BenSpark Family Adventures

 Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02421 Today Allison took our giant zucchini and made two loaves of zucchini bread. One was regular with one half covered in pecans and the other is chocolate zucchini bread. I had a small slice of the chocolate one and it was really good. I know it is not on my Virta plan but it did not raise my blood sugar that much more than regular dinner. It was worth it to have some of this since I haven't had zucchini bread in forever.

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02420 A few weeks back I realized that I had a bunch of LEGO points from the LEGO shop and so I made a purchase of a couple of sets including the Optimus Prime BrickHeadz set. This one has Optimus in both robot and truck mode. I moved a few things around in my display area to add these two little guys. They go great with the light up LEGO Prime. I also got a Bumblebee one and I'll put that guy with my light up Bumblebee that I assembled the other day.

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02419 Our pepper plants have been growing larger and larger but they hadn't started producing any peppers until now. So this little guy is just starting off. I hope that this will end up proding plenty of peppers once it gets going.

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02418 I finally completed building my Transformers Bumblebee LEGO set. As I built it I also set up the lights. There are a bunch of wires out the back of this but maybe I can hide them better. Might have to rearrange my lit up LEGO sets soon. Also, the next build will be Soundwave.  I took my car for service this morning and knew I'd be at the dealership for a while so I took this with me to build a bit while I waited. It definitely made the time go by quickly. I only got through 2 bags before they were done.

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02417 Eva had to go into school today for a half day so this is technically her first day of Senior year. I cannot believe how quickly the time has gone. Time has gone so fast and is just getting faster. So many things are happening at once, too. College applications and more are on the horizon. Tonight Andy had a meeting at the High School for their math class. We got information about the whole program and found out some great things. Andy can have breakfast at the High School and they provide calculators so we do not have to pick one up. Also, this program is going to be challenging and I hope that Andy enjoys it. I know that they are going to be challenged in this program. Andy did complain that their last class was too slow and boring. Let's hope that this works out. I know Andy is up for the challenge.

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02416 Whenever I play Fortnite with my cousin these days he'll say that he cannot hear me. Well, today I was in Best Buy and figured I'd pick up another set of headphones to see if they would work better. I had a $10 gift card to get this set that was already $30 off. So for $30 I have a nice new set of headphones. Hopefully he'll hear me now. I went to Best Buy also to apply for a job there. The thing is, every place around that is hiring is doing so online. I've been applying to a lot of places via indeed.com. I haven't heard anything yet but hopefully soon I can pick up some part time work.

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02415 The other day I put together a mini knockoff LEGO set of a knockoff Optimus Prime. the set allowed me to not only build Optimus as a truck but also as a robot. I decided that once I built it that was the end of it. No Robot mode for me, just making it a truck and leaving it that way. It was a very cheap thing but it was fun to build albeit very challenging because the pieces were so small. My Optimus Prime display is getting more and more full. I'll be taking a lot of my older Transformers figures out of storage and I've decided that it is time to sell them. So there are many in the boxes that I'll be cataloging and then I'll decide if I want to keep any. Probably any that are Optimus and or Wheeljack. Maybe some others.

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02414 The numbers are looking good for me now with Virta. For about the past 4 months I've been sticking to the Virta plan and my blood sugar numbers have been steady and really looking good. Another number that has started to look better and better is my weight. Today I hit 190. I actually weighed myself on both scales and they both matched at exactly 190. I kept trying to capture the scale number but every time I picked up my phone a couple of ounces got added. So I had to wait until the number stayed up and then grab the phone. I'm still working on the numbers and hope to get them down a bit further.I'm 5lbs away from the weight I was graduating high school.

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02413 as a kid growing up in the 80's we had some of the greatest cartoons ever. One such cartoon was Thundercats. I watched that all the time and loved it. I recently rediscovered the show on Hulu. I didn't realize that there were over 120 episodes. I've been watching it whenever I want some background noise because each episode is pretty much the same. It is a comfort show and I enjoy it. Now there is also a new comic book series and it as been exploring the lore of the Thundercats world.  I saw on Temu that they had the Sword of Omens, That is Lion-O's sword and Temu had both sizes. One of the things that the sword could do was grow. It started as a small dagger and then Lion-O would do his catchphrase of "Thunder, Thunder, Thundercats Ho!" Each time he said Thunder he would swing the sword out to one side and it would grow a bit until it was a full size sword. I'm making some 3D printed Sword holders to display these on my wall. Yes, I...

