BenSpark Family Adventures

Photo-A-Day #02723 At The Pretzel Factory we have 4 different slushie flavors. Lemonade, Cheery Lemonade, Raspberry Lemonade and Mango Lemonade. We also have an ice cream machine. I figured I'd make a fun little slush in honor of the 4th of July. Maybe I'll make another tomorrow and we can do a special photo shoot. for Social Media. 

Photo-A-Day #02722 Tonight I went to Sura with my friend Aaron. Allison and the kids are on the Cape and I'm finding things to do while they are away. So, I contacted my friend, Aaron about going to an adventurous meal night. He knows the best places to try new things. We had Bibimbap in stone bowls. It was a beautiful meal filled with colorful vegetables and a fried egg. I got the short rib version. The food was excellent and very flavorful. We started with a kimchi scallion pancake. It was an interesting take on the scallion pancake. On the way to the car I noticed this street art and it made me think of K-Pop Demon Hunters. 

Photo-A-Day #02721 I picked up some Shameless Snacks. These are low sugar, high fiber snacks. They are pretty tasty. They sent this little container so that I can put a bunch in there and have one or two at a time instead of opening and eating a whole bag. 

Photo-A-Day #02720 Today I went to the North Attleboro Pride Festival at the common in front of town hall. I was there for The Attleboro community Theatre. We had a table there and were passing out wristbands, stickers and candy. We were also a sponsor so we were on part of the scavenger hunt route. That way many people came to the table. I got a lot of compliments on the shirt, too. I got there early because Doug, the ACT vice president needed help setting up the tent and the table. I got off work and set my alarm for 11:30 and got to sleep. I was awoken by Andy looming over me, maybe they were not looming but Andy's gotten taller. Allison had asked them to wake me at 11:30 but I guess Andy was trying to get it checked off their list so woke me at 11. I was out. I stayed until 3:00 just after my friend Ruthie, spoke. She is the president of ACT.  While I was off doing that Allison and her friend Jen went to the Farmers Market in Attleboro and then off to the Grist Mill for the ind...

Photo-A-Day #02719 After a week of last things for Andy today was their very last thing at Brennan Middle School. today was the 8th grade breakfast. Andy was able to enjoy a meal with their friends one last time at the school. Later Andy and friends went to Kimochi and got boba.  I worked at the Philly Pretzel Factory. I was scheduled from 2-4 but got a text that asked if I could come in earlier so instead I worked from 12-4. But, before that Allison and I got breakfast at The Rehoboth Baking Company. I also started a better way of converting the old VHS tapes. I'm currently converting a tape of a trip that my grandparents took me on when I was 10 years old. It was to Disney. It is wild what the place was like back then. My grandfather taped everything, whole rides and representations. To record the VHS to digital I got a simple converter cable and run it through OBS. It works great. I should be able to do a ton of them over the weekends while I'm working Tonight Allison and I ...

Photo-A-Day #02718 Andy is moving up to the High School next year (pictured in the background) and today was a ceremony at middle school to mark that. Eva is on the Cape so it was Allison and I attending along with Mem. Mem came down from the Cape last night to stay over so that she could come with us this morning to the ceremony. It was a good ceremony. the school has done an excellent job with their students and Brennan was great for Andy. Andy received some special recognition for Social Studies and is also in the National Junior Honor Society. That was nice to see in the program. Andy also received some certificates. Andy with Mem Andy with Allison and Drew After the ceremony Mem went to visit with my cousin and we took Andy out for lunch at K. C.'s Burger Bar before I had to go to work. Andy also had a special dance to attend tonight. I ha to work so I did not see Andy all dressed up prior to the event but I was there to pick them up at the end.

Photo-A-Day #02717 Last week when we went to IKEA we got Andy a desktop that they could use to make a desk area in their closet. We'll have to find a spot for their hanging clothes but since Andy wears mainly sleep pants there aren't many of those we need to situate. Allison took Eva down tot he Cape yesterday and whole they were there my Dad was able to cut an inch along the back length of the desk so that it could fit in the space. Today while Andy was at school I assembled the desk and put it together so that Andy could use it. When I came home from work Andy was using their painting book to paint a bird. Andy decided to limit the painting to one bird a day.

Photo-A-Day #02716 Today at The Pretzel Factory my boos made these twice dipped cinnamon pretzels. He takes the pretzel and coats it in the butter and cinnamon like we normally do then he bakes it again and then dips it in the butter one more time and also in the cinnamon a second time. It gets an almost creme Brule type of crunch to it.

Photo-A-Day #02715 Allison bought a large box of Georgia peaches and one of the things that were done with them was making them into a Peach syrup. Specifically Andy decided that they would like to make some Peach Syrup. When we went to IKEA Andy bought a bunch of squeeze bottles that have many uses. So in order to put them to use Andy started a simple syrup of peaches. Andy is quite excited for this to be ready. Also today was Andy's trip to Six Flags for the 8th grade field trip. Last night I set Andy up with the ability to make payments using their phone. The nice thing is that it is set up to alert Allison and I that a purchase has been made, Inside the park they could only use credit cards or load cash onto a card. It made more sense to have Andy use a credit card. They did not go overboard. Andy did have a great time with their friends.

