BenSpark Family Adventures

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02390 I was in Target today and saw that they had one of the Funko minis on clearance and it was Deadpool and his Chimichangas food truck. I had looked at it previously but it was way too expensive for such a tiny thing. But, it was on clearance and so the price was decent. So I picked that up and also the Hot Wheels Target tractor trailer because that was also on clearance. Both items I have physically picked up many times over the past few months. Just gotta hit the store at the right time to get some deals. Other than that there wasn’t much happening today. Andy had more classes at JWU and today’s cooking was American food so mac and cheese and pulled pork and bbq chicken. Andy had a big lunch and tonight them finished working on their 8th grade Aleks program which is the math program. Andy had to have it finished by tomorrow. So we are happy that Andy is all done.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02389 Since we have one week with just Andy at home we figured we’d do something nice and take them out for dinner. We should have thought that trough better because this week Andy has been at cooking camp at Johnson and Wales and Andy has been having lots of food each day. So, the last thing they really want to do is eat when they get home. Next year we’ll make sure to just take Andy for dessert since there is always room for that. Campfire was excellent. I had wings and a Caesar salad. I asked for no croutons but got them anyway. I picked out about two slices of bread worth of croutons but that’s fine. Someone who enjoys croutons and can eat them would absolutely love the place. The wings were very good. I like getting a cajun dry rub on the wings and then asking for buffalo sauce on the side so I can dip into the sauce and then into the blue cheese. The cajun with the buffalo works well. Andy got the Whiskey burger but only ate a few bites. I finished that off...

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02388 I’ve been working on Virta and their eating plan for a few months now. I’ve lost nearly 20 lbs at this point. I count from 217lbs because that was from my last physical but Virta has me starting at 213. Anyway, I weighed myself the other day and hit 195. I’m 10lbs from my High School weight at this point. Granted, we’ve been here before when I did Jenny Craig back in 1999. I was nearing 185 in 2001. Then lots of things changed and I started to gain weight again. I lost weight during Covid from all the walking but have been over 200lbs for the better part of 25 years or so. It takes a lot for me to make changes for myself. Specifically changes in what I wear. I remember too many times having too tight clothes and feeling awful so I have been wearing larger and larger sizes over the years to be comfortable and not constricted in any way. this coming weekend we are celebrating my in-laws 50th wedding anniversary and we’re going to do a family photo. Allison wo...

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02387 Andy is back at Johnson and Wales University for the Summer Teens cooking program. This is Andy’s first year doing the teens track and their fourth year cooking at Johnson and Wales. Andy was pretty excited when I picked them up from classes today. Andy and the team made pesto sauce for Italian day. They also made a couple of baked goods and they all got to fill cannolis for a treat at the end of the day. This week Andy will be learning dishes that are Italian, Greek, Korean and American and on Friday they get a secret basket of ingredients like the cooking shop, Chopped. Andy is most looking forward to basket day. Prior to today Andy was most looking forward to Italian day an well, that was today. Andy definitely at their fill because they were not that hungry for dinner tonight. Part of dinner tonight was some fresh zucchini from our garden. Our first zucchini so far. When Andy an I got home we were looking at the garden and were surprised to discover the...

