Rockets were shot off, extricated from trees, neighborhood livestock properly impressed.   It was cold and drinks back at the house were soon in order, followed by a militarization of the youngsters, then a meal en famille, and finally the departure of Nick for a week with his grandparents, his first journey away from home without his parents.  He was quite non-chalant about it, too.

(The pictures below are thumbnails.  To view an image in its full size, click on its thumbnail.  To scroll through all the full-sized images without having to returning to this page each time, click on the text "Next" or "Previous" under any of the full-sized images).