Dick’s Sporting Goods to wrap around the handles. This stuff is used for baseball bats or hockey sticks. It makes the sword much easier to hold. Plus, it makes the swords look even cooler. Now, if I could only get the wrist wrap down.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01386 I’ve been seeing a lot of people posting photos with their McDonald’s Happy Meals Halloween buckets. I think that McDonald’s made a better choice by releasing these buckets more so than those Adult Happy Meals they released with the bizarre toys inside. These buckets have a much better nostalgia factor.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01385 The Fall leaves on the tree looked interesting in the dusk but apparently it was much darker than I thought when I took this photo.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01384 I received a new shipment of products from Funko to unbox. I am very excited about them all but most about the G.I. Joe one because there are 7 mystery items inside that box. Marvel pocket Pop figures are cute but why two Groot figures? One would suffice. And I am a big fan of Letterkenny and the two pack with Stewart and Roald is awesome! I just have to find the one with Jonesy and Reilly to have all of the characters that have been released. Unboxings on the way.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01383 Tonight after dinner Eva asked if she could go outside and photograph the sky. Of course, if she is interested in taking photos I am always encouraging that. It also gave me an excuse to go outside and take some photos as well. this is what she was looking at. I then took a photo looking at the sky across the way as it was also very pretty. I took the opportunity to frame it against the leaves on the tree that look pretty as well.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01382 Eva had her first High School Homecoming dance tonight. She got dressed at home but went to her friend Elizabeth’s house for pizza and to hang out before the dance. I was glad that she got dressed here so I could take a photo of how sharply dressed she was for the night. she asked us to special order her a black tie for the outfit and I helped her tie it before the photos. It was a bit long but worked overall. The dance was held on the tennis courts and Eva said that it was a lot of fun. She was asked many times for people to take her photo with her friend because they ended up having coordinating outfits. The yearbook photographer got her and some other people as well. Apparently the dance was one of the largest ones that the school has had and it was very well attended.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01381 It really like that I work from home most of the time now. It allows me to take a couple of hours here and there to do things that I would have had to miss only a year ago. Case in point was tonight. A friend of mine from High School posted on Facebook that he would be in town and would like to meet up for drinks with anyone from our class who was local. I was able to take a couple of hours of PTO to go out and have dinner with him and three other friends. It was nice to catch up with people that I had spent four very important years with. I loved High School and the friends that I made there. I got along with most everyone for the most part and catching up after many years is so much fun. We laughed, told stories and got caught up on the highlights of the past 30 years. Wow. Tonight Andy went to a Parent’s Night Out at ABD. It was zombie survival training. I dropped him off before catching up with my friends and picked him up afterwards. He was having fun....

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01380 Tonight after Karate I took Eva and Andy over to SMSH School for their first Chili cook off. Allison came in her own car and we met her there. There were twelve different Chili recipes around the room and we tried every one of them. They went from mild and sweet to rather spicy. I loved the spicy ones. There was even a white chili and that one won for some reason. I did not like it and that there were many that were far superior to that one but you never know what people are going to go for. It was a nice night and the chilis that we tried were very good. We also got lots of ideas for additional things to have with our chili the next time that we make it.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01379 Today was Eva’s first Grandparent’s day at Feehan. My mom and dad came up from the Cape to spend the afternoon with her. There was a prayer service and then Eva took them on a tour of the campus. They took her to House of Fortune for lunch. They had a nice day together. I had my annual physical today. I’ve been doing well with my weight and my diabetes. The Dexcom G6 has been mostly helpful, as long as it doesn’t totally screw up or anything. It helps me know where I am at with my blood sugar at all times that I am close to my old phone because the app does not work on the new phone. What a pain. This afternoon I took Andy to his Rock Climbing class and he did a fantastic job. They played games for the day. It was called, The Chalk Bag of Destiny. In the chalk bag there were different tasks for the kids to complete. Andy did a bunch and one thing he did was Top out of the bouldering area, six times! I came in at the end of his class and got to see him top o...

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01378 Eva and I replaced our boxing gloves and they just arrived today. I’ve had mine since I started training over three years ago. Eva has had hers since she started, too. Apparently they were coming apart so it was time for some new ones. I know that mine were way overdue for being replaced and I am glad that I did. I’ll keep my old ones at the house so that I can use them on the BAS Body Action system sparring dummy that I have in the garage. I’ll be using that a lot more in the next few months as I prepare for my Black Belt Test, again. I had to defer it once again but this time was because of COVID. I’ll be training as much as I can between now and the spring to be ready when testing comes back around. Not pictures are the practice swords that Eva and I got for our sword training classes that we start tomorrow night. I also got some boxing shoes that I’ll be using on the mats from now on. I hope that they give me better movement than the shoes I had been us...

