BenSpark Family Adventures

Photo-A-Day #02707 We went to the Food Truck night over at Capron Park for dinner. This is an activity that we enjoy going to each time it comes to the park. So many great food trucks to choose from. I went with some Birria Tacos and Allison had a Birria burrito bowl. Andy went with meatball sliders and some fries from Friskies. Eva went with the standing order of General's chicken on Fries from Friskies. We ran into Eva's theater teacher, Mrs. Strunin and her family. Andy saw a friend from school, too. After dinner we got some desserts. Allison and I split the Fluffernutter churro and ice cream. Eva was full and Andy got some Dell's.   Later on we called cousin Dylan to wish him a Happy Birthday! Another teen in the family!

Photo-A-Day #02704 Today the Blue Pride Bistro had their last couple days to be open. Instead of individual meals they had a buffet and when I saw it I knew we had to go for a very specific item: Corned Beef Burnt Ends. The first time through the line they were dry but when they brought out more they were so tender and tasty. We tried a few other things like Steak and Cheese Grilled Cheese, Burger Sliders and Mojo tacos. They also had desserts. Good stuff.

Photo-A-Day #02699 Today was my 30th College Reunion from Saint Anselm College. Allison and I drove up from home in the morning to arrive for the lunch on the open space in front of Joan of Arc Hall. That area had been a parking lot the whole time that I was a student and when I worked at the college. Now it is a almost like a second quad. It is a nice place to hang out. We did run into two of my former classmates but that was it for lunch. We sat with some of the Golden Anselmians. It seemed as if people were only coming for the class dinner tonight. We walked all over campus looking at the new buildings and a lot of the landscaping that has been done over the years to make it look even nicer. It was always a pretty campus but it is even nicer now. We eventually made our way up the hill where we were going to an event called Beers and Benedictines. But first we walked through the Abbey Church. I don't think that Allison had ever been inside before. The Beers and Benedictines was a...

Photo-A-Day #02656 Tonight we went to Providence for a comedy show at The Vets. It was Ronny Cheing and Hasan Minhaj for their comedy tour called "HASAN HATES RONNY | RONNY HATES HASAN". It was something a bit different than any comedy show we'd ever seen. The two of them came out to have "debates" with each other and battle on many topics. It was funny. Different, but funny. We had dinner at 579 Benefit before we went to the show. A good meal all around.

Photo-A-Day #02601 The day started poorly but ended up excellent. This morning I got off work and went to bed. I passed out with my phone in my hand and awoke an hour later. The house stunk. I knew what had happened. The shit pipe int he basement had overflowed once again. Luckily it wasn't a lot. It was more than enough to put a stink throughout the house. I had to run to Lowe's to pick up some heavy duty main line drain clearer and also get some baking soda at Walmart. So I did not get to sleep until well after 12. I then slept for 2 and a half hours and got up because I now have to find a solution to this problem. A long term solution. Allison and Andy were at the METG (Massachusetts Educational Theater Guild) HS Festival 2026 Preliminary Round of one act plays. Eva's school was performing Around the World in 80 Days. She made many of the costumes and she and her team won for Best Costume Design. They now continue on to the Semi-Finals in two weeks. I can't see the s...

Photo-A-Day #02598 I had wanted to do an ice cream making class with andy during February vacation and well, since this has been an extended vacation because of all the snow days we got our chance to go today. An ice cream shop local to us, Frisbie's offers ice cream making classes. It is more of an experience than a class but it is very fun none the less. We are here with the ice cream sundaes that we got after we made our own ice cream. Because our ice cream will take a day to freeze properly they give us some of their ice cream to enjoy after class. I say give but we definitely paid for the experience. The cost was $75 per person. I think that the store probably took home 75% of that fee in profit after all was said and done. So they poured a bag of ice cream mix into the machine to mix, add air and freeze a bit. We each got a large tub and added that base ice cream. Then we could mix in our own base as well as other items. I had wanted to make a strawberry oreo ice cream but th...

