Birthdays in Missoula

While the boys were in Montana, Grandpa Bill and Cousin Lexi both celebrated birthdays.  There was plenty of cake, ice cream, warm weather, and childish shenanigans to be had.  Here are a few pictures from those events, plus some of the leftovers from all of the other fun things they got to do on their vacation.  As the summer winds down, we're thankful to have gotten to travel around the past few months and get to see so many important people.  For those of you who we missed this summer, hopefully we'll catch you in the near future! Or as the cold weather begins to creep down upon you in the next few months, feel free to fly south for the winter!  

We mustache you to have a wonderful end of the summer!

Another Montana Summer Vacation!

Montana is known for the rocky mountains and the cold winters where the towns get blanketed in snow and ice, but for a couple months of the year you actually get some beautiful summer.  Whether it's wading in the cold rivers, or hiking in the mountains, from June to August it's actually pretty beautiful, and not nearly as hot as say, South Texas.  It's a brief period of time between the cold and slush and the end of summer forest fires that smoke out the sky, but it's a great time to visit.  Becky and the boys spent a couple weeks doing just that, and got their share of the cold Montana waters!

 Toes in the water...

And they brought along the Clayburns

Even Grandpa Bill got in on the water action...

And you can't go near Bozeman without stopping at the Museum of the Rockies. 

 

They see me rollin'... they hatin'... they trying to catch me ridin' dirty.

Crawdaddys, anyone?

And hands down, nothing is better in a Montana summer than the Western Montana Fair.  Carnival rides, sunburns, the smell of dirty animals, and of course, Tater Pigs...

There we go... if only they could have brought one home for me...

Yellow Stones and Buffalo Jumps

Becky and the boys took a little trip to Montana earlier this month, and as usual, had a great time.  They spent the first week or so down in the beautiful town of Three Forks with the Clayburn family, took a drive to see the Madison Buffalo Jump, and then spent part of the weekend in Yellowstone National Park.  As far as sights and scenery goes, Montana is hard to beat.  Paul especially seemed to have a great time seeing the animals in Yellowstone.  They came across some friendly moose, watched Old Faithful erupt (even though it's not quite as faithful as it used to be), and pondered why a bunch of buffalo would want to jump off cliffs. Mostly though, they just had a great time hanging out with Aunt Kelly, Uncle Chris, and the three Clayburn girls, Brooke, Sophie, and Lexi.

Almost all of the Unbehend grandkids in one place, watching Old Faithful... just missing the newest edition back east!

Just enjoying the great outdoors!

So it looks like they had a lot of fun, and hopefully next time I'll get to go along!

The Devil's Icebox

While in Missouri, we drove down to Columbia and checked out this state park with a pretty extensive cave system and a cavern called The Devil's Icebox.  We didn't actually go into the cave, since we were packing a dozen children, but we got to the entrance and checked it out.  The weather was perfect and the park was beautiful.  Who knew Missouri had cool hikes? 
 

The whole gang again!

Hanging out like a couple of bats in the cave...

And even Uncle Shane was there...

Loving the Missouri Heat

This has been the summer of travel so far, as we've been up and down Interstate 37 multiple times the past month, going here and there and everywhere.  Near the end of June, we took the long drive back up to Missouri to the home of the Millers.  It was hot, yes, but would you expect anything less from Missouri in summer?  It was great to see everyone, as it was the first time we'd all been together in at least a few years.  It made for a busy place, with twelve kids running around causing havoc, but it was all a good time.  We played a lot of croquet, amongst other games, and just enjoyed the summer vacation.  Hopefully it won't be too long before the next time!

The lot of us.

The Sellers boys with the Sellers grandparents.

And Great Grandma Steele...

The croquet champions.

 

A whole dozen of them...

Loads of fun with everyone.  Until the next time!