Photo-A-Day #02714 Today was Father's Day and I slept most of the day because of work last night. When I did get up I grilled up some T-Bone steaks that Allison had picked up as ell as some potatoes and Zucchini and Squash. Allison also made a couple of scallops from a bag of Frozen ones that I had gotten a while back.  It was a nice dinner and the kids gave me their cards and also some gifts. I giant container of peanuts and also a giant container of Almonds. I also got some grill cages for vegetables to use in the future. Both cards made me cry. The kids wrote some very nice things. After dinner they took care of the trash for me and we took a family selfie out in the back yard by the garden and grill. My favorite things according to Allison. the garden is going gangbusters and I should have my own Squash and Zucchini soon.

Photo-A-Day #02713 A few years ago before my Grandma Bennett passed away she had asked me to convert VHS tapes to DVDs using a combination DVD/VCR that she had. I did a few at that time. A few weeks ago my cousin found some old VHS tapes from the other side of the family and one of those tapes was a trip to Disney that Grandma and Grandpa Williams took me on. It was just after Grandpa bought a VHS camera, it was one of the first commercial ones, too. I had not seen that video since the days after returning from the trip. So I want to convert that to digital to have it. Making DVDs with this thing is so much about Trial and Error. You would think it was a one button thing but it is not. There is more that has to be done to do it right and we are learning that we don't have it right, quite yet. But we are working on it and making it work correctly. I hope.

Photo-A-Day #02712 Everyone had the day off from school today. Allison and Eva are already out of school but Andy still has a week left. Allison and Eva went and got haircuts and later on I took Andy with me over to An Unlikely Story. Andy had some gift cards and picked up a watercolor set and a special book for painting watercolors of birds. Andy said that they would pace themselves as they painted so as not to go through the whole book too quickly. In the afternoon I went to work at The Pretzel Factory. Today was a very short day. I only worked 3 hours but the first hour was super busy. More busy than normal. One of the people from ACT had come in for pretzels and then he went and left a review of the place and mentioned me. My boss there was very happy. Then we had an order from one of the marriage prep couples that we work with. They had gotten pretzels from me a while back, too. I keep trying to bring in more customers.

Photo-A-Day #02711 Today I brought some sliced olives and banana peppers into the Pretzel Factory to make another pizza. Tim took the pizza dough and put it in the lye bath and added salt tot he crust. Then he fired it in the oven for 2 rotations. He next took it out and I added the toppings. Then we baked it a full 7 minutes. The pizza came out great. Tonight I went to the Attleboro Community Theater for the Board meeting. I brought a bunch of pretzels with me along with many of the dips. The main point of the meeting tonight was to vote int he new board. I decided to run as a write in and was elected. Now I have lots of events to attend with ACT. My first will be North Attleboro Pride Festival next Saturday. should be a lot of fun.

Photo-A-Day #02710 Allison had her last day of school at SMSH today. She made a bunch of shirts for the teachers that featured the most frequently asked questions. After school she and some of the other teachers took one of her teacher friends to lunch at Los Antojitos.  I had work at the Pretzel Factory today. Very busy towards the end of the night. I am in constant motion while I am there. We had a bunch of pretzels left at the end of the night so I took a whole Founder's Day Box over to the Fire Station that was on our way home. The fire fighters were very happy to receive a ton of pretzels.

Photo-A-Day #02709 We went to IKEA today after school to get a few things for Eva and College and Andy and their room. Andy wants to put a workspace into their closet. So we picked up up a desktop that we will have to cut down by an inch. The closet has molding on the inside and the desktop is a shade too large for the space. Andy is holding a pegboard that we'll be putting up on the wall of the closet. With that Andy can organize items for their crafting projects. Let's hope this works out.

Photo-A-Day #02708 The other day Eva and I went to The Blue Pride Bistro for lunch and there were some items being sold by the school from the Welding students. They had made a bunch of Cast Iron Butterflies. I thought this one would be a great addition to the garden.

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 #02706 I was in Target today and saw a new flavor for gruns. These are vitamins in a gummy form. Usually it is a cherry flavor but they partnered with Popsicle and now have the Firecracker flavor. I misread the price and ended up buying these to try them out. See if the vitamins are any good. In the background I have a USB-C hub because I got a new computer at work and it has less inputs than it used to have. I was having trouble using two screens at work and also having other important things connected. Now I am all set. This is pretty useful overall. I can get back to using the setup that works best for me. It looks like no one ate any more of the pretzels through the day. So I can have a few later.