Photo-A-Day #02589 Andy and I are on our own for the week. Allison and Eva are having a great time with Mimi in London. Today I slept till 9am, I have not slept past 6am in YEARS. Alarms off and no one waking me up. It was great. Andy had forgotten to turn off their alarm so they were up early but quiet enough not to wake me. We played some One Hit Heroes in the afternoon. We were going to attempt to play a Transformers card game but the game rules proved a bit challenging. so we scrapped that idea. I'll play the solo version and figure out how it is supposed to be played and then we'll try playing together. Andy asked that we go to Johnny Rockets for dinner. On the way out they said that they had money and would be paying. It was revealed that the money had come from Mimi to take us out one night while the girls were over in London. Andy chose Johnny Rockets at the Providence Place Mall. They were paying so who was I to argue. Johnny Rockets is airport food and well, not that ...

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 #02542 This afternoon and into tonight we went to the Salem Cross Inn for one of their Fireside feasts. This was the last one of the year and a celebration of the New Year.  We arrived and went to the basement of the building where they have this giant fireplace and there is an antique roasting jack, the only one still in use. There are 6 prime ribs roasting in the fire. They had started the roasting around 2pm. This location was the gathering place for everyone before going upstairs to enjoy the feast. There is a bit of theater to have before that. The kids were dressed warmly and nicely for the occasion.  We had to dress warm because we would be on a sleigh ride around the property.  I even pulled out my very heavy sweater for the occasion.  The horses that drew our sleigh were Jerry and Jim. We posed with them after the ride. They gave us either Mulled Cider or Mulled Wine to enjoy. They did the mulling with rods from the fire. It was cool to watch...

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02541 Before I get into what I am printing on the 3D printer we are now on day two of passport scramble. At 12:45 we headed over to the post office for our appointment for Eva and Andy's passports. We got there and there was a line so I got in and when I got up to the line and the person ahead of me was done I let them know that I was there for my passport and was told that the people ahead of me had to go next. So why make an appointment? While in line we heard one of the post office people say that the form had to be done in black ink. We did ours in Blue at Triple AAA. We failed to read the top line of the form. So, I get two new forms and I fil out Andy's while Allison filled out Eva's. We get up tot eh line for our turn and it is a new person who immediately looks at the form and says that it is the wrong form. but we just got it there in the post office. The other person who had given me the forms gave me the 2020 forms not the 2025 forms. There are l...

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02540 Ever since we learned, yesterday, that Eva and Allison are going on a trip with Mimi I've been scrambling to get things set up for Eva's passport. I know I should have done this the moment the orange tyrant took office but I did not. So now here we are. Triple AAA does the passport photos for free so we went there to get the photos and the applications needed to get the passports. We decided that we might as well get one for Andy, too.  I read everything online I could about what we needed for the applications. Eva has a MA ID so that is all she needed along with birth certificate. Andy would need birth certificate plus my license and Allison;s license. I read that they needed photocopies so I made them of everything. After Triple AAA we went over to the Attleboro post office to do the rest of the steps. While walking in I saw that you needed an appointment for a passport so I made one for later in the day and we went for lunch at Mac and Walt's. Lunc...

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 #02524 Tonight Andy and I went to Boston for the Mix 104.1 Deck The Hall Ball. This was Andy's big birthday gift because the headliner was AJR. They were excellent to see in person. Their songs are fun and there was one point where they even broke down how they created the song "World's Smallest Violin". IT was super cool to watch.  There were two opening acts and they were pretty good. Andy was super enthusiastic when AJR came on. Clapping for each song and swaying to the music. Big smile on their face, too. We had pretty decent seats. The music was LOUD so I am glad that I had bought some LOOP ear protection before the show. They really helped me enjoy things so much more. It was a good time. Lots of fun with Andy.