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01377 We celebrated Eva’s birthday today at King Richard’s Faire. When I told her that we were offered tickets again this year, thank you for the free tickets King Richard’s Faire!, and I suggested her birthday would be the day we could go she was very excited. she began to work on a costume right then and there. she decided that she would be a pirate for the day. When we arrived there was a tall wizard in the entrance and I had the kids take a photo with him. We also took a photo for a guy dressed as a wizard for him. We then watched the King and the court talk about the things that were going on in the realm today. Our friend Ryan is the Town Crier and he introduces different acts who then go and do a little plug for their respective shows. while we were waiting there my cousin texted me to let me know that he was in the parking lot and we let him know where we were. Then, we never saw him all day. I got a text or two but the internet there is terrible so we ne...

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01376 Eva’s birthday is tomorrow and Andy has been hard at work making Perler Bead figures of the Minecraft characters that Eva likes from The Dream SMP. This is something that Andy also enjoys and he is so excited to see what she thinks of them. He’s been quite meticulous in creating them.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01375 I’m glad that Hasbro has kept the molds for the Devastator figure for so long. they rereleased it a few years ago in the nostalgic packaging and original colors. Now with Transformers doing crossovers with other properties they pulled out the Devastator mold once again to collaborate with Tonka to make an Autobot character named Tonkanator. I loved my Tonka trucks when I was a kid and so I had to make sure I picked out this set. The color scheme works great and the new names for the new characters are also very good.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01374 I found some of the Mr. Beast Feastables Chocolate bars at Wal-Mart today. Andy has been excited to try these out and today was a good day to get them because he had a rough day. Well, he took a pretty rough digger in gym class and reskinned his right knee, which recently completely healed from the last time he fell. So, when I found these chocolate bars in the store I picked up a couple for him. He was very excited about them, too. He let me try some of the sea salt one and it was rather tasty.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01373 Tonight we noticed just how much Andy has grown recently. He’s getting all sorts of tall. Stretching out a bit from all his rock climbing. He noticed that his legs are now as long as the spindles in the banister. He wanted us to take his photo to show this. I came to the decision today that I will not be testing for my black belt this rotation. COVID really took a lot out of me and it is taking a while for me to get back to a level that I would be happy with. I took class today and Miss Jen, the instructor came by and told me, “do what you can do, not what you can’t do” because she knows I was trying to go all out despite having a tough time catching my breath. I was having a tough time but still wanted to do my best. I also realize that I cannot perform at the level that is expected for a Black Belt. I’ll have to get back up to that level by the Spring because it has been long enough.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01372 I continue to decorate my office with Hot Wheels and Funko Pop boxes. I appear to be running out of wall space, though. I love the look of these hot wheels cars and how they look on the wall is very cool. I took Andy to his Rock Climbing class today. He did an amazing job, too. He had a warm up to climb up and down several 5.9 runs and he did that so well. He’s enjoying this class so much.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01371 Allison got me a jar of See’s Lemon Drops and I have finally gotten to the last one. These I ate sparingly. I enjoyed them so much that I did not have them very often. Well, with a tough past week having Covid I went through the last remaining ones. I needed something to eat to get the taste of metal from Paxlovid out of my mouth.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01370 Andy was home sick from school today and I was catching up on sleep from the weekend. So, I was asleep when the went and made his own lunch. He made a grilled cheese with pepperoni all on his own. He’s looking much older lately. And he’s acting much more mature. I’m still working through the after-effects for COVID. I have this lingering difficulty exerting myself very much. I am also always having the need to cough.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01369 I was working with my boss tonight when my computer suddenly crashed out completely. I thought that I was going to have to go to the office this week and get a new one. But, luckily it came back up to work once again. I have no idea how or why but it did. No early night for me. I’ve been getting better and better all week but still having some difficulty with any exertion. Still having coughing fits after things like laughing or exertion. Just hoping that everyone feels better soon. Andy has been coughing and sick for the better part of two weeks. He’s been negative for COVID with every test, too. But, today he was sluggish and had a low grade fever tonight. He’s going to stay out of school tomorrow. Let’s hope that he feels better in the morning.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01368 I’ve been recovering from Covid for the past week now. I’ve been quarantining in my office for most of the time. I wear a mask whenever I leave the office and have rarely gone anywhere. I’m finally going to be finished with Paxlovid tomorrow morning. That stuff is nasty. Wherever I am not eating something my mouth tastes like bile and it is so gross. It has made sleeping hard and it has been hard enough to sleep on the futon in the office. I actually got to sleep in my bed today because of the opposite schedule I have with the family. That was good and I got some decent sleep. In a couple of days I can rejoin the family for meals and such, too. I’m still having a tough time with the coughing. Whenever I exert myself much I get into a coughing fit. The timing of this could not have been worse as I am preparing for my Black Belt testing evaluation next Friday. We’ll see how things go in classes this coming week as I can finally go back. I’ll probably train wh...