Photo-A-Day #02705 Today at The Philly Pretzel Factory we had an order for a large rivet tray for 2:!5pm. I made it and got it all ready but no one came to pick it up. I called the customer at 2:45 and they told me that they ordered it for tomorrow at 1:30pm. That was really far off from what I had for info. I let the boss know and updated the slip. So, with no one to take it I took it in to work. We are going to start making pizzas, too and Tim had me make one as an example. Tim has been making Mushroom melts so we had mushroom and pepperoni and so I used that. I have an idea for a future pizza and I'll see about making it next week.

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 #02703 I have moved the IKEA futon out of my office and into the living room. My intent is to sell it or give it away. Now I have access to the window just in time to stuck the air conditioner into that window. 

Photo-A-Day #02702 Tonight we went to see Andy's play: Shrek Jr. : The Musical. Andy ran the sound for the play and did a great job. Andy even had to play the slide whistle every time Pinocchio's nose grew. I think that was Andy's favorite part. Before the play Eva and I had a movie afternoon. We watched The Lost Boys because Eva is now obsessed with the new Broadway musical, The Lost Boys. So we had to watch the original so that Eva would see where the musical got the inspiration. I'd love to get own down to New York at some point and take the family to see the show. Don't know if we'll get a chance before Eva heads to college but that would be fun. After the play we went to Wetherlaines for dinner with Uncle Jim. Uncle Jim and Aunt Donna both went to see the play, too. Aunt Donna had to do some errand so she did not join us for dinner. It was a nice night and good meal. As we were there someone came screaming around with an electric bike as Uncle Jim was telli...

Photo-A-Day #02701 Today I went to see the new movie : The Masters of The Universe. This was the new He-Man movie and it was really entertaining. I never had any of the toys while growing up but my best friend Ryan had all of them and I played He-Man with him when I was a kid.It was a fun movie to see and I really enjoyed it. In the afternoon I received the rewards from the latest Kickstarter that I backed. These were from author S.L. Rowland. These books are special editions of his Tales of Aedrea series. Cozy adventure books and I've read two of them that I really enjoyed. I have not read the third and fourth ones but I now have the 3rd and another kickstarter is coming for the fourth that will be done in this very special edition way.

Photo-A-Day #02700 Today was the Attleboro Pride event. Allison and I went to Mass at 11 and then hopped over to Shaw's to pick up dour food order. then we went over to Chubb's Blue Pig BBQ and split an order of Pork Belly Burnt Ends. They were excellent. From Chubb's we walked over toe City Hall where they do the flag raising ceremony. Many of the local politicians spoke and also students from the High School and also school administrators. It was a nice ceremony with some very well done speeches. Senator Paul Feeney was very well spoken and had a strong message. When the ceremony was over we walked back to our car and then drove to the library so that we could go to Balfour Riverwalk Park. At the Riverwealk there were many tents set up with various organizations and a couple of vendors plus School of Rock was providing entertainment. We caught up with Scott Domineci, Eva's nemesis. I gave him one of my Safe Person pins. He had a great "Free Dad Hugs" shirt o...

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 #02698 I saw on Facebook that one Philly Pretzel Factory location was making their butter cream with sprinkles on top. I doubt that they were specifically for Pride but I like to think that they could be. Not at my store since I do not get the impression that it is a safe space. I just get that impression. That is why I don't talk too much about me or my family there. If we can keep things professional and a simple working relationship where I do my job and do it well and not talk anything deep then we should be good.  Anyway I like to think this is a Pride pretzel.

Photo-A-Day #02697 Cheesy popcorn is one of my favorites. Having cheesy fingers is not. So, I eat cheese popcorn with chopsticks. 

Photo-A-Day #02696 Allison is doing a special event with some kids tomorrow. they are making parasols. Allison made hers tonight as an example for the kids. 

 Photo-A-Day #02695 I am now one book away from reading all of the bonus chapters of the Dungeon Crawler Carl series. At least for the books that are published. Each physical copy has a bonus chapter called "Backstage at the Pineapple Cabaret". This is a mini novella that is happening at the same time as the events of the Dungeon Crawler Carl series. The story involves some characters that we have seen in the earlier books and it is an interesting concept.  I walked to the Attleboro Public Library today to see if they had any of the physical books. I had only read the first of these bonus chapters a few days ago in a Target. I was looking for the second book, Carl's Doomsday Scenario but they did not have it. So I had to find the synopsis o the story online because they did have books 3,4,5 & 6 at the library, so I read the synopsis for the second of the secret chapters and then read the ones in each of the books above. I now have to find a physical copy of book 7 and...

Photo-A-Day #02694 It is the start of Pride Month. A month that we recognize in this house. We try and attend the events that happen in Attleboro and also North Attleboro. While our mayor did not make any friends suggesting the closing of the zoo, she does a lot for the LGBTQ+ community. The June Pride event is one of this things that is done well in Attleboro.