Bill and Traci: Memorial Day 2009

This past weekend was Memorial Day weekend and we enjoyed every minute of it! The time that wasn't spent sleeping was dedicated to floating lazily around Smithville Lake, staring at the camp fire or listening to the Kansas City Symphony play American classics.

After work on Friday, we headed to Smithville lake for a couple of nights of relaxation and sitting around the campfire. Jeff and Jamie have been our camping partners for the past two years and this year was no exception. The weather was hot and muggy and our camping spot about 500 meters from the lake. The camp grounds were completely sold out so we had plenty of company for the weekend.

Our home away from home is the one on the left

Jamie and Traci getting settled in

Now that's a fire

Saturday was spent sleeping, reading, listening to the Royals get beat on by the Cardinals and more staring at the camp fire that night. Traci and I busted out our floating rafts and enjoyed the cool water for about an hour. We got up bright and early Sunday morning and headed for home.

Sunday evening we went to Union Station to watch the Kansas City Symphony play for a couple of hours followed up by a firework show at Liberty Memorial. This was our second time attending this event in the past 3 years. If a touching event for a few reasons: 1.) The purpose behind the event is made known throughout the entire show. It was a tribute to everyone who help make our country free. 2.) The audience was said to be over 40,000 people and of that many veterans were in attendance. 3.) There was a tribute to each branch of the service by playing each of their songs/hymn, having each color guard take center stage and as each song/hymn was played and all service members were asked to stand. The crowd would applaud and cheer as the service members took to their feet.