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 #02494 When Allison and I started discussing our 20th Anniversary and how to celebrate it we were looking at a few things but they were things we had done before. Then Allison sent me a link to the Providence Tour company. she had gone with Eva and her friend Aviva on the Providence Haunted Authors Tour and really enjoyed it. The company had a Dinner Stroll on Federal Hill so we booked it for tonight. The stroll took us to Cassarino’s, Trattoria Appia, Pane e Vino, and Anthony’s Authentic Italian Cuisine. We were on the tour with three other couples who were all friends. By the end of the night we had had good conversations with most everyone from the group. We were about 10 years younger than the rest of the group. We learned that our tour guide was from North Attleboro. She was very nice. Our adventure started at Cassarino's for an appetizer sampler of calamari, bruschetta, stuffed mushrooms and clams casino. Everything was excellent. We were allotted 35 minutes a...

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02461 I took last night off so that means that today I was able to do a few things around here before taking a nap for work. Allison and I took advantage of that time to go walking at La Salette and also to visit the Farmer's Market. I have not been there yet this year and there is only one weekend left. We got some tasty treats as we walked around including a Jerusalem bagel and some pretzels for the kids. We also got some spicy thai sauce and Allison got a pumpkin spice cold brew coffee. Tonight Allison and Eva went to see the band the Oh Hellos in Boston. They had a great time at the show.

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02458 Today Eva and I went to Boston University for a college tour. It was pouring int eh morning and through our drive but once we got there the rain ended and we had a very nice tour. I had never been on the campus of Boston University and didn't know much about it. I'm not one for the city but Eva enjoyed it and was excited by the place. While we did not get to see the fine arts college but at some point if she wants to continue to pursue this college we'll be back to see that area specifically. 

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02448 Today we went to see the Attleboro Community Theater performance of And Then There Were None. We were joined my our friends Frank and Heather. Frank and I had made plans back in July when we met up last time. It is a great thing that we can catch up every once and a while around a performance. We're making plans for The Trial of Ebenezer Scrooge in December.  The kids went with us to see the show too. they both enjoyed it as well. After the show we dropped them off at home and then went to dinner with Frank and Heather at Wetherlaine's. When I was at Granite State Comicon I bought a book and print from one of the vendors. The book was of 20 80's movies and I knew that it would be the perfect book for Frank. The print is for the movie Better Off Dead, a favorite of mine and of Frank. The book is a good one but I knew I'd only read it once and I knew that Frank would appreciate it more than me so I gave it to him along with the print for his podcast...

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02441 The second day of the convention is the relaxed day. Eva had a very simple cosplay today as Adaine from Fantasy High. As we walked around together there were three people that recognized the character. Eva had made three special bottle cap buttons and gave them to the three people.  after our breakfast at the bookstore down the street we came back tot he convention as it began. We decided to load upt he car and then went across the street to the SNHU center for the other part of the convention. There were things like the Big Dumb Robot convention where people displayed robots that they had fabricated with 3D printers and other materials. There were some amazing ones there, too. Down on the floor of the arena were additional vendors. Eva found a tea to try and I picked up a set of books signed by the author and we even found some figures that andy likes to put together. They are called Eugy figures and they are made from cardboard or wood pieces that you glue ...

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02440 This morning Eva and I headed up to New Hampshire for the Granite State Comicon. This is an event that we attend together every year and each year we have more fun. This year Eva worked so hard on a cosplay costume that really spoke to her. She is cosplaying as a character from her favorite book, The spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White. Her character is that of Silas Bell. Eva spent months designing the costume from the ground up. From working on the pattern to making mock ups to embroidery to so many other details too numerous to mention. Eva did an outstanding job. This was the first time participating in the contest since 2018. This year Eva met a number of other cosplayers and made some new friends. Eva also got to catch up with several of friends that they made over the past few years. Eva's friends also participated in the contest. While none of them won any of the prizes they did have great experiences. Eva and I arrived close to 10am and too...