Boating Season is Back!

Wow - We have Really been Patient this year to get our boat out.  Kris and I were robbed from the last month of boating season in 2012 due to something that broke on our boat and needed some fixin'.  All winter; we talked about the fact that we were ready to take our boat out on March 1st.  Well; I am just guessing... but... I believe it was snowing on March 1st.  In fact, this was the Snowiest spring I have ever seen!  I have mentioned before, but Kris plays spring softball with the boys.  Out of 6 games... 4 were snowed out!  In fact; it snowed on May 1st!  Yes.. MAY!

On April 27th though... we were blessed with a near 80 degree day!  Boat Day?  Um - Yes Please!  We quickly got the boat ready and out on the water.  And what a beautiful day.  The water was only 48 degrees; which is not even wetsuit worthy per Amy.  She has a hard, fast 50 degree + rule With a wetsuit.  

Yep, the Cannodes were ready for some summer sun!  This was Karsten's first year in a Big Kid life vest (>30 pounds) and he likes it (for the most part).  Sometimes it hurts his chin when he sits, but we keep reminding him that he will grow taller. The two pictures above are my absolute favorite from the day.  These kids sure love the boat and LOVE each other!

Karsten did not miss the opportunity to help daddy drive the boat.  He decided that Daddy couldn't hear him with all that wind and promptly found Daddy's Talky Cone to assist Dad in hearing his Directions - GO LEFT, DAD!... LOOK, ANOTHER LEFT TURN! (Ok, not really like the lakes of MN... we can ONLY turn Left - Go ahead and make your jokes now, Brady Woodard!)

Kasey enjoyed the feeling of the wind in his hair.  He decided he felt like a birdie.  Here he is Flying with Mommy.

What happens mid-day with all that sunshine?  Yep; our kids rock.  They make the decision that they are tired... walk to the back of the boat and crash!  Don't worry; I covered them with a towel after this pic to save their soft skin from the sun.

After a morning with just the four of us and a quick nap ... we picked up Gma and Gpa.  Wow; just a little hour and a half nap and the promise of Gma and Gpa.. and these kids were all smiles again!

Daddy forgot the boy's fishing rods in the garage, but that didn't stop them from fishing.  They took our pool noodles and started dipping them in the water to 'fish'.

Oh, Oh... someone is getting tired Again.

This is the LIFE!

Yep - Perfect Life

Did I mention that Kris got a new Toy for his birthday (from Amy, the kids and Gma & Gpa Mattson).  He has been drooling over a Remote Control Trolling Motor for about six years.  Lucky Boy! His dream came true!  He got a new trolling motor AND a colored fish finder.. How do you Spell 'Spoiled'?!?!? In the Cannode house; we spell it "K-R-I-S"!

Graffiti Run - 5K

Amy saw a post on facebook for an upcoming 5K Run and decided to recruit some friends.  She put out a feeler and got a dozen people interested in doing it together!  She had asked Kris if he was interested, but no such luck.  He asked how the race worked; to which Amy replied - "Well, it is a 5K race through Elitch Gardens Amusement Park and at 5 different points... volunteers throw colored cornstarch at you".  Kris quickly answered back "Wait, you are paying to #1. Run and #2. Have people throw stuff at you?!?! What part of that is fun?  ~ No Thank you!"

So, no such luck with Kris, but we still had a good crew.  Unfortunately, we underestimated how hard it would be to find people at the race and ended up meeting up with only 7  of our 12 people.  Our group did great though.  We had fun 'painting' each other before the race and got even messier during the race.  Jim was not so much in on the getting messy part and thought he could stay clean.  That worked... Until Station #1!  Here are some shots of us "Pre-Race" once we painted each other with color.

The start of the race... with Elitch Gardens in the background

Post Race was just plain funny.  I can't believe how much powder there was Everywhere!

After the race, we decided to head for lunch and ice cream... do you think anyone will let us in their establishment?!?!???  (Thankfully, the answer was Yes!)

Vegas, Baby!

Every now and again, it is fun to get a bunch of your crazy friends together to cause havoc in Vegas.  We recently did just that!  We had eleven of us take some vacation, find gma/gpa/sitters to watch our kids and scrounge the couch for Pai-Gow money.  Too bad Kasey found all the quarters first.  Oh well; I know how to break into his piggy bank (Kidding, people!  I broke into our own Vegas Piggy Bank!)

Planned activities included... um - no plan.  Our only plan was as follows:
1.  Enjoy friends and catch up on stories
2.  Enjoy beverages (maybe one too many for some of us)
3.  Soak up the sun by the Lazy River
4.  Come home with some of the Casino's money

Lets see - did we meet all of our planned activities?  Check, Check, Check and ... Ok... maybe not all those activities happened, but the Cannode house was only down $25 and trust me - Kris TRIED to lose more than that.  Ha!  Pai Gow was the game of the weekend.  Angie and Kris were the newbies and both did rather well!  Amy was too intimidated as it has a poker hand base and she doesn't know poker.  She has vowed to study up before the next trip though.  Everyone looked like they were having a Blast!

