BenSpark Family Adventures

Photo-A-Day #02785 High School has arrived for Andy. Despite lounging around for most of the Summer and having pretty late nights and sleeping later, Andy was up and ready to go at 5am this morning to shower, get packed and head to their girlfriend's house to walk to school together.  When I talked with Andy after school they were very excited about the day. Andy is already making connections with their teachers. Andy is looking forward to their first rotation in CTE which is Carpentry. Their teacher doesn't call Andy by their name but rather, "My Man!" because Andy is so enthused with the program and answers most questions. I'm excited to see where Andy goes with these programs.

Photo-A-Day #02783 Today was a day we have been excited for/dreading ever since High School graduation. The start of college for Eva. Move in day. Excited because Eva will do great things. They have been preparing for this forever and will meet every challenge. Dreading it because our kiddo is not going to be home with us each night for dinner. The sewing machine will be silent and we will not have 9pm shower time serenades. James will be depressed all the time and will come sleep in our bed. James takes up a lot of bed space. Andy did not come with us today, they would have been incredibly bored with all the things we had to do. So Andy hung out with friends for the day. They did get up and give Eva a massive hug. But overall we are so thrilled for Eva to start their journey. We (Allison, Eva and myself) got to MassArt about a half hour before our move in time so we parked in the parking lot and waited. When it was time to go we pulled up to the front of Eva's dorm and they had so...

Photo-A-Day #02782 On Eva's last night before move in day we watched the movie Wayne's World. Eva was not a fan. Andy seemed to find it funny but Allison and I were rolling at the time capsule that was Wayne's World. We were pretty low key today. I had to work at the Pretzel Factory 12:30-5:30 and when I came home we had a quick dinner and were off to a marriage prep meeting. I brought along some pretzels for the group and they were very happy. When we came home we started watching Wayne's World. Allison and Eva had already packed up the car so we did not have to do that. I did bring Eva an Oreo milkshake that I made at work. We are doing milkshakes now. And pizzas. What will next week bring, probably frozen custard replacing the ice cream. Every week, something new.

 Photo-A-Day #02773 Before I went off to work today Allison and I took Andy over to Target to get some things for the start of the school year. A set of LEGO and a cool looking AM/FM radio that doubles as a Bluetooth speaker was also not on the list but I was excited that Andy thought it was something cool that I had to get them it. Andy was so excited about it that they brought it downstairs to show Miss Colleen.  Today at The Pretzel Factory my boss was making cinnamon sugar rivets which are done in a  baking soda bath instead of a lye bath. He got distracted and started to salt the rivets.  Caught himself and then baked the pan of rivets. I took the unsalted ones and made the cinnamon sugar rivets for the display case and to sell while I also took the salted ones and made them into cinnamon sugar rivets to bring home. I brought a box him and they did not last the night, everyone loved the little hint of salt to these sweet treats. Everyone said that we should add ...

Photo-A-Day #02764 Today Eva and I went and picked up Lexi for Auntie Tara. Tara's plane was delayed and Lexi needed to be picked up from daycare. So we went over and got her and than brought her home to hang out with us. after a brief period of adjustment she settled right in and enjoyed hanging out with us on the couch.

Photo-A-Day #02763 Eva is back after 7 weeks on Cape Cod. There they were a teaching assistant at The Children's School of Science. The classes that they helped with were Film Photography (2 sessions), Microbiology (with auntie Tara) and Biological illustration. These were some great courses for Eva's last year as a TA. This Summer Eva had a lot of time with family and friends but we are glad that Eva is back for a few weeks before college. I know that Eva's cat, James is very happy with Eva's return.

Photo-A-Day #02756 While I was at the Cape my dad gave me this frame from our trip to see the Baltimore Oriels with Grandpa Bennett. I'm going to find a place to put it in my office and also find a way to display a couple of custom baseball bats. That was an amazing trip.

Photo-A-Day #02754 Today was Andy's last day of Culinary Camp. This year each of the kids in the teen camp got their own knife. They got to keep it, too. Andy is pretty excited to have their own cooking knife. They had the usual dessert showcase this ear with a lot of great items to enjoy. The teens did not decorate cakes this year but rather some cupcakes. They also had a monster cupcake competition where they decorated their cupcakes with monster themes. Andy did Mike Wazowski from Monsters Inc. This is funny because Andy often Mike Wazowski's themselves in photos meaning covers their face accidentally. After the dessert showcase I went over to Warwick to pick up a comic book from a fellow reader of the Dungeon Crawler Carl series. They had left it on their porch for me to pick up.  In addition to the comic they also gave me two stickers. I put one on each of my water bottles. I should have swapped where I put them because the one with the straw is one I take to the office an...

Photo-A-Day #02744 Allison was out tonight so Andy and I went to The Meadows for some frozen Custard and then over to Briggs for Dinner. Yes, we did dessert first. They have some excellent custard there. We got the Oreo cheesecake. We split a special pizza at Briggs and when we came home we watched Spider-Man 2 together. Andy is watching all the Spider-Man movies to prepare for seeing the new Spider-Man movie next week.

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!