Usually, our day involves doing a lot of chores. Recycling Center. Whole Foods Market. Target. Home Depot. A couple of weeks ago I even had the honor of driving them up to Woodbury Commons, an outlet mall in Upstate New York. It was a grueling drive, during which my wife made me remember all the horrible things I’d done over the last 20 years. I tried hard to tune her out, but my son kept smacking me in the head with a plastic golf club saying “Not nice daddy.”

Well, last Sunday was shaping up to be another chore filled day. We were headed down Springfield Avenue towards Route 22 when I took a hard left into Echo Lake Park.

“Where are you going? This isn’t the way to Loehmann’s.”

“Yeah. I know. Let’s go to the park.”

She didn’t say anything, just went back to reading Perez Hilton on my Blackberry.

As I got about half way through the park, I noticed a bunch of small boats in the lake. I pulled the car over and the rest is history.

We went down to a small boat house where we rented a pedal boat for $10.

My son was thrilled. My wife was…….happy. Happy that my son said……..

“Thanks Mommy.”

What a nice break from the norm. Nothing like an hour of serenity.

I highly recommend a visit to the pedal boats in Echo Lake Park. They’re in service from April 1st to October 31. Hours are — Weekdays from 12:00 P.M. to 6:00 P.M. and Weekends 11:00 A.M. to 6:00 P.M. The cost is $10 an hour.

Here’s some more info.

Not doing anything this weekend. Here’s where you can find me.