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02386 A while back I bought the X-Men Blackbird LEGO set. I had finally found it on sale because it was priced way too high. It’s been sitting in my to be built pile and so tonight I went and built it. I also needed a photo for today. I liked this build because it was fun, a little complex and I liked how they set up the wings of the blackbird. Plus this came with four X-Men minifigs. I thought that five were in the box but unfortunately only just the four. I thought Storm would have been included. I’ll have to find her and Beast in another set sometime.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02385 With Eva being on the Cape, James has taken to sleeping in bed with Allison. This morning when I got done work James had taken my side of the bed. He didn’t take off when I got to bed. Instead he went and stayed in the bed so that he could lick my arms. He stayed for a little bit but eventually took off. I’m not sure what he’s going to do when we go back to the Cape. But for now he’s actually being friendly to us.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02384 Today Allison and I went off to Aldi to do some grocery shopping. While there I looked for items that would work with my new Virta dietary plan. Cheese and meat are two things that work for me. I have been adding cheese to my omelets and that seems to fry up in the frying pan pretty well. I did try to take these mozzarella and pepperoni spirals and fry them up to make the edges crispy but I either didn’t do it long enough or they won’t work that way because they simply got melty. I’ll try again when I am not rushing to get back up to me desk for work. They do taste great, though, like a piece of pepperoni pizza.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02383 Tonight I went to see The Fantastic Four with my friend, Frank. Frank and I have been friends since college. We don’t see each other often enough, though. We only live a half hour away from each other but it takes forever for us to coordinate and do something. this time, however, we had made a plan to see The Fantastic Four when it came out. Frank loves movies and so do I so this was perfect. We met up at BJ’s Brew House for dinner and great conversation. We caught up, laughed commiserated and genuinely enjoyed spending time together. I always enjoy conversations with Frank. After the movie we made plans to catch up again in the next couple of months. We plan to go see a Sunday Matinee of And Then There Were None, the next play at ACT.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02382 We cleaned upt he backyard today. Allison, andy and I took care of some wisteria that has been growing back again and also the weeds on the back patio. I sprayed all of it with vinegar/salt/dawn the other day to dry everything out before I weed whacked it to clear it out. Worked pretty good, too. Later on tonight I built a new LEGO set. It was a Fortnite set. the cool thing is that LEGO now puts the bricks into paper bags instead of plastic. I love that for LEGO. It is very cool.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02381 Mowed the lawn today and noticed that Jore, the neighborhood cat, was hanging out on the front porch. That must have been driving Torrun crazy because she sits by the window in the living room all the time. Was a pretty low key day with a dentist appointment later in the afternoon. Things are looking good there. So, quiet day today.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02380 Tonight we went over to The Meadows for some of their frozen custard. I saw that this place was opening soon when we were driving by on the way to my manager’s pool party on Saturday. Today I noticed that Chartley Country Store mentioned on their social media that their entire staff went over to the opening day to get some frozen custard. I figured that I’d take Allison and andy over to try it out. Andy got a Gelatti which is italian ice mixed with frozen custard. Andy got mango italian ice and vanilla custard. They seemed to enjoy it very much. Allison picked the turtle sundae and commented multiple times how many pecans were included in the sundae. She really enjoyed her treat. I did not try any, I wanted to but came home and had some of my Rebel ice cream instead. It is very tasty and doesn’t knock my sugar out of whack.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02379 I may be working with a whole new set of dietary restrictions but I had to find a way to still celebrate National Ice Cream Day. I searched for some sugar free ice cream options and discovered Rebel ice cream. The ice cream ranges from 0g to 3g of sugar. I picked up a pint of chocolate peanut butter. Th ice cream is on sale now but I wasn’t sure if I would enjoy it or if it would affect my sugar. I tried it tonight and it was very good. I also noticed no significant change in my blood sugar so I think we may have a winner and I might finally have ice cream back as an option for a treat.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02378 I picked up a few things from the Tik Tok shop for Christmas presents for the kids but I also got myself a little something. They had a brick building set, think LEGO but not LEGO, of Link from The Legend of Zelda. But they can’t call it that because it is not officially licensed. So it is Master Sword. The little figure is clearly Link from Zelda and the giant sword is his Master Sword (pictured on box). I’ll build the Sword part another time because I need a photo for today and even though we went on a little adventure today I did not take photos. My manager invited the tea to his house to enjoy a nice pool party. He did this the year that I joined the group but hasn’t done it since. I always regretted not having the family come with me to enjoy the event the last time so I made sure that they were with me today. Eva is at the Cape so it was Allison and Andy with me. Andy had a good time eating plenty and getting lots of pool time. I even enjoyed some poo...

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02377 Today was the last day of classes for Andy. Andy did the ROV / Robotics class this time around. Andy and their classmates built their own underwater vehicles. Today we got to watch the teams drive them around. The teams would put their vehicles into the pool and then would drive them underwater and attempt to pick up some items on the bottom of the pool. It was fun seeing the teams work together to achieve this goal. There were various items of different shapes and sizes. Andy’s team had already gone when we got there but they had a second run. I was able to capture some video of the team’s vehicle and then also Andy getting into the water to make repairs. I had an underwater camera with me that I put on a selfie stick so that I could record the events underwater. I had put on some plastic covers that should have been water tight but they leaked and so the recordings aren’t that great. Andy had a good time and really enjoyed this class. We headed home so th...

