BenSpark Family Adventures

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02120 Today was Halloween. Andy got to wear their costume to school and ended up walking home with this Hoof feet in Crocs despite having regular sneakers from gym class. When asked about this they told us that they had forgot that they had the sneakers. Sounds about right. andy wanted to go trick or treating tonight and I was going to walk around with them. We asked Eva if she’s like to go so she threw on her Spider girl costume and SCAD sweatpants and went as art school spider girl. Allison also came with us and we walked around the neighborhood. There were not many houses that were participating in handing out candy but the kids did a fairly decent job with what was there. I think this may be the last time that we do this together. I’m happy that they still enjoy dressing up and going out trick or treating. I’m not sure that it will continue much longer.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02120 We’ve been working on Andy’s Halloween costume for a few weeks now. Eva has been making the legs and I have helped by 3D printing the hooves for the feet. I 3D printed two hooves that I hollowed out and attached to the front of a pair of Crocs with electrical tape. Then Eva put some of the faux fur on the feet. Andy is going to love the costume when it is completed. I also had to 3D print some horns.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02119 I recorded another LEGO building video today. It got a decent amount of views since then but no actual engagement. No one is leaving any comments on it yet. I will try and get a couple of them posted this week and see if I can start to get more of a following. Here is the video.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02118 For context, I put the kids’ Nintendo Switch on the charger and it flashed the charging light over and over. The battery was dead. I ordered a battery replacement kit from ifixit. It came today. I installed it. The switch powered on. Then it threw an error. I looked up said error. No bueno. I tried taking it all apart again and reseating the connectors. Still error. Must be fixed by repair professionals. At this point it’s not worth it. The kids barely play it anymore and the next gen Switch is coming next year. Plus, we have mine if they really want to play something on it. This was one of the very first available Nintendo Switches, so it had a decent life.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02117 Andy had the idea that they would like to go as Grover Underwood from the Percy Jackson series for Halloween. Leading up to Halloween Andy asked for my help in ordering some things from Etsy for the costume. When I saw the price we discussed things and determined that for Halloween we could create the costume rather than buying one. So we went to Joanne Fabrics and got some brown fur and foam. I 3D printed some hooves that would be attached to a pair of crocs. Andy and Allison went to savers to pick up some brown sweatpants. Eva cut and shaped the foam and attached it to the sweatpants and I think that tomorrow they’ll be working on finishing the costume.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02116 as we left the Father Daughter Dance last night we were allowed to pick one Captain Baker donut to take with us as a treat from the event. Past years we’ve gotten things like cups and mugs and stuff but there are only so many of those that you can collect. At least in my mind there are only so many. Maybe not for everyone else. I save my donut for a treat for tonight after dinner before work. Eva enjoyed hers early this morning. She got a maple bacon one and I picked the sprinkle one that looked like a Homer Simpson donut. We did not eat them last night because we enjoyed the desserts that they had at the dance. We even took our dessert selfie, something that we’ve done many times in the past.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02115 Tonight was the Father Daughter Dance for Feehan and Eva and I went decked out in matching ties and vests. I even had a pocket square that complimented the set. We found a set with matching Vest, Tie, Pocket Square, Tie clips and cufflinks on Amazon and decided that this was the way we were going this year. Even though we got Eva the smallest size it needed some alteration. Eva worked on it herself along with her Sewing club this past week. They did a nice job getting the fit right. The dance was at the Venus de Milo in Swansea and it was the first time that I’d been there for this event. the past years have been at Patriot Place Gillette Stadium. While I liked that venue this was a nice one too. We sat with several of Eva’s friends and their dads. I even met one dad who was two years behind me at Feehan when I went there. He was attending his 8th one in a row since he has two daughters four years apart. The talk amongst the dads was better than past years ...