Summer Boppin'

Dearest Bop...it has been a few weeks since I have last written for a few reasons...

1. Our computer and camera sometimes do not like to interact with each other and

2. We have been quite busy!

So here I am to make what might be a very long update since our last blog.
We continued to swim almost everyday! You jumped off the side of Auntie's pool over and over again. Your swimming skills have improved so much and you are so aware of when your little earplugs fall out too. Mommy even taught you how to sing one of my favorite songs. As usual, you intently watched my lips move and you asked me to sing it OVER and OVER until you memorized it. So I did. And this is what I got...

We celebrated Zachary's 17th birthday at Bucca de Beppo where for the first time all trip, it was Ashton doing the whining instead of you! We also visited the Gaylord Texan which is a huge hotel that is very cool. Their special exhibit this year was trains. Here is a picture of you and grandpa looking at a back-hoe on the track! You love back hoes!

In Texas, you were lucky to receive your first official manicure and pedicure. You were so cute while you sat in the chair and watched the lady work on your nails. Once she got up to get something and you asked loudly, "Hey, where did MY lady go?"

You really enjoyed meeting and playing with the two new additions to the De Den - Ybarra family...Sonny and Katie Kat. You chased them up and down the stairs and from one room to the next. One day, Mommy went into the closet to pull out some of your clothes when low and behold, we saw this! Here are some pictures of you, Chelsea, and Ashton playing sleeping games with Grandpa! Here is how it would work...Grandpa would tell a story about three sleeping children, you would all pretend to be snoring and asleep and then the rooster would crow and you would all wake up with a scream! Before we left Texas, we were lucky enough to meet up with a very old friend of Mommy's. Christie and I have known each other since we were five years old and now she lives in Texas with her husband and three kids, Ayden, Ava, and Austin. We met for dinner one night and went to the lake the next day. You enjoyed playing with Ava and I loved how you really seemed to get along!



Here are a few more miscellaneous pictures of you and your cousins playing together before we started our journey to Las Vegas and our final destination...home.


On our road trip through New Mexico and Arizona, we were lucky enought to hit MANY thunder/lightening/and hail storms which were very scary. We all kept each other company and sang "Boom Shaka Laka Laka Boom Boom" along with Chelsea's Ipod.

Here you are with Chelsea in front of some totem poles in Gallup, New Mexico. We should have stopped here and stayed the night cause Grandma ended up getting a fix-it ticket in my car because the head light went out!

The wait to get over the Hoover Dam and into Las Vegas was a memorable one....It took us almost THREE hours. Grandpa was growing very impatient and angry, especially because he didn't use the restroom at our last pit stop. I have decided that it may be your first and last time seeing the Hoover Dam because I do not want to wait in that traffic ever again. Here is a picture for you to remember and say, "Hey, Ive been there!" You were anxious to get home to see Daddy and Hunter But I promised you that you would love Las Vegas...and guess what? You DID! We loved it so much that we spent an extra day there! We walked down the strip and visited the Coca-Cola store, the M and M store, and played fun games at Excalibur. There were even a couple of storms while we were there so we would sit in our dark hotel room and watch the lightening light up the sky...until it knocked out the power in our wing of the hotel for over an hour. Mommy was worried that Grandma was stuck in one of the elevators but luckily she moved to a different part of the casino and wasn't affected by it. The next night, we watched the Pirate show at Treasure Island and the water show at the Bellagio. During the day, you played at the very cool "beach" pool with Chelsea and your new friend "Mya."





And last but not least, I leave you with this very cute video of you asleep while we were out to dinner at Harrahs. I know you will hate me for it one day but it was too funny to pass up. Thanks for a wonderful trip to Texas Hailee Bop! I can't wait to go back next year!