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02412 I collect Transformers but the one that has the most special place in my heart is Wheeljack. Every once in a while I search Amazon for "Transformers Wheeljack". The other day I found a model kit for Wheeljack from the Bumblebee movie. We don't see Wheeljack for much in that movie but they at least got the design right. Not like Rise of the Beasts where they made Wheeljack into a VW Minivan. I refuse to get any of that version of the character. Wheeljack is a sports car, preferably a Lancia. I've got quite a few Wheeljack figures and some include models. I also have a Metal model that I will attempt to build in the near future.

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02411 I took andy to Rock Spot today so that they could do some climbing. I knew that I had a couple of passes left so that andy could climb for free. Turns out that Andy also had their own couple of passes. Andy climbed about 15 runs before we headed home. Andy does seem interested in starting classes back up after the Fall. I think that will work out okay. Let's get the Fall going with all the new things that Andy will be doing and then try to get back to climbing if Andy still wants to do so. Tonight we took andy to Morin's for dinner. Thursdays are hometown hero nights and that meant that Allison's meal would be 20% off. We had a great meal and are glad that Morin's is back open.

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02410 Today something that I've been looking for for a while arrived. Hot Wheels made a couple of Transformers including Optimus Prime and Bumblebee. I was excited to get this but I see that it has a scratch on the Autobot symbol. The card has not been opened so that is strange that it has a scratch. Oh well.  Today eva left on a coupe day trip with aunt Tara. They are going up to visit Dartmouth in New Hampshire and Bennington in Vermont. Along the way they are going to go by some of Tara's old stomping grounds. It should be a great trip for the two of them to do together.

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02409 The last time that we went to Eugene Henry's Gastronomical Delights Andy picked up a wooden puzzle that created a 3D steampunk flying machine. Andy was really excited to work on this and one they were done they came to my office to show me. Andy was quite proud of building this. A few pieces broke during the build but Andy was able to power through and get it to work properly despite the broken pieces.

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02408 Allison and I were watching a show the other day and there was a character wearing a t-shirt that looked like The Terminator but it was Jesus and the shirt said, "I'll Be Back". I thought it was clever. It wouldn't be something I would wear but I tried to take a photo so that I could use my phone to identify where to buy it. I didn't take photos of anything else today so this photo is my daily one.

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02407 Tonight was the last Food Truck night of 2025. For some reason I must have hit the portrait mode and it auto focused on me. Sadly everyone else is out of focus. Whoops.  Tonight I got the Lobster Street Corn Nachos. This is the first cheat meal that I've had since being on Virta. I wanted to see how it would affect my blood sugar. I did not eat the whole thing but had a pretty good amount. About two hours later my blood sugar was at 255, that is the most it has been in months. It did come back down pretty quickly, too.  I figure if I am going to cheat I am going to need to pick something that I really enjoy to make it worth it. It won't be often but I will occasionally and in moderation pick something that is not Virta approved. 

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02406 The other day I saw that I had a bunch of points at the LEGO Shop and so I made a purchase of couple of fun sets like the Arcade Machine. I also got the Brick Headz versions of Optimus Prime and Bumblebee. I plan on displaying the Brick Headz with the regular LEGO versions of these characters once they are all built. I also have a lighting set for Bumblebee and that will probably be the next thing I build.  As for the Arcade Machine I'll be displaying this on my desk now that I made some room. I thought that Lightailing made a light set for this but looks like another company did so I'll wait and see if Lightailing mades one. It would be cool to light this one up.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02405 During my cleanup I got rid of some things from my closet. I had old jackets and other things that I got rid of by donating to the Feehan theater company via Eva and also some pirate garb that she decided to hang onto for herself and it looks like the clothes fit well. 

