A Fond Farewell to Summer

There was a moment on the Friday evening of Labor Day weekend; with the setting sun streaking the sky and the Sound with vivid shades of orange and purple, the kids scampering across the docks with their best friends, Natalie and I sipping pinot grigio out of (no kidding) pint glasses, Seth and Tommy watching the Army football game while chowing down on seafood, and live beach music playing in the background; that I thought life was just about as good as it gets.

And then Finley fell off the dock in her clothes and into the cottonmouth-infested soundside marsh. And emerged like this:

shouting "I didn't get bited by water snakes!" 

If you're a Nieman or a Ryan, you think that life just got even better, and you hustle a dripping Finley inside to high five the bartender and pick out a bar tshirt to wear as a dress so nobody has to leave an an indescribably perfect Friday evening. 

Which is exactly what we did. (Incidentally, if you are ever in the Outer Banks and have the opportunity to stop at Watermen's, don't skip it.)

And so went our memorable "farewell to summer" weekend. Jusssst in the nick of time, with Hurricane Dorian already kicking up some serious waves (OK, this picture is seriously misleading- they were huge),

we spent four blissful days full of friends (old and new),

seriously epic sunsets,

fishing,

"fishing,"

beach shenanigans,

and stuffing ourselves with donuts and Cheetos and s'mores (oh my!)

(also ice cream);

but also fresh, cooked-by-Dad, scallops!

There were lots and lots of (barnacle and fish hook) injuries, taped up with sports tape and the subject of immense pride and jealousy,

necessitating (in at least one case) a ridiculous amount of spoiling.

There were also pirate ships and hot tubs

and "practically perfect in every way" moments like this one.

We visited zero of the OBX tourist attractions, and we wouldn't have changed a thing. It was a "farewell to summer" for the ages, one of my very favorite trips with some of my very favorite people.

And this is how we all felt when we finally headed back to reality and school and an early fall that included the first hurricane brush of the season.

Tough to pick a favorite, but maybe the funniest photo of the weekend is of Seth and T3, discussing what you do if you catch a Great White Shark. (You punch it, of course.)