A fond farewell to summer.

We took this picture at Croton Point Park last year on Labor Day, having just completed our move to West Point, still swimming in boxes, and juggling school registration and inprocessing and new jobs and being suddenly without our parents with our new family of four in our new home. We had no idea what the next year would hold.

And it's been incredible. We've had such an idyllic year in this gorgeous place, which has afforded us the opportunity to put in lots of family time and go to Army football games and eat hot dogs in NYC and hike the Catskills and- finally, as of May- enjoy being long commute-free. It's hard to believe a whole year has gone by.

A year later, our "beach time" involves significantly more sand eating, and hair pulling, and begging for snacks, and beating one another with shovels.

We wouldn't change a thing.

Summers up here are special, and I was a little nostalgic saying goodbye to our last (only, really) full one here. We sent it off in style, with one last (chilly already, but exuberant) visit to our favorite swimming hole,

the first Army football game of the season,

new bikes,

the children's museum and German beer with friends,

and one last trip to Round Pond. Complete with giant, totally unauthorized unicorn.

And a chaotic game of "duck duck goose."

We also squeezed in family nap time on a rainy Sunday

and I finally made it with the kids to the Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary. Which was super crazy vegan, but they had a great time playing with the goats. Until one of them butted Finley, who totally deserved it- but still...

It was a fond farewell to what's been a terrific summer. Fall's usually my favorite, but upstate New York doesn't mess around with season changes and it's already abruptly jacket weather. I wasn't quite ready, but we're bracing for football and pumpkin flavored everything and getting excited about fall foliage.

In the meantime, I have a bunch of favorites from our last summer weekend.

There's this one, of Finley becoming the Women's Army Basketball team mascot at the game Friday.

And this one, of the little terrorists riding the neighbor's plasma car together, in a rare sweet moment which devolved into bloodletting shortly after being documented.

There's the fact that the best taco shop in upstate New York is near our swimming hole and yet Finley insisted on the abysmal pizza place next door and Ford seemed to love it.

And my excitement about the Spouses' Club "Super Sign Up" event on Thursday night, which was basically a repeat of my sorority days 20 years ago.

Or this sweet moment. In which Finley, licking the brownie batter and smearing it all over her face, suddenly burst out with "I really love you, Mom."

Chocolate is our love language.

Happy fall, y'all.