BenSpark Family Adventures

Photo-A-Day #02572 The other day when we had a snow day and spent the evening watching The Lord of The Rings Eva and Andy really enjoyed the movie and wanted to continue watching the rest of the movies in the trilogy. Allison was out for the night and the kids decided to have a movie night, just the two of them. they watched The Two Towers, the second movie in the trilogy and plan to watch the third movie tomorrow night. It was really nice to see the two of them enjoying each other's company and a movie together. This afternoon we had a Zoom birthday party for Mem. She and Grandfather are down in Florida and Tara set up the Zoom so we could all get together to wish her a happy birthday.

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02568 Today we enjoyed a snow day. We got a about 15 inches of snow overnight and through the day. I finished work and slept for a couple of hours and when I got hup Andy, Allison and Eva had all gone out to shovel to the driveway and try to get over to Joanie's driveway to shovel her out. Luckily her other neighbor had already gone ahead and shoveled her out. I got up around 10:30 and went out and did the snowblower on the sidewalks and our driveway and back patio.  After the snow we had lunch and then played Andy's new board game. It is called Hues and Cues. The point is to describe a color in one or two words and that allows the players to guess which color you are trying to describe. Then players can score points by guessing the correct color or by being close. Andy is great at being able to put color hues together but they did not end up winning the game. That went to me. After the game we decided to watch a movie. At first we were going to watch Spaceball...

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02552 Today was Allison's birthday. We celebrated by going to the Colonel Blackinton Inn for dinner. Dinner was taken care of by a Christmas gift card and another gift card that Allison received from school. We had an excellent meal. Andy got adventurous and then realized that they really did not like spinach. Allison got her favorite which was butternut squash ravioli. Eva went with chicken parm and I went with the Wedge salad and short ribs and asparagus. Both Allison and Andy also had French Onion soup. We were seated in one of the small rooms in the back and hard it mostly to ourselves. It was a lovely dinner with good conversation and a chance to celebrate Allison. When we came home we had some cake that was left over from Allison's birthday celebration last night with friend and also some cupcakes that Andy baked last night. It was a nice time.

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02539 Our last day on the Cape. We hung out till around noon and then headed home. Lexie has been huirting a bit, she need surgery on her knee and is having a tough time getting up onto the couch, but she has been managing.  We drove home and got settled back in at home. Caught one more mouse and had a couple of traps tripped. Still hearing a bit of scrabbling in the ceiling and walls so I hope those ones make their way down to the basement and are taken care of soon. The gifts that I had ordered for Erik and Tim arrived. While they were actual products and not a total scam I do feel a bit cheated on them. They were supposed to be in nice boxes and they were supposed to be the charred version of these bourbon drinking cups. They came together in just a single bag. Very disappointing. Eva got a call from Mimi, she's taking Eva and Allison to London over February break. Now we have to scramble to get Eva a passport.

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02538 Today we went on our annual family bowling trip to Mashpee Commons. We started doing this last year as an activity rather than sitting around the house all day. I did not take the photo so the photo from the even cannot be today's daily photo. But here is the group photo. Who knows, this may be next year's Christmas card photo but we may get a better one this Summer on the beach or something like that. Bowling was a good time. The kids all bowled together. Tara, Erik, Shelby and Tim had their own lane and Allison, Me, Grandfather and Mem also had our own lane. It was a nice time. Always fun family activity. We were treated to another beautiful sunset tonight. I like this photo of all of us the best but Moms eyes are shut. the think I like is that you can actually see Andy, not just their eyes. But as far as eyes, Kylie has a killer Side-eye going on here.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02537 We're down the Cape for a few days to enjoy time with family and celebrate Christmas. Today my sister Shelby and her family came down. All the kids are getting so big. The boys are now taller than Grandfather and the girls are taller than Mem. The boys are so close in height that they are pretty much equal in that respect. Eva still has an inch or so on Kylie. We enjoyed the day,m exchanged gifts and had a nice time together. Andy and Grandfather finished the puzzle first thing in the morning. We took many photos in front of the tree at the end of the day.  The Cousins Shelby's Family with Mem and Grandfather Shelby's Family Mem, Grandfather, Drew, Tara and Shelby Our Family The kids with Auntie Tara and Uncle Erik Tara and Kylie Tara and Erik Me and Allison I was very excited to give my sister and my dad these dog poop bags. I saw them online and knew I had to get them. They are hilarious. I am also so glad I was not scammed. It was a very nice day...

