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 #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 #02491 For the Day off we decided on a family movie night to watch the new Frankenstein movie from Guillermo del Toro. Eva was the one who suggested it. We were having dinner and she said that she wanted to watch the movie and I had been waiting for it as well. Allison and Andy also wanted to see it and since no one had already gone ahead and watched it on their own we made a movie night out of it.  Eva read Frankenstein in English class last year and I was in the People vs. Frankenstein because Eva had been reading the book and I noticed that ACT was doing the show. Then I read the actual book and after watching the movie I am very happy at how well this movie followed the book and the themes of the book. They even got certain scenes very right. del Toro is a great director. I told Eva that she used to like an animated series called Trollhunters that del Toro created.  The movie did have some gory parts but the kids handled it well. Even andy, although ...

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02383 Tonight I went to see The Fantastic Four with my friend, Frank. Frank and I have been friends since college. We don’t see each other often enough, though. We only live a half hour away from each other but it takes forever for us to coordinate and do something. this time, however, we had made a plan to see The Fantastic Four when it came out. Frank loves movies and so do I so this was perfect. We met up at BJ’s Brew House for dinner and great conversation. We caught up, laughed commiserated and genuinely enjoyed spending time together. I always enjoy conversations with Frank. After the movie we made plans to catch up again in the next couple of months. We plan to go see a Sunday Matinee of And Then There Were None, the next play at ACT.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02373 I came down to the Cape later today because I went and saw Superman before I headed down. I slept a few hours and then went over to the movie theater to see Superman. I didn’t have high expectations for the movie but I knew that James Gunn was in charge of it so I knew it was in good hands. The movie did not disappoint. It was the best DC movie since the Dark Knight, the last one I really enjoyed. The movie was bright and fun and had an excellent soundtrack. I laughed and I certainly teared up more than once. Such a fun movie to see. When I arrived at the Cape my niece and my sister’s dog were sitting on the bench at the table and I was able to catch a very happy expression on both of them.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02370 Allison and Eva headed home today because Eva has senior photos tomorrow. So, Andy and I had some time for ourselves and I decided to take him to the movies to see How To Train Your Dragon. This was the live action remake of the animated movie. It was really good. We went to DJ’s for wings before the show and then split some popcorn at the show. I had a bit of it and it did not spike my blood sugar so I was happy with that. Andy enjoyed the movie and dinner. After dinner we went over to Shaw’s so I could get some cream for my iced coffee. Andy saw the Pokemon kiosk and asked for a pack. He has decided to get back into Pokemon for a bit. I have all his old Pokemon stuff because I kept it for him. Might be fun to start playing that again together.

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02307 I finally got to see the Thunderbolts movie this morning. I was going to go yesterday but I had forgotten that Andy had a physical. I did have a ticket for yesterday that I got with a discount but never got to use it. I considered going to see part of it yesterday but that didn’t make much sense. I did see it today and I liked it very much. I did get spoiled about a couple of things, one from the Internet and the other from Marvel marketing. Neither really ruined my enjoyment of the movie, more of an annoyance than anything else. I’m really looking forward to seeing Fantastic Four next month, too. I hope that is done just as well.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02272 Last night Eva told us that her cinema studies class is going to watch The Breakfast Club today and I said no way, you’re not watching one of the best coming of age 80’s movies out there without me. So I rented it last night and we watched it. Andy watched for the first 20 or so minutes and then went upstairs to play video games. I had hoped that Andy would watch it all but sometimes the attention span for movies is short. Eva watched the whole thing with Allison and me. She liked it and is all ready to start watching it again in class. Today Andy came down in pretty much every flannel/hoodie that they own. Why? Not because it was April Fools, but rather they wanted to “beat Bender”. The character had several layers of clothing in the movie. So andy decided to one up the character. I did not catch a photo of what Andy was wearing this morning so I asked Andy to recreate the look for a photo tonight.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02226 The newest Marvel movie came out today, Captain America: Brave New World. In this movie Anthony Mackie plays Sam Wilson and he is the new Captain America after Steve Rogers gave him the shield. There was a Marvel TV show called The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. In that we see Sam becoming Captain America. They did a really good job of it, too. Now, this is the first time that there has been a Black Captain America and this is the first time that Mackie has helmed a Marvel movie as the main character. I enjoyed this movie very much. There was a good blend of action and character development throughout. We even had some good cameos in the film. I’m looking forward to seeing a Sam Wilson Captain America in more movies.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02175 Today was Christmas. We woke up and had our cinnamon rolls for breakfast while we opened our stockings. Stockings were rather light this time around because neither Allison nor I thought much beyond what to put in the kids’ stockings. We overdid it with the the kids, but for us, not so much. I even commandeered some of the kids items for our stockings so they wouldn’t be so bare. That is okay because there were some big deal things coming. Overall the presents were fewer to open but more to experience this year. We’re going to Disney and two days in the parks is a pretty big gift. We also are going to a couple of comedy shows in the coming year. Allison and I are going to see Nate Bargatze in August and the whole family is going to see Josh Johnson in March. Needless to say budgets for gifts went out the window. This will be the kids’ first live comedy show. They enjoy Josh’s comedy on Tik Tok and so do we so we’re very excited to see him live. After we had...