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02404 Allison's parents got her this lovely sign for the house. It is perfect for her style. For now it is living in this space. Not sure if we are going to hang it up somewhere or let it live here.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02403 Inspired by Andy cleaning up their room I have been cleaning things up in my office a bit. I had these LEGO sets in one of my cubbies with the Hulkbuster LEGO set. It got so crowded so it was time for me to disassemble these sets. I'll be putting all the Marvel related LEGO sets away to save and some of the other ones may be sold at some point. I still have a huge box of LEGO bricks to sort that are of Andy's sets but that will be done at a later date.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02402 Andy decided to clean their room today. In so doing they decided that they no longer wish to hang on to their LEGO sets. So, I now have them all and I spent the afternoon disassembling many sets to fit into the one bucket. There were many Minecraft sets in there. What I'm going to do eventually is take what is in the bucket and separate it down to the individual sets that I still have instructions books for. The organizing of that is going to be daunting. I will try and figure out an efficient way to separate everything but I'm sure that will take some time. Andy also decided that they no longer want the piggy bank that was mine. That I am putting into a box for Andy for when they get older and maybe have kids of their own.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02401 Today We watched my sister's dog, Lexi. My sister and her husband were coming back up here from their home and they had boarded the dog. They weren't sure if they'd be there in time to pick her up so we did that for them. We had Lexi for a couple of hours before they arrived and we had dinner together. Lexi was pretty chill for the most part until Torrun came in to the living room to investigate. At first they just looked at each other. Andy grabbed for LEXI's leash and then Lexi tried to go after Torrun. Torrun ended up bolting for the upstairs and we did not see her for hours. James knew enough not to even come down.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02400 We went to Spumoni's tonight for dinner. Had a great time, very good food. Great waiter, too. Andy especially loved the giant cheese pull that they got from the French Onion Soup that they had.

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02399 Tonight Allison and I enjoyed the Christmas present that she gave me, tickets to see Nate Bargatze at TD Garden. We have been fans of Nate Bargatze for many years now and he’s been doing so well in the past few years. SNL appearances, a giant comedy tour and next month he’s hosting the Emmys. Before the show we went to a local Mexican restaurant, Los Antojitos, in North Attleboro. Between Taco Blanco on the Cape and this place I think the Birria taco is better at Los Antojitos. The consume is better there, too. We ate around here because it would be easier to have that out of the way instead of looking for a place to park in Boston. We had parking for the show so that was good, getting to it, though, that was not so good. But, we got to the Garden and had plenty of time to get to our seats because the show started about a half hour late. Despite that and the traffic it was a fantastic show. Nate was really funny and each of the opening acts were good. I laughed a...

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02398 When you work hard all Summer and it is your last day at your very first job I think you deserve some ice cream. Today Eva and I headed back from the Cape and on the ay back we stopped at Somerset Creamery for some ice cream for Eva. I did not have any. It was tough to stay strong on that one. We then headed home and ran into very little traffic. When we got home we were greeted by Allison’s parents. They are staying with us for a few days. Marcia found me a great set of Marvel themed glasses. We had burgers from Chartley Country store thanks also to Marcia and Dan. We enjoyed a nice meal and then I headed to the office for a night of work.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02397 This morning Andy and I went paddle boarding over at the beach. Allison had asked the kids what things they wanted to do on their last week of the Summer on the Cape. Andy wanted to go to Eugene Henry’s and go paddleboarding. We’ll we already went to Eugene Henry’s so it was time to go paddle boarding. We pumped up the paddle boards yesterday so that they would be ready first thing this morning while the water was still. We had a wonderful morning on the water even though I continually scanned for dorsal fins because even though Falmouth has not had any major shark sightings I was still going to be vigilant. We remained shark free. In the afternoon I drove Allison and Andy to Middleboro to meet up with Colleen so that Allison could get the house ready for her parents. The drive had some moments of traffic but we were lucky to have left when we did because when I was returning I saw that a large accident had happened on the road that we had driven on earlier...