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02536 This morning we woke up and had our family Christmas with cinnamon rolls, presents and opening of stockings. We hung around the house enjoying each other's company and exchanging gifts for a while. The big family gift was to go see Weird Al Yankovic in July. Allison got me tickets to the GenX takeover tour and tickets for she and Eva to see Wicked. It was a nice morning.  I'm sort of in charge of the stockings and I picked up a ton of stuff for everyone else at Aldi this year. Lots of interesting sweets. For myself I found some World's Smallest Transformers, G.I.Joe and He-Man figures. They were cool because they each came with a super tiny version of the original comic books from 1984. I ended up with Issues 2 and 3 of Transformers and Issue #1 of G.I. JOE. I am tempted to see if the Target had any more so I could get issue #1. Today is when Allison and the kids actually saw with the house now looks like after the yard was cleared of a couple of tree...

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02535 Today is Christmas Eve. We are all off of school and finishing up last minute things for the holiday. Allison made her chicken soup for dinner and we went to 4pm Mass for the holiday. We got the yearly photo of the kids in front of the nativity scene. After Mass we drove home quickly to get bundled up for a walk around La Salette to see the lights. It was frigid cold out and we had to basically speed walk around the place. No stopping at the Nativity Scene Museum today, Allison had gone earlier in the week with her friend Jenn.  We made one lap and headed home for some hot chicken stew. The big pile of tree trunks from our trees were picked up this morning. A guy came with a truck with a giant grabber arm and he vey efficiently picked through the logs and put them onto his truck. He must have an amazing sense of space because they fit on that truck very well. We all watched. After dinner we watched a movie. We watched many Christmas movies this year. I'm not ...

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02528 Tonight at dinner Eva let us know that she had a decision email in her inbox from MassArt and she wanted to open it with us around her!. She was accepted for the 2026-2027 school year! We are very excited and happy for her because this is Eva's first choice for school and she has been eagerly awaiting the decision. Now, her stress is over.  Mine begins. Se did get $1000 a year in an award right off the bat so that is great to hear. Now we just work on the financial aid stuff. And preparing ourselves for her eventual departure from the house. Don't want to think about that yet.

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02518 Today we went to see the Feehan production of Matilda. Eva was the costume lead for the show and her hard work was on display throughout the performance. Her major piece was a dress for Mrs. Wormwood. She worked so hard to make that dress. I really hope that her efforts are recognized in the MetG awards again. It would be amazing if she won. But I think that every time she creates something it is prize worthy.  The show as a lot of fun and the set was incredible. Myles, the stage manager, was also the set designer and used the original plans for the set from the original performance to create the set for Feehan. He even made a scale model of the set and that was on display after the show. It was so detailed and cool. Mom and Dad came along with Auntie Tara and Auntie Shelby. Aunt Donna was there along with Ellen Gustafson and Aunt Cindy, Uncle Wayne, Scott, Beth and Abby were also there. 

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02515 We put our tree up the other day and I had already bought the 2025 Hallmark Keepsake ornament for our yearly family photo ornament. I love these ornaments on the tree. We have them from 2005 to now.

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02509 For the day after Thanksgiving we lost no time getting the Christmas stuff up and put all over the house. Both trees came up from the basement and were put up in their respective places, front porch and living room. The living room one has light on it but no decorations. the outside one is all lit and decorated. Andy and I also hauled up all the Christmas boxes. We had lunch and gave the kids their yearly ornament. Andy got a D20 die and Eva a sewing machine.  After lunch we watched Big Hero 6. Andy had been wanting to watch this one for a while so we all sat and watched together. Such a good movie. I remember that Big Hero 6 was one of the movies I saw at Disney Studios and got to interview the creators.  I then took a nap before work and Andy started a project. Andy decided that they would like to make some aged paper. So Andy had a bunch of paper on the kitchen island. Andy also wants to get some wax to make wax seals. I think this is for a D&D pr...

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02508 Today was Thanksgiving. We had a great time with our family enjoying a great meal and time together. Last night we kicked off Thanksgiving by watching Planes, Trains and Automobiles. The kids enjoyed it and I really liked seeing it again especially after watching "I Like Me" the John Candy documentary. After our dinner we had some time to relax. I showed Mom and Dad Eugene Levy's show "The Reluctant Traveller". Dad and Mom got a kick out of it like I thought that they would. The show is really fun for everyone.  Each thanksgiving Allison gets the kids come sparkling cider. The kids get fancy and put it in our very fancy wine glasses. They end up toasting repeatedly as they refill their drinks. It is very cute of them to do it. We got some family photos after dinner and before dessert. Dinner was from Firefly's and it was a really good one. We got a turkey breast and a couple of pints of brisket. Then we got mashed potatoes, corn, sweet...

