Beaumont days

I find myself reminiscing about our time in Beaumont a lot lately.

Last year, Mr. Yardbird was living in Beaumont for work for 10 months. Almost an entire year.

Ham and I loaded the car up and spent 4 or five days at a time visiting him, in between going to school and taking care of Ham as a stay at home mom.

The trip was never easy and we started making it when Ham was just about 10 months old in January. We loaded the car up, which took forever, and I always managed to forget something important.

Pretty soon, we developed a system and Ham and I became traveling pros. We had a traveling routine that worked with regular stops on the way and variety of toys and snacks to pass the time on the drive there.

During this time, I spent hours catching up with old friends on my bluetooth as I drove. Time I wish I had more of now.

And of course I got to spend a few days with Mr. Yardbird, even if it was only lunch and dinner time.

Ham and I learned how to navigate Beaumont during the day while Mr. Y. worked, and spent most of the day at their mall which reminded me so much of my mall growing up that it felt like I went back in time whenever we went there.

And when Mr. Y could join us at the mall, we would walk over to the furniture store, pretend to be interested in furniture just to grab some of their never ending supply of keurig coffee.

It was good times.

But perhaps some of the best were the times we spent in the hotel, chasing Hammy down the halls. It was in this hotel that Hammy took those first unsteady steps toward his daddy.

It was in that hotel that he started saying his first words "light" and "hot".

It was there that we played hide and seek with Ham, chasing him around the room while he burst into laughter.

And it was there that he learned how to drink out of a straw and use a fork and spoon.

It might not have been an ideal place for firsts, or even an ideal place to be a family, but we made a home there.

And as time went on, we made family with all of the staff and people like us who also were in the business of extended hotel stays. So it wasn't so bad.

This Christmas, our "family" in Beaumont sent us a Christmas card. Every staff member signed it, which really made me smile.

And, it made me kind of miss those days.

Here's some of my favorite pictures from the Beaumont days......

January.....

 

 

Discussing new furniture

 

February....

March....

 

 

May....

 

 

June...

 

August....

 

 

September...