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02081 Tonight we went to the movies as a family. We went to see the new Transformers One more. This is the first animated Transformers movie in 26 years. It was a great movie and I hope it is the start of more to come. The movie takes place entirely on the planet of Cybertron. It is the story of how Optimus Prime and Megatron went from best friends, like brothers, to bitter enemies. The story was very well done and wove in 40 years of lore. I do hope that the next movie also takes place on Cybertron but then ends with the fall of Cybertron and the Autobots and Decepticons crash landing on Earth. That would be great and then the third movie would take place on Earth with the intent for the Transformers to return to their homeworld. Everyone enjoyed the movie and t was great to spend some time together before Eva and I headed off to Granite State Comicon for the weekend.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02026 I went to see Deadpool and Wolverine today because I was not going to let spoilers happen to me with this movie. I knew that there would be a lot of surprises and some may even be unspoiled. I was right to go and see it as soon as it arrived at the theater. There was so much in this movie and so many cameos and surprises. I loved it. I laughed like crazy and had a great time. there was a time when I used to go to Disney and get to interview the actors of Marvel movies. I haven’t done that in many years now. I hadn’t been as excited for Marvel movies like I had been either but I knew that this one was going to be the one I had to see on day one. I really enjoyed the other Deadpool movies and Hugh Jackman has always been a great Wolverine. Seeing these two characters together was awesome! Can’t say much more about it but it was a very funny movie and I look forward to what Marvel puts out next and whether or not this movie will have an impact on that, storywi...

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02012 Today we did a guy’s night/ girl’s night. The ladies went out to see the movie Inside Out 2 and the guys went to Shipwrecked for dinner. I split a pizza with Dylan while Andy inhaled a massive burger. We also split some calamari which was done really well there. We had a nice night. The girls had a nice night too. Eva, however, wasn’t feeling well so I picked up some soup for her because she did not feel like having anything at the Cinema Pub. That tells you that she’s not feeling well because she loves their food.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01955 Tonight I took Andy to Showcase in Foxboro for the 40th Anniversary Transformers night. The first 4 episodes of the original cartoon were being shown with the first episode having a live table read with many people from the original cast. That first episode was pretty cool and Andy loved seeing the voice actors do their thing. Andy did ask a few questions during the show and they had lots of criticisms of the plot. Questions about how robots as large as Soundwave could shrink down to be a tape deck that could be carried by a human. Questions like why would they make Megatron turn into a gun that needed to be used by other robots. Andy also saw foreshadowing from a mile away. It didn’t help that nearly every episode was basically the same. I explained that the toys were already created and then the show was made around the toys to sell the toys. Plot and storylines were very basic but over the years the lore around the Autobots and Decepticons grew from comi...

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01951 A while back I picked up this Fast & Furious LEGO Dodge Charger. The set comes with Dominic Toretto. It was a fun build and the car looks amazing.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01862 The teaser trailer for Deadpool and Wolverine came out today and I am very excited for July 26th to arrive. I did not have a Deadpool figure in the red costume, just the purple, so that isn’t really Deadpool but I did want to take a Deadpool photo today because of the trailer. I’m excited for this movie because so many characters will be making cameos in the movie. This should be great to see Wolverine and Deadpool play off each other.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01738 I picked Andy up from school today on foot and we walked home. The other day Andy got turned around a bit when they walked home and I figured I’d take the time to go over the route so that they are more confident about walking home on their own in the future. Andy has walked home this way once before with their friend Maia. However, Maia sprints out of school to avoid the crowds and so Andy gets left in the dust unless Andy is completely ready to leave with Maia. Andy was not completely ready and so Maia had left (the kids do not make direct plans, it blows my mind) and Andy got turned around and called Allison for help on getting home. I had just gotten home from picking up Eva and went right out and got Andy at the park. We’ll be going over the Maps app on Andy’s phone to help if they ever get turned around again. On our walk home we say this sign for Hocus Pocus being played in the park tonight. Andy was invited by his friend Maia and I walked Andy to Ma...

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01687 The few days that we were on the Cape have not been great for going to the beach but it was nice enough to go for a walk along the water. Allison and I walked this morning and later in the afternoon we took Andy to see the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Mutant Mayhem at the Falmouth Cinema Pub. I’d been waiting to see this movie and I really enjoyed it. It was fun and done really well. Some changes made to the story overall but they worked for the Turtles which has always been a tongue in cheek joke. I loved the animation and the voice acting. Great choices on everyone all around.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01674 At camp today Andy made some sand art. Andy made two sand art spheres that represented two characters from the cartoon, Bluey. they are of the mom and dad, Chili and Bandit. Chili is tan and Bandit is blue. The show is one that I really enjoy watching despite it being a kids show for really little kids. There is a lot for adults to enjoy there as well. Tonight we watched the movie Flamin’ Hot which was a fictionalized account of Richard Montañez and how he invented the Flamin’ Hot Cheetos. I love an underdog story and this one was fun. I picked up some Flamin’ hot Cheetos for all of us to enjoy. It was fun and the movie was entertaining.