BenSpark Family Adventures

Photo-A-Day #02738 Earlier this year Andy expressed that they may not be as interested in culinary in High School as they had been in the past. Andy has expressed that maybe carpentry might be of interest. Luckily Andy will be going through a multi week trial of all of the CTE programs at the school and will find their fit.  Today Andy and their cousin Dylan helped Grandfather build the frame for a new screen door for the sunporch. They measured the door to the back patio first and then Grandfather taught them how to use the miter saw. That is after teaching them how quickly one can lose a finger. Andy took to using the saw really quickly and was happy to cut all sorts of things. They even cut a few pieces to use to carve up when they get home. Andy is planning on making some horseshoe crabs from those pieces. I really liked seeing Dad and Andy working together and Dad giving Andy instructions. With Andy having some interest in these sorts of things it is good to learn from someone...

Photo-A-Day #02731 This is Eva's new camera. Eva is a teaching assistant for the film photography class at CSS. Tara got Eva the new camera and an additional lens. I look forward to seeing the photos that they take this Summer. Today was the art fair on main street in Falmouth. Allison, Eva and I went before Eva's classes. We found some neat things. I got some spicy mustard and a dip that sounded like it would go well on pretzels. Of course I have to wait another week before I have any more. The street fair was nice. We did that, ran the kids back and forth to their classes and had steak tips for dinner. 

Photo-A-Day #02730 I went upstairs to read and promptly fell asleep in the afternoon after brining the kids back and forth to Science School. When I woke up we were having pizza on the sunporch with everyone. After dinner Allison gave Kylie French Braids. She had been wanting them for a while.

Photo-A-Day #02727 My back was okay enough for me to drive to the Cape this morning. It wasn't good enough to really do much of anything other than sit and use the muscle stimulator. We had my cousin Bill and his family over for dinner before the fireworks tonight. I opted to stay on the porch to watch them and did take this one obligatory fireworks photo. Not my best. Allison went to the beach and she was able to get some great shots of Bill's kids by the water as the fireworks went off. I also didn't make it to the parade in Woods Hole to see Eva walk with CSS. Allison did capture a photo of Eva though.

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 #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 #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 #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 #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 #02692 Today we celebrated Eva and their graduation from High School. We got food from Chub's Blue Pig BBQ as well as some burgers from Chartley Country Store. I have a ton of them left over and frozen, too. I bought 20, cooked 4 and two were eaten. W weren't sure if people would rather have that than the amazing BBQ of Chubb's. I also picked up a Crowd Pleaser of pretzels from Phill Pretzel Factory and a couple of their sweet dips. Allison made a salad and got a treat platter form BJ's as well as a half sheet cake. We had Eva's aunts Tara and Shelby there along with Uncle Erik and cousin Kylie. Great-aunt Donna came and so did Great-Uncle Richard. Our neighbor Joannie came over and so did Great-Aunt Corrine. Mem and Grandfather came to the party and so did Eva's friends Aviva and Ollie. Eva's theater director, Mrs. Strunin came to visit as well. Andy invited their girlfriend, Jazzy over to meet everyone too.  Before the party a package arrived f...

Photo-A-Day #02691 For the past 12 years Eva has had to follow a dress code and has had to have natural colored hair. Well, they graduated yesterday and today they were finally able to color their hair. Eva went with purple under their natural hair color. Overall it is pretty subtle and looks great on them. Time to live your authentic life, Eva! 

Photo-A-Day #02690 Today was Eva's High School Graduation. It was a wonderful celebration. We started off with the Baccalaureate Mass. That was from about 10:00 - 1:00 or so. Very long celebration but was really nice. Eva got to see many of her teachers afterwards and each one said some wonderful things to her. Her first year chem teacher is actually a woman who was a year ahead of me at Feehan.  After the Mass we went to the Doran Center for Eva's Senior Art show. Eva had some lovely peicves up to show. There was one piece missing and it was dead center of her display. We are not sure what happened to it either. Hopefully it will turn up. After the art show Mem and Grandfather went back to the Blackinton and we headed to SMSH so Eva would do a walk through to visit with her grade school teachers. We went home and I crashed out with a nap. For the graduation we had purchased a bunch of plastic ponchos because there was a chance of rain and we did not want to take the chance of ...

Photo-A-Day #02689 Tonight we went to The Blackinton Inn for dinner with Mem and Grandfather to celebrate Eva's upcoming graduation. I met up with everyone after work at the Pretzel Factory. I was there to work the closing. It was a good night at work.  Earlier in the day Eva had Grandparents day with Mem and Grandfather. They came up last night to stay at The Blackinton so that they were ready for this morning. Eva had a nice time with her grandparents showing them the school and enjoying the activities that the school had set up for them. While they were at their event I went to work (the full time job) to pick up my old laptop. They cleared it and reset it to that I could have it back to use personally. On the way back from there so that I could go to work I went and got my comics and I also stopped by target and while there I found some gifts for Eva for Graduation and I also went to Lowes and got her a tool kit. My dad had done that for Tara when Tara went off to college....

Photo-A-Day #02678 Our family was featured in the Bishop Feehan magazine called Cornerstone. They interviewed me, my mom, my sister Shelby and Eva. They interviewed a few other families as well about multi generational Feehan families. We each talked about our experiences at the school and the things that linked us to our time there like the theater. Eva and I did the most in theater except for my Uncle Jim. Uncle Jim, Aunt Luann and Uncle Richard were all mentioned in the article, too. I like how they put little family trees on each of the articles. There was also an article about the arts at Feehan and how the Choir, Band and Theater all had great events in March and Eva was mentioned by name.

Photo-A-Day #02676 Tonight was the induction ceremony for the National Junior Honor Society. Andy was inducted. We are very proud of how well Andy has done in school and he's excited for High School.  We've all been reading The Outsiders in the house. Eva read it first and then Andy and then me. Allison is reading it now and once she is done we have the movie from 1983 to watch. Andy's ELA class is now working on the Outsiders and from Andy it seems like his teacher didn't quite read it or get it. It was funny listening to Andy and Eva talking about the book and how major things about the book were being presented to Andy incorrectly but he knows the score so he's gonna do well with this book in school.

Photo-A-Day #02675 Today was Eva's last day at high school. She does have one more exam tomorrow but otherwise she is finished. I can't believe how quickly this all went. We're only a couple months out from college, too. She's been doing a bunch of things all on her own like planning trips with her friends. She even bought a couple tickets to a show near her college for October in plans to go with someone she makes friend with in college. That is great for her. She's also making a couple of online purchases and has finally started using a bit of her Summer Job money to enjoy it. I'm really proud about the concert ticket purchase that she made.

Photo-A-Day #02672 Today was Mother's Day. I had to sleep but the kids took care of Allison. Andy went to Church in the morning with Allison. We celebrated with a nice meal of swordfish and steak that I grilled for dinner.