Vegas really only starts one way.... We are all in Trouble when Karsten starts counting.  He was kind enough to buy our first drink in Vegas and it was quite yummy too.  We tend Not to share all the stories after that first drink, but I will try to share just a few...

The Crew:
Jim, Carey, Kendall, Karsten, Josh, Emily,
Kris, Sarah, Angie, Amy & Tracy

Sarah, Amy, Kendall & Emily ready to play on the first night in Vego

Since there were eleven of us, we decided to purchase a Cabana together.  It came at no charge... As long as we met the minimum food/beverage amount.  Um - have you met us.  No Problem!  Cabana No 9 was our home away from home!  We had our own waitress (who rocked!) a host who would get us anything and plenty of chairs for our crew to soak up the sun.

I wonder what the poor people are doing today

Now make sure I don't burn Tracy

The view from Cabana #9 - our crew enjoying the river

Look! Super-Jay joined us for 24 hours of craziness!

Not-Jamie, Standby and Oscar Ready for the pool

Day 2: So this is how the other half lives without a cabana

We had a couple of nights out on the town and boy did we paint the town red.  We got dressed up, had a dance party in our room, headed out for sushi (YUM!), tested our luck at the casino tables, danced with strange foreign men, ate breakfast at 4am and were asleep by the time the kids would normally be tapping us on our shoulders.  Well, actually that isn't fully true.  Kris didn't even quite make it home the second night!  He was having too much fun playing Pai Gow!

Ready to hit the town

"... Here's my Number... Now, call me .. .Maybe!"



What? - You Don't practice crossfit moves at
a 4am breakfast?

Yep, Kris 'All Dressed Up" for Breakfast
Proof he didn't make it home! ha ha.

We decided to come home on Saturday night to give us some time to recoup.  Some recouped more than others.  Karsten enjoyed wearing the hat daddy brought home from Vegas (actually belongs to Big Karsten!) and Kasey hammed it up while Daddy Slept.  Amy didn't miss a beat and captured the moments.  Her favorite was Kasey building a rope bridge using Daddy's slipper, an ice cream cone toy, and a car.  Smart kid even put the car in the box so it wouldn't roll away.

Look at my cowboy, Mommy



What? It was this way when I got here



Look what I did Mommy

Is it Spring yet?

The start of spring was over a month ago; however, we Keep getting snow!  In fact, that past three weekly softball games were canceled due to snow!  In fact; it is snowing as I type.  OK, enough of this.  I am ready for the sun and done with this snow.  All four of the Cannodes are Ready for boating season! The great news about Colorado is that it can snow one day and be 70 degrees the very next!  Two weekends ago, we decided to take advantage of the lovely weather and take a bike ride at Chatfield.  Since this is where the Cannodes are staying; we made it a dual purpose.  We parked over by the swim beach and loaded up the carrier with the kids and a few items we had promised we would bring George.

The ride was beautiful and the boys were hollering about how fast we were going right from the start.  Nothing like hearing the gleeful cheers to push you on.  Then, it happened.  We hit yet Another Large Hill and Amy started slowing down.  Karsten politely asked his mommy if she was going slower.... then asked again... then asked again... followed by a "Come On, Mom ~ Lets Go!" in an excited and cheerful voice.  Yep, that was the motivation Amy needed to start going a bit faster.  Only problem was - her legs would not let her.  It was at this point that Amy started calculating the weight behind her.  Lets see; 6o for the boys, 5 for the coats and skill saw (what - you don't take a skill saw with you on a bike ride? Ok; maybe a delivery for George), 5 for the camera and 10 for the beer (yep; we were delivering beer too) and don't forget the 10 lbs for the carrier itself.  All in all; I would guess 80-90 lbs behind her.

We finished up our ride and saw Gma and Gpa were outside eating lunch, not suspecting any guests were going arrive.  Amy hollered at the unsuspecting couple and George turned to look - only to turn back quickly.  She hollered again and again he looked at her like she was crazy and turned back to Pat.  On the third time; they realized they had surprise guests!  I just wish we had a camera ready to catch the smiles on their faces when they realized who it was!

Cheers to Another Beautiful Colorado Day

Of course while we were visiting - we had to go over to the Cannode's Personal Playground.  Yep - We are That Cool.  The kids got to use the slide, climb like monkeys and even swing a little.

Oh - Oh, Grandpa! That Swing is too Loud!
Fix It, Please!

Hey - I meant fix it so the "kids"could swing on it!

While we were there, we got lucky with a little wind and it just so happened that Gma and Gpa picked up a couple of kites for the boys!  The Boys Very First Kite!  What an Experience!  We had fun getting them up in the air and by the time the wind took control - we realized the kids got bored and cold and it was only the adults left flying kites like they were little kids!  Oh well, We had a Blast!

This is going to be so cool! You ready, Brother?

Whoo - Hoo!!! Look at Me!

Ok, Grandpa - Give it back now!

Daddy, I wanna fly it now

Who knew 'Kiting' was so dangerous

I got the hang of this now, Dad.

Hmm... Where are the 'kids'???

Oh - And this last pic is just cause Amy thought it was the Best Pic of the Day!  It explains our Family to a "T"!