We are currently spending the weekend in Nashville while I do my annual fall family photo sessions in town, and Penny is in toddler heaven spending time with her grandparents. Penny calls my parents “ama” and “granddaddy” and SHE CANNOT GET ENOUGH of them. Coming back here reminded me that I never shared some super sweet photos of Penny with her grandparents and great-grandma Joan from a visit to Nashville back in August!

We came down for a week before her daycare started back up for the fall. I needed a mental break from 24/7 toddler care, so we packed up the car and headed down to Nashville to soak up some summer fun for a few days. One of the highlights for Penny when we visit Nashville is the unfettered access to ALL THE MUSIC. My parents have a piano and of course my dad’s guitars are always near at hand, so Penny is constantly asking my dad to play “tar!!” or “sit down!” at the piano for a song or two. When granddaddy is playing the piano, Penny just wants to be as close to him as possible. She climbs into his lap and snuggles up and listens, or “plays” along with the song. It’s impossibly cute.

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My mom is the ultimate playmate – even going into the frigid pool with Penny! Lucky girl!! We tried to teach Penny to say “grandma,” and we know she can say the “GR” because she says “green” and “gray” without a problem. For some reason, grandma just comes out “ama,” so that’s what it is for now! She loves coloring, reading books, and doing just about everything with grandma. If she leaves the room, Penny immediately goes looking for her. There aren’t many breaks from Penny’s attention when she’s hooked into ama and grandaddy world.

Of course, the other highlight of the trip was getting to spend some time with Penny’s great-grandma Joan. Gia and Jackson call her grandma Joan and my mom is grandma Annie, but Penny has just been calling Joan by her first name. Since grandma was usually up as early as we were, Penny’s first thought in the morning while putting her clothes on was “WHERE’S JOAN?” As soon as I’d put her down she’d run straight to Joan’s room to play on the bed and share a bite of toast. This was especially nice time spent because the following week my grandma fell and broke her arm, and she’s been in a rehab center ever since (hopefully coming home next week!!). We’re so glad we had that chance to snuggle with gma Joan in the mornings!!

Being back in Nashville in October means the pool is closed, and the air is (finally) a little cooler. But playtime has pretty much been nonstop since we arrived – the only thing that could complete this version of Penny’s paradise would be if daddy and the dogs were here too!