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02396 On the way back from our walk today I took a photo of the Hydrangea by the fence. It is nearing the end of the season and this particular plant is starting to wilt. Why does it look so vibrant? Well, I have been playing with the effects on my phone’s camera app. So, I am editing this on my phone to make the image much more striking. You can see the wilting, though. Tonight Eva was back at Folk dancing and she even jumped off the drawbridge twice. She had a great time. Before Allison and Eva went off for their trip to Folk Dancing we had ribs for dinner. I had gotten a rub at Eugene Henry’s the other day and in the morning I took the ribs out of the fridge and let them thaw. Once they were thawed I rubbed the ribs with brown sugar and the rub that I had gotten. Then I put them in the oven for 2 1/2 hours. Finishing everything on the grill afterwards.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02395 On our second day at the Cape this week Eva spent the entire day at Science School and then had a fun night with friends at Folk Singing and then they had twice baked potatoes together. She’s had some great times with friends this Summer. It has been an awesome experience for her. Tonight Allison, Andy and I went to Anejo for dinner with my friend Stephanie and her son and boyfriend. It was our first meeting of her boyfriend and her son. Stephanie worked with me several years ago and we’ve kept in touch ever since. We had a great dinner together and enjoyed our time with Stephanie, Josh and Julian. Andy even got to hold Julian and Andy looked so happy. The kid loves babies and dogs. Andy is very gentle with both. I did not get any photos at dinner but Stephanie did and shared them with me. They are of Andy and the baby but I’m not posting them. So, I have a photo of the tomatoes in my Dad’s garden. He’s got a ton of plants and lots and lots of tomatoes.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02394 We are down the Cape this week for the last week of Eva’s job at the Children’s School of Science. While she was at work we went to Main Street in Falmouth and visited Eugene Henry’s. There Andy got a few things including a tropical soda to use to make a tropical soda float. We enjoyed some time on the porch and Andy enjoyed their float. It had a very strong coconut scent.

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02393 We spent the day in New Hampshire celebrating Dan and MArcia’s 50th Wedding Anniversary. In the morning I took the family over to the Golden Egg for breakfast. We enjoyed a nice breakfast together and then went back to the hotel to get ready for the day. We met up with Uncle Tom who performed a private Mass for us in his room. Then we headed over to Nate’s house again before heading to our lunch venue at Wentworth By The Sea. We enjoyed a meal at Salt and got to use their wine room. It was a nice room with a very large table. We had an excellent meal and bottles of wine. After our meal we went down to Dan and Marcia’s suite to enjoy a cake that we had brought. We got the cake from Awesome Sweets. Awesome Sweets is a bakery that my friend Sue runs. A great place with very good baked goods. I’d love it if Andy interned there some day. After our celebration we took a bunch of photos around the grounds and also on the porch of their suite. We headed to the Cape after...

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02392 We are up in New Hampshire today visiting Allison’s brother and his family as well as Allison’s parents and her uncle Tom. We’re there for Allison’s parents’ 50th wedding Anniversary. We drove up this morning and met everyone on Market Street in Portsmouth. There we wandered the shops. Andy found a very cool pocket watch that is actually a holder for tiny D&D dice. Eva and Allison also found a few things. after our adventure on Market Street we went to Nate’s house for a cookout. We enjoyed a very nice meal and the kids hung out with their cousins a bit. We had a nice time and Andy played with the dog a bit. Then we went to our hotel room for the night. We stayed at a local Courtyard and We split up the beds to have Eva with Allison and Andy with me. Andy repeatedly whacked me in the back as they flailed in the night. A very active sleeper.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02391 Today was Andy’s last day of Teens culinary camp at Johnson and Wales. The last day of the camp week is always a day when parents can come and see, and taste test all the wonderful things that the kids made during the week. There were many tasty treats. I’ll have to take Andy and Allison’s word for it since I only had a small piece of a snickerdoodle cookie. I had to try something and since I was only trying one thing I made sure it was one of my favorites.I do love a good snickerdoodle cookie after all. During the week Andy also decorated a cake. The cakes are all Styrofoam and have fondant covering the cake. From there Andy designed the rest of the cake in fondant. Andy decided upon a whale and did an amazing job making it. They said that it is based on the Whale emoji. I didn’t know that there was a whale emoji. After picking Andy up I drove down to the Cape to pick up Eva. We're all heading to New Hampshire tomorrow so we had to get her and bring her ho...