Summer Loving

The weather has finally turned hot and humid which can only mean two things:

1) Beach weather!
2) I won't have another decent hair-day until October!

D and I started our summer tour of NY State Parks on Monday, taking full advantage of the Empire Pass that allows us free entry into all the parks for the upcoming year-- including the best beaches Long Island has to offer. What LI lacks in culture, it does make up for in a plethora of State and County parks to explore.
We checked out Captree and Heckscher parks on Monday. Captree was nice, with a good picnic and BBQ area right on the beach as well as multiple boats in their marina offering fishing trips and coastal cruises. Hecksher looked like it had seen better (funded) days. I already have the beach chairs, towels and suntan lotion stored in the back of the truck for any unexpected beach going moments that might catch me by surprise.

Speaking of Summer Love, Penny's wedding last weekend was lovely and it was fun to see some college pals I hadn't seen since graduation. Penny was beautiful and the weather held for the important parts of the day, namely the reception held under the blue open skies.

We were seated at a table with a friend from college, Janine, her husband Michael and their toddler. As luck would have it, Michael is a first generation American... his father was born and raised in Montenegro! Damir and Michael got on like a house on fire talking about all things Montenegro and their sweet son Eli seemed to take a special liking to Damir and followed him around and about the wedding reception. Or maybe it was the other way around. I have to say, it was pretty darn cute.