Summer Senior Showdown Swim Meet

Claire worked hard this long course season and got her cut to qualify for the Senior Showdown swim meet in Denton, TX. The qualifiers and coaches left on Tuesday, participated in the swim meet Wednesday through Saturday, and ended the weekend with a stop at Six Flags Amusement Park on Sunday on their way home. Claire didn't have the best meet, but she had lots of fun and made many great memories with her friends and her team!

Claire and Abigail all ready to hit the road with the team!

Love seeing Claire cheering for her teammates in their races!

Claire, Alyssa, Coach Lauren, and Coach Leah

Do an ice bath, they say...it will help with sore muscles they say...I say it looks pretty miserable!

A final stop at Six Flags...Claire, Ashlee, Tweety, Abigail, and Alyssa!

 

Lake day with Fink family

We had another fun day on the lake with the Fink family yesterday afternoon! I love the friendship between Abigail and Claire and I am so thankful for the Fink family! We have similar values and get along so well!

Jeff had no problem getting up and doing some wake surfing!

This is huge...I convinced Amy to go tubing with me! She has never gone before! Thankfully Jeff followed our instruction to take us on a "geriatric ride" and we kept it pretty mellow! Huge accomplishment for Amy and it only took us two summers to make it happen!

I was able to get up on the wake board but it was super short-lived for me...might have made about 10 seconds!

 

Claire's 15th birthday brunch with friends

Claire finally got to celebrate her 15th birthday with friends yesterday. She has had such a busy summer that July 20 was the first day she had open! We arrived early to get a few individual and family pics before the friends showed up.

Then Claire wanted to do individual pictures with each friend and some group combinations.

Claire and Abigail above...Addisyn, Claire, and Karen (friends since kindergarten)

Alyssa, Claire, and Peanut (Sophia) below

Abigail, Claire, and Knox

And the entire group! Back row is Alyssa, Peanut, Abigail, and Knox. In the front row is Karsen, Maddie, Claire, Addison, and Madison. Such a great group of young adults! After photos, we went to get brunch at Pine Street Eats and Sweets...a super cute little restaurant that had amazing food! A beautiful morning to celebrate our amazing daughter!

 

Claire finished the 1 mile in long course swim meet!

Claire had her final day of her Champs swim meet today and conquered her first ever 1 Mile swim event! She finished in 20 minutes 2 seconds. So thankful for all of her swim friends who stuck around to cheer her on! Claire, Knox, and Abigail rocked high school swim team this last year and I know they are sad Knox is graduated and won't be returning in the fall.

Clearly Knox is the comedian in the group and has both girls laughing so hard!

Claire and Coach Leah...her coach was very impressed with her swim and talked to Claire about planning to swim the mile more in the near future! 

After her talk with her coach, Claire clearly expressed how she was feeling after finishing the mile!

Alyssa, Abigail, Peanut, and Claire...this will be the powerhouse group for high school swim team in the fall! Excited to see them all rock it and take us to state hopefully!

I talked Claire into take a quick picture with her mom and dad before heading off to decorate for VBS as church this afternoon! Even though she pushes me to the max most days, I love this girl to the moon and back! So blessed God picked me to be her mom! One more big first happened today...Claire did some freeway driving for the first time! She did very well and I think she even impressed herself! Thankful that God is always watching over and protecting us!

 

Boating with Townsend family

We had a great time boating with the Townsend family yesterday! It was the first time for Audrey to go tubing and she loved it! They also both tried wake surfing too! 

Jeff even got to do a little wake surfing! It was a perfect day on the lake!

 

Wild tubing ride!

Claire and Alyssa had a blast tubing on Lake Conroe last weekend! Jeff made sure to give them a few wild rides!

Claire worked on wake surfing as well and was able to get up a few times despite the rough waters.

Then back to more tubing adventures!

Ahh...calm at last!