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02376 Tonight was the Children’s School of Science picnic. They moved it from the park around the corner to the school itself. I liked it better at the school. I always found the park to be so hot and buggy. There is a great breeze at the school so it was pleasant. Allison and I dropped Andy at the picnic and then went to the Woods Hole Market to get dinner but the deli closed at 5pm and we were there at 5:10pm. So we made an about face and walked up to Pie in the sky. At Pie In The Sky we were able to get some sandwiches and a salad with Lobster salad on it for me. The lobster salad was great and had plenty of meat in it. Expensive but I did get a lot. They did forget my dressing, though. So the salad itself was a bit dry. Andy hung with us and Eva hung out with the other TAs. She’s got a great little group of friends there and I like how they are together. Eva is very happy with her new friends and she loves her job. Andy had a little excitement at their class ...

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02375 Tonight I went with Allison and Eva to Folk Dancing in Woods Hole. I went because Eva said that she would be jumping off the drawbridge tonight. That is what the Science School TAs do after Folk Dancing and when the bridge attendant leaves for the night. I did dance a little bit tonight, did two songs and then it just got so crowded that I couldn’t stay inside the event. I had to get outside for fresh air. I also took a walk around the area. Around 9pm the bridge was filled with kids all excited to jump. Eva and her friends also got up there and did their jumps, too. However, I did not get a good shot of her actually jumping but did get one of everyone on the bridge. Eva has really branched outside of her comfort zone this year.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02374 Allison and I took a walk tonight and as the sun was setting there was a sliver of sunset cast upon the comorants that all gather on teh pilings over on the private beach near us. Andy and I have been playing a round of Command of Nature every night so far and so far he has beaten me each and every time. He has a great ability to dominate this game.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02373 I came down to the Cape later today because I went and saw Superman before I headed down. I slept a few hours and then went over to the movie theater to see Superman. I didn’t have high expectations for the movie but I knew that James Gunn was in charge of it so I knew it was in good hands. The movie did not disappoint. It was the best DC movie since the Dark Knight, the last one I really enjoyed. The movie was bright and fun and had an excellent soundtrack. I laughed and I certainly teared up more than once. Such a fun movie to see. When I arrived at the Cape my niece and my sister’s dog were sitting on the bench at the table and I was able to catch a very happy expression on both of them.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02372 Tonight was another picnic in the park with food trucks at Capron park. We walked over early and then went off to get our own food and then gathered back up to enjoy our meal. I picked up some brisket birria tacos. Allison got a shredded brisket sandwich. Andy opted for some loaded mac and cheese fries and some chicken parm. Eva was happy because she could have Friskies Fries. She gets the General’s chicken fries. After dinner Andy got some chocolate covered strawberries and Allison got a churro and ice cream. I had one of the strawberries and a bite of the churro. That spiked my sugar up a bit. Not too crazy but a bit. It came back down pretty easily, too.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02372 Today we attended a birthday party for my cousin’s daughter. Andy spent a lot of time in the pool playing with the kids. The little ones flock to him because he enjoys playing with them. Today was a nice day weatherwise. We enjoyed being outside for the afternoon before heading home so I could get a little bit more sleep before heading to work. Apparently being locked out of the usual room at the office last night required a workaround that I did not try. When I came in tonight the day folks were in the room because they went through the room next door to get in. I should have known that a workaround was needed. Never have any weekend where a workaround is not needed.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02371 Last weekend I picked up a little LEGO set. It was of two happy little plant holders. These cute little guys are going to be happy little additions to my desk. I came home from the Cape today with Andy. We played another round of Command of Nature and Andy won again. He’s gotten really good at this game and I am looking forward to a rematch.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02370 Allison and Eva headed home today because Eva has senior photos tomorrow. So, Andy and I had some time for ourselves and I decided to take him to the movies to see How To Train Your Dragon. This was the live action remake of the animated movie. It was really good. We went to DJ’s for wings before the show and then split some popcorn at the show. I had a bit of it and it did not spike my blood sugar so I was happy with that. Andy enjoyed the movie and dinner. After dinner we went over to Shaw’s so I could get some cream for my iced coffee. Andy saw the Pokemon kiosk and asked for a pack. He has decided to get back into Pokemon for a bit. I have all his old Pokemon stuff because I kept it for him. Might be fun to start playing that again together.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02369 During my morning walk today I saw a Great Blue Heron along the water of Great Bay. I saw it as I walked along and made sure to grab a photo today. Tonight andy and I played a new game called Command of Nature. It is a great strategy and deck building game. Andy caught on very quickly and in the end he won. Partially because I let him have one more turn and partially because he’s devious. I won’t go easy on him again.

