Claire's 12th birthday!

Claire started her day off just right....with donuts from Daily Donut, her favorite donut shop!

We took a little trip to San Antonio for a visit to Six Flags amusement park and waterpark...

The only time she is allowed to get a large Dippin' Dots!!! She got one both days!

Since Jeff is not much into going on rides, I got to share in the excitement with Claire. Surprisingly, the Wave Runner was her favorite ride in the park! Worked well for me...we never had to wait in line for it!

Claire finally got the Nintendo Switch she has been asking for!

   

She also got Gravity Maze and a card game called Blink...She was pretty excited about all of her gifts!

Father and daughter working on Gravity Maze...a fun game to do independently or with others.

Successful birthday! In a few weeks we are heading to Schlitterbahn Galveston for a day with her friends!

 

Family fun in the sun!

We were able to enjoy some family time in the pool. I had to work really hard to get these pictures to happen!

It's a rough life when you are almost 12 years old!

Claire and I found these push pops in the store yesterday! Brings back such great childhood memories!

 

Last summer swim meet for the season

Some of the gang, getting ready for the meet to start...Addie, Claire, Annalee, and Abby!

These two girls have become connected at the hip! Their relationship has grown so much over the school year and I am glad they can continue to see each other most days at swim practices.

 

Summer fun with friends!

Claire invited some of her friends over to celebrate completing 6th grade. They had so much fun in the pool and playing games inside. It was fun to listen to them all interact together and laugh!

Annalee, Claire, Abby, and Averi chilling on a piece of pizza.

Averi, Addisyn, Claire, Abby, and Annalee...one of the few I was able to convince them to let me take!

Addisyn and Claire...friends since kindergarten! Love watching them grow together!

 

Fun times at Spring Cypress Stingrays summer swim meets!

Claire is loving her summer league swim team! She has so many of her school friends on the team and they have so much fun together during the meets! Here she is with Annalee and Abby.

The rare moment she lets me get a photo without rolling her eyes!

Addie, Annalee, Karsen, Claire, and Abby!

Claire and Karsen, besties since kindergarten!

Claire, Annalee, and Abby...Crazy that they are all the same age, yet so different in height!

Yesterday we had an invitational meet for summer league. The meet lasted over 10 hours long! Claire swam in 9 events and dropped time in all 9...a perfect meet! She walked away with a medal for 8th place in breaststroke and 8th place in the 100 IM! She was very proud of her hard work and her success with dropping time! It was so fun to see the passion and determination in her during this meet!

Claire's medley relay team...Juli, Audrey, Abby, and Claire! These 4 rocked the race!

Abby and Claire...these two are quickly becoming connected at the hip and want to spend every moment together! I have loved watching their relationship grow over this past school year. At the beginning of the year, Claire said "I think a girl in my FIT class is on my swim team." We encouraged her to introduce herself and it turns out these two have become super close over the year! Excited to watch their friendship grow!

 

Honoring Snugglebunny

June 4th marked the 7th year that my Dad has been gone. Time has gone so fast, yet it seems like so long since I was able to give him a hug or laugh with him. He is missed every single day. Almost daily we talk about something funny he said, something Claire remembers about him, or something that reminds us of him. He is all around us every single day. Here are a few fun photos of Dad, aka Snugglebunny, with Claire. She had such a special bond with him and I am so thankful for the time they had together and that Claire still remembers so much about her Snugglebunny!

Every year on Dad's anniversary we write a message on balloons and release them. This year we were able to FaceTime with my mom and siblings and released balloons all at the same time. So thankful for our close family!

It was hard to capture what Claire wrote...She wrote:

Dear Snugglebunny, I miss you very much and would like to see you every day. Every time I think of you, you always make me smile, even from Heaven. I love you very much and hope to see you in Heaven! P.S I still eat peaches and yogurt!

Love, your Favorite Grandchild, 

Claire

(guess she wasn't shy about stating her place in his heart!)

Our balloon release. It almost looks like there is a hole in the clouds where the balloons are heading to! I know Dad was smiling down on us all today. Always alive in our hearts!

 

Last day of 6th grade!

Today is Claire's last day of 6th grade. She has rocked this year and ended the year with straight A's. She got awards for Distinguished Honor Roll (all A's for the entire year) and Citizenship (she displayed the REAL qualities all year which are respect, excellence, accountability, and leadership). It goes without saying, Jeff and I are super proud of how hard Claire worked this year!

Claire wanted to get a photo with her two doggies before school...

and Mom wanted to get a photo with her beautiful daughter before heading to the bus.

Of course we have to get a funny face photo because that is just who Claire is!

The neighborhood bus riding crowd! Bane, Cameron, Averi, and Claire...

Claire and Averi have become closer this school year and we hope to foster that relationship over the summer. They are both pretty silly most of the time!

First and last day of 6th grade...Claire hasn't grown much taller this school year. Hoping she hits a growth spurt over summer. She use to be the tallest of all of her friends and this year she has become the second shortest!