Family Fun Day 2006
Yesterday, our church had an outing sponsored by the Family Life Ministries department -- which is the Ministry that my wife and I are responsible for. On the advise of our Pastor and his wife, we went to Shepherds Lake in Ringwood, NJ. Ironically, we had been to the Botanical Gardens of Ringwood several times, but never to Shepherd Lake recreational area, even though you have to use the very same entrance for both park grounds.
Well, we had a ton of fun!!
Although we had announced this outing for over a month, only a few families came out, but boy did we have ourselves a great time. There is a lot to do there, and the grounds are very nice as well -- lots of free space, fresh air, places to barbeque, swimming, boating and even a basketball court (that we didn't notice until it was time to leave). Some of us even found time for a few games of dominoes!
There is even a small playground area that our youngsters spent a good deal of time on. There was plenty of running about, and we did a bit of kite flying as well. Unfortunately, I was having so much fun, that I didn't even remember to take any pictures until the very end.
Most of the crew went swimming, although I didn't bother with that this time, but we had more than ample fun racing each other in row boats. We were really intending to get paddle boats, but there weren't many of those around, and they were in high demand. Ultimately, I'm glad we had to "settle" for row boats because we had a tremendous time. I have great respect for Olympic Rowing teams, because that activity is not nearly as easy as it looks when you're the one stuck holding the oars. 
Besides swimming and kite flying, we managed to find a little time for some baseball and football (not complete games, mind you, but there was some batting practice and throwing with the younger and future sports stars).
I really wish we had managed to do this earlier in the year as well, but we are already working on plans to do this at least twice next year. My wife and I are even considering going out there again next weekend.
The only regret is that our Pastor had to perform a last-minute wedding, and so couldn't make it out there with us. I feel sorry for all the people who didn't come. Many people were afraid that it was going to rain, but the weather was perfect! Breezy and sunny -- not to cold to swim, and not too hot to run around and play.
This was a good way to close out the summer, and I'm glad we managed to get it on our schedule. Can't wait for next time...
About Logik!
Andrew S. Baker aka ASB aka Logik!
Andrew is an accomplished, hands-on IT Executive with a solid track record of providing timely and cost-effective business solutions using technology. With over 16 years experience in Information Technology, he has proven to be effective both as a Team Leader and as an individual contributor in designing, deploying, securing and maintaining enterprise networks.
His personal interests include Astronomy, Basketball, Bible Study, Chess, Comics, Computers,
Family Life Ministries, Reading and Strategy/Role Playing games...
Some of his contributions include several whitepapers on technology and Information Security, the UltraTech Knowledgebase, various postings to technology mailing lists and forums, active participation on LinkedIn Answers, along with a number of interviews for articles published in industry magazines.
A condensed version of
Andrew's current resume is available here.