BenSpark Family Adventures

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #00551 Well, the Fourth of July on Cape Cod this year was quite different than those of the past. For one thing, we did not go to the beach. The beach was not as crowded as it was in past years but with the threat of COVID-19 looming and people not social distancing or wearing masks it was the safer move to avoid being on the beach in that mix. We filled our day with other things. In the morning we walked up the hill overlooking the beach and I flew my drone so that I could capture my parents driving by with their car club. I flew from the same spot where I had taken the photo of the stairs from above back on June 25th. I flew my drone a lot today. A couple of times I sent it up from the porch to see what the beach looked like and how many people were over there. Late in the afternoon there was a huge group of people all together right in the middle of the beach. So, I think we made the right decision not to go over there. Andy and I worked on a STEM project that we got...

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #00550 Taking a walk around the neighborhood and seeing the chalk art that the kids have been making. There were quite a few nice ones but I thought that this kite was the best one. We went to the beach in the morning because it was going to be a busy, busy day there and we did not want to have to be encroached upon. The water was the best I had seen it in a while. It was so flat and there was very little seaweed that got churned up from the boats. It felt a lot like a calm before the storm. It ended up being a nice day and we got our beach time in nice and early. I took a trip to Walmart and Stop & Shop in the afternoon to get things for the house. It was pretty busy getting in to Walmart but it was busier at Stop & Shop. Walmart was limiting the number of people who could go in to the store. I was in the line watching everyone come up to the line and walk away disappointed. It was amusing to me, not to the guy behind me. He was all sorts of peeved. Glad ...

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #00549 We went to the Cape today. Stuck in about 2 hours of traffic on the ride down. We usually go at different, more off, times but today we got stuck in the mix. This means that there are going to be many, many people on the Cape. We’ll have to switch things up a bit to protect ourselves from the general public. Social Distancing is out the window unless we do it ourselves. So, it means going to the beach before the crush of people descend upon the space and disregard any and all of the posted rules for being at the beach. So, that will be an adventure. Last week when we were down Andy was riding his old bike, a 16″ bmx type bike and he just could not keep up with his cousins. He was also practically hitting his chin with his knees over and over as he pedaled. It made for a rather frustrating adventure on everyone’s part. But, he kept at it and kept trying. While we were home this past week I ordered some training wheels to put on Eva’s old bike. Luckily the bike is ...

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #00548 Andy has has new room now. He’s so excited for his new bunk bed. I’d seen it in Big Lots years ago and thought, “Man, if I was still a kid I would love a bunk bed like that.” It is solid, black and has a futon on the bottom. So there is room for sleeping and hanging out. Andy has had the smallest room in the house for so long and now he’s just so excited to have some more personal space. We’ve still got to find the mattress for the futon part and get a shelf up in his closet but then things should be pretty much ship shape. My new office…. That’s another story.

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #00547 Funko sent us a Marvel BattleWorld Mega Pack to play with and review. Opinions are our own. Funko has gotten into the tabletop gaming space and also on the toy aisle in Target. In Battleworld Mystery of the Thanostones Funko has partnered with Marvel to create a one of a kind tabletop gaming experience featuring micro-collectible figures the excitement of discovering blind bag surprises. The game is rather fun to play as well. So, Funko sent the BattleWorld Mega Pack which contains everything you need to play the game with 1-4 people. There are 6 micro figures included. Each one comes with the exclusive Negative Zone Spider-Man figure. Then there are 3 additional figures and two figures trapped in Thanostones. In order to rescue and open a Thanostone you have to win a special Thanostone battle. These can be a bit more difficult than regular battles. The reward, however is to crack open a Thanostone and reveal a brand new micro figure for your collection. Once you...

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #00546 My main goal today was to build Andy’s bed. We got him a bunk bed with a full sized bed below. We have not yet found the mattress for that bed. They were sold out of them at Big Lots. In a while we’ll find one. It was a challenging build. While it was easy enough to put together everything was done with an allen wrench. That is so tedious but when it was all put together it was so solid. Now, if we ever move that will be interesting to take apart. Andy is very excited to sleep in his new bedroom but that will be another day.

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #00545 Today it downpoured and that caused a few things that were already weird to get even weirder. Maybe weird is not the right word but things are different now at Church. Now we have Church in the parking lot at Saint Mary’s Church. Because of the impending downpour and the ominous clouds Mass was abbreviated. It went by so quickly and then Communion was handed out as we drove out. One of the strangest Masses ever. After dinner we got pizza from La Strada. We were going to try and get their broasted chicken but apparently they don’t start the broaster until 6pm. So pizza it was. I was standing in the shop waiting for my pizza when the sky just opened up and rain poured down. So it was a good thing that Mass was so quick.