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02368 My parents have a birds nest on the front porch and the state of the baby birds in the nest has been a source of discussion and entertainment all Summer. When we got down initially one of the baby birds had fallen out of the nest and my dad put it back in on a couple of pieces of cardboard. We were speculating on whether or not it was dead. Apparently there are 3 babies in the nest and they appear to be doing okay. Today one of the baby birds sort of flew/fell down onto the floor of the porch. It ended up hopping under a bush in front of the house. Somehow it got back up to the nest and there are still 3 babies there. tonight Allison and I went to a comedy show at the Wharf. IT was pretty good. Allison and I brought down the age range of the audience but the comedians were even younger. It was an okay show and we had fun. It wasn’t the best comedy we’ve seen nor was it the worst.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02367 Back down to the Cape today. Allison, Eva and I went for a walk down the beach after dinner. The sky was looking very pretty tonight.

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02366 I may be overstating it but the Zucchini in my garden has been growing like crazy and that one plant in the whole seed sheet is taking over. Allison counted 13 blossoms on the vines today and I bet there will be more soon. I’m very happy with how the garden has come along so far. We have lettuce that is ready to harvest, Allison and Andy harvested some to bring to the Cape and I think the carrots might be busting through soon, too. This has been a learning thing for me. I really do not know what I am doing with this, Seed Sheets was great for this and I may be ready to plant my own way next year. We’ll see.

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02364 I went for an early walk along Great Bay today. I had last night off but have to work in the office tonight so I wanted to get home early so that I could sleep. I took Andy with me because we were all headed home. Eva went with Tara and Erik because they were bringing her to the bank for a new checking account. They set up all that she needs for her accounts. Allison went and picked Eva up from the bank and then went to the Farmer’s Market with Eva to pick up a few things. We all vegged out in our respective spaces when we got home. A couple of days to recharge before going back down to the Cape. The kids have always needed a couple of days to just be back in their own spaces doing their own things each Summer. When I got home I removed the protective screen on the garden. My zucchini plants are growing HUGE. They have started to bend because they were pressing into the screen. We’re even starting to get some blossoms on the plant. On the walk this morning the w...

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02363 Today is the Fourth of July and I am not at all excited about celebrating. I started the day with my morning walk along Great Bay and nearly ran into my old manager, someone I despise. Luckily he did not see me and I shot past him quickly. I did text my cousin to let him know what I saw. It took the rest of the walk to calm back down. Around 10am we headed over to Eva’s friend Max’s house so that we could park in his yard and walk down to the Science School so Eva could link up with the staff there to be a part of the parade. Allison, Andy and I walked around Woods Hole for a while and then found seats to watch the parade. I don’t like parades. Rather, I don’t like people at parades. No matter where we are there is always someone moving right in front of us or squeezing by me. We were 15 people all seated along steps and for some reason every person who wanted to get behind us went by me. Every one. I was watching. Then there are people who crowd in on the parade...

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02362 This is how I am feeling about tomorrow’s celebration of America’s independence day. Feeling pretty shitty about it. I’ve always thought of politicians as evil but now.. confirmed.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02361 I’ve been trying to walk along Great Bay each morning while on The Cape. I had been doing a ton of walking this Winter and need to get back into it. Great Bay is one of my favorite places to walk on the Cape. Allison has been walking too but she is working back up to walking the whole 3 miles in a shot. Tonight Allison took Eva to Woods Hole for folk dancing night. This is a weekly activity that Eva goes to with the kids from Science School. She’s really enjoying being with all of them and she’s gone to Folk Dancing before with Tara. I figure she’s get out to do this each Wednesday over the Summer. While there Allison got some great sunset shots around Woods Hole. I may have to go next week to get some good photos.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02360 Tonight was Open House for the children’s School of Science. The kids are both there again this year. Andy is in the ROV class to make an underwater robot. Eva is a teaching assistant and is having a great time in that role. She’s made some great friends already. We went for the whole event because Eva had to help clean up and then afterwards we would go out for dinner. We had to get our yearly photo of the two of them by the Woods Hole Harbor, too. Can’t believe how tall Andy has gotten. I had intended to got to the Anchor Ale House but they did not appear to be open when we got there. I confirmed that by going to the door. Then we figured that we’d go to DJ’s Wings and they were not open on Tuesdays. So we went to Taco Blanco. I was not sure how much I could have there because of my Virta diet. However, I had to Barria (sp) tacos and that did not seem to move my blood sugar in any way. While we were there we ran into my cousin, Bill who is up with his fam...