BenSpark Family Adventures

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01640 I rinsed and washed Andy’s tie-dye shirt from Monday’s event at Rock Spot. Andy picked up this shirt when they went to the mall with Allison and Eva and Eva’s friends. It says on it, “Overthinking and Also Hungry”. Sounds about right. The shirt was plain white so Andy decided that rather than buying a new rock Spot shirt we’d just tie-dye this one instead. It came out really nice, the colors were very vibrant. The shirt looks way better than the ones I made at ABD. I should have taken those shirts with me to that we could have fixed them or something. Maybe we’ll do our own tie-dying this Summer.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01639 Buddy week continues at the dojo and today at Krav the adults learned a few techniques for being choked from behind. Sensei did call on me to help demonstrate but saw how sweaty I was and picked someone else. He called on another person and they came up to me asking if they could borrow some sweat. Everyone got a good laugh. I was trying hard to have a very hard workout because I’ll be off for a month and I know I’m going to feel so behind when I return. We did not learn the hip toss in the adult class, which is good because I did not have my regular partner. My partner for this could have thrown me across the room and I would have probably had a spinal injury trying to move him. For the afternoon class the kids worked on the technique that the adults learned in the morning which ultimately lead to learning how to defend against being choked from behind while seated at a school desk. Andy helped with one part of the demonstration. I’ve warned him that they ...

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01638 Dad came up today to help me finish the downstairs bathroom. Well, we finished everything that he had left to do. We still need some plumbing on the heat but otherwise we are done. Dad and I started by hanging the new lights, medicine cabinet, towel racks, guest towel rack and toilet paper holder. Once that was done we ran to Lowe’s to pick up the shower door. Installing the shower door would take up our afternoon. We got the door plus some lights and a couple other items. When we came back we started installing the door. It was complex but between the two of us we were able to get through the instructions and get it hung up. It was a long day for everyone but the end result was fantastic. We are so appreciative to the work that dad did on the bathroom. It looks great! We’ve just got to wait 24 hours before we can use it.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01637 Eva and Andy learned how to do hip tosses at Jr. Krav today. Eva got to throw Andy but Andy did not get to throw Eva. I did try and convince Miss Alex to have them switch it up but she said no. Andy did get to hip toss some other kids, though. It is a week before vacation so it is buddy week and that means we learn some different techniques and stray a bit from the curriculum. When I come back in august I’ll be training with the Black Belts and learning that curriculum. It’ll be like being a white belt all over again.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01636 Today I took Andy to Rock Spot for some climbing and to a Tie-Dye event. Andy took one of their new shirts with them to tie dye. This tie-dye event had a much better tie-dye outcome than the ABD one. Much more ink, someone who knew exactly how to get the perfect spiral and we were basically the only ones there. I should have brought my ABD shirt so I could have fixed it. Andy had fun and also did some climbing. Andy likes to have a challenge so they decided that they would climb one wall using only animal shaped holds. This proved difficult but in the end Andy did make it up the wall. Of course, they did tire themselves out and we didn’t stay and climb all that long. It is okay, some climbing is all that Andy needed. I know Andy is going to miss it this Summer and can’t wait to start back up in the Fall. My Black Belt Certificate was expertly framed by my cousin’s shop, The Preservation Framer. It was completed and Allison picked it up for me. I hung it on ...

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01635 This morning I left work and went right to a 5K to crush cancer. I was part of the America’s Best Defense team and walked to raise money for the For Kids’ Sake Foundation Inc. I knew that I’d not be running the event, I’d be walking it and that was okay, it was a nice 3 mile walk and I saw a bunch of people that I knew. Many people were walking or running and many more were behind the scenes volunteering or cheering people on there were about 15 people on the ABD Team. We raised about $3500 for the charity. Quite a few of the people on the team were fellow newly ranked Black Belts. When I started out I thought I was walking t a pretty good clip but so many people were ahead of me, It wasn’t until I chanced a look behind me to see that I was not, in fact, the last person on the course. But man, it feels like that sometimes. At the top of Fuller Street I ran into my friend from high School, Marybeth. she and her daughter were working the first water station a...

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01634 I finally found the Namor character car from Hot Wheels. I also picked up the Shuri car because I cannot remember if I actually got that one before. I think I did not cannot be sure until I get home. I had to work from the office tonight and stopped at Walmart before coming in to check and see if they had any new character cars.