So last night, Shannon and I headed to the capitol building to watch Des Moines Symphony Pops. We were sitting just west of the capitol in a nice and shady spot. The weather was just awesome. We listened to some Jazz and then the Symphony. They played a lot of very recognizable things. During the show a 15 year old violinist from Ames, played, and she was sure good. We couldn't see the stage, but the sound was pretty good.

As the night passed on, they played the 1812 Overture, with the national guard helping with cannon fire...well...not cannons, but howitzer fire. It was a lot of fun.

The fire works were pretty good, but far away. I didn't know they were being shot up over the river and not the capitol. So they were kinda far away. It was still nice. The firworks were framed by some trees. We didn't get to see all of the show, cause the trees cut of the lower end. It was still nice.

Getting back home was kinda a trick. I tried to avoid known traffic issues, and then got lost on the south east side. Not so plesant, but eventually we ended up getting on MLK and heading back towards home.

It was a fun night. The only thing that sucks, is that while I was sitting there listening to the 1812 Overture I rememberd that I had forgotten to call Nathan and wish him a happy birthday (Sorry Nate!). I'll call him today.

Tonight, we're gonna go to a block party and meet some of our neighbors. Hopefully that'll go well.