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02507 Eva got her first college acceptance. She learned about it a few days ago and we just learned about it. That was really quick. While Bridgewater is not one of Eva's first choices it is great that she has one acceptance so far. We're still waiting to hear from the ones that she is most interested in.

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02503 Andy turned 14 today. I was asleep all day and it wasn't until dinner that I even got to wish them a Happy Birthday. Mem and Grandfather came up today from the Cape. They took Andy and Eva out to Michael's, Savers and An Unlikely Story. Andy got this really cool mechanical dragon figurine at Michaels ad some items to create  a steampunk Nerf gun. That is Andy's latest project.  Allison and I caught up with everyone at House of Fortune to enjoy dinner together. We got a huge meal that was really tasty. The kids have decided that House of fortune is the place for most celebrations. I also learned tonight that my supervisor and his family know Jason and Stephanie very well and have for many years.  We came back to the house so that Andy could open their gifts and enjoy a nice carrot cake. The cake was Andy's choice, they really like that type of cake. Andy got some nice things for their birthday, a new flannel hoodie, a metal 3D puzzle, some patches ...

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02499 Tonight was the Fall Art show at Feehan. Because Eva is a senior all of her projects are displayed in the same spot together. Allison and I met up with Eva after school at the Doran Center to see the show. The little notes with green on them are acknowledgements from teachers and staff. Eva had four of them on her still life of buttons.  During Baccalaureate Mass Eva will have a senior art show that everyone in the family can attend. There she can display all of her projects throguh all four years at Feehan.

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02492 Today Allison and I drove down the Cape to go to Scargo Cafe for lunch with Mem and Grandfather, Cindy and Wayne and Aunt Cathy and Uncle Roger. Scargo Cafe was one of Grandma Bennett's favorite places to go for a meal. The food there was excellent. We arrived a little early and visited a couple of shops across the street from the cafe. Found some Christmas gifts for the kids and an anniversary gift for Allison. Our meal was excellent and we had a wonderful waitress. Allison got a chicken meal that was very tasty and I got the braised short rib meal. That was also very good. In the end Mom and Dad, Cindy, Wayne Cathy and Roger split the bill and took us out for our anniversary. We were celebrating what would have been Grandma and Grandpa's 76th wedding anniversary. It was nice to go there and think of them for a while and have a lot of fun with family.

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02486 Tonight Eva was inducted into the National Honor Society. We attended the ceremony with Mem and Grandfather. After the ceremony we went to dinner at House of Fortune with Eva's friend Aviva. Mem and Grandfather headed home but that is okay because we went to House of Fortune in the afternoon for lunch.  This morning was the funeral for Peggy Conrad-Pope from our church. She helped out with the Altar boys when I was a kid. I served with her two boys. She'd also been part of the prayer group that Allison and Mem participate in. So Allison had become friends with Peggy over the years, too. We all attended the funeral and then afterwards Allison went back to school and I went to lunch with Mem and Grandfather.

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02474 This morning I dropped Andy off at school and then headed to Middleboro to Dave's Diner to meet up for breakfast with my Dad. I need to return the van to him and get my car back. I'm meeting up with a friend in Newport tomorrow and wanted to drive that rather than the van.  Out front of the diner there was a giant chicken in red, white and blue. There were also a couple of smaller chickens and cow shaped seat. Inside it was a diner and the food was pretty good. Many old magazines and signs and things like that all over the walls.

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02460 Today was a big day all around. It was not only the Father / Daughter Dance for Feehan but also Eva's 18th birthday. I cannot believe that a young adult is now part of our family. Time has flown by so quickly. We captured our last special photo at the dance, we have always made a moment to take photos with our dessert ever since our first dance at SMSH.  This year we did a special coordination of our outfits. We got matching vests and ties. The sets even came with tie tacks, cufflinks and pocket squares. We then ordered special Transformers tie clips that we couldn't actually use with our ties because the vest came up too high so we clipped them to the lapels of our vests. We did a quick celebration of Eva with gifts before heading to the dance. Allison and I each got her a tea infuser. Allison got her one of a swan butt and I got a frog that hangs off the side of the teacup. Eva was excited about those and 3 more bags of her favorite tea. We're going...