Nashville, part 3.

I’ve been able to FaceTime with my beloved twins and their wonderful parents once a month since I returned from visiting them, and I’m not sure if you’ve ever tried to FaceTime with 2 y-year-old twins, but it’s crazy and basically consists of me seeing little blurs and hearing loud noises. and it is a cheap, cheap, cheap substitute for the real thing.

The perfect combination of schedule and rapid rewards points (aka a free flight!!!) lined up and I booked the fastest trip to Nashville ever. I arrived last Wednesday night and left Saturday morning.

Last time I was in Nashville it was like five thousand degrees. It was so hot. This time it was FREEZING. Like 10 degrees the night I arrived freezing. Um…. no thank you.

After everyone went to sleep, I took a moment and enjoyed knowing that I was across the country in the house of people I love so much. I looked at all the little twin things all over the place and fell asleep excited to see the little owners they belonged to first thing in the morning.

When I woke up, it was my luckiest day ever, because I got to spend the whole day with Lucy and Layla. We read books, colored, had a princess tea party, and laughed. a lot.

that evening, Ernie played a songwriter’s round so Jenessa and I joined him. It was cold, but still a lot of fun. Nashville is all about being music city and my closest friend there is a musician and I was glad to spend an evening seeing what that looks like. Josh came out of a bar we walked past to heckle Ernie, I met a girl whose husband played in a show I attended in New York City back in 2006, and Tony invited us to 3rd and Lindsley to see Jamestown Revival. and they’re good. really good.

The next morning, we hopped in cars and took a trip to Loveless Cafe, one of those places people always told me to go to. My favorite part of the trip to Loveless was that Kristen, Ernie’s wife, was able to meet us there. She is really one of my favorite people and I don’t think I could ever spend enough time with her. Lucy and I both got pancakes and we became pretty great synchronized pancake eaters by the end of breakfast. The pancakes were HUGE. Seriously. Like bigger than Lucy’s face huge.

After we got back from stuffing our faces with delicious food, we sat around and our eyes got droopy and twins got cuddly and it was… just… about… naptime…….. when the girls got up. I do mean the girls, because Ernie napped for like five hours. My favorite part of the afternoon was when the mail man arrived just as Ernie was falling asleep.

Daddy! It’s a human! and it has a prize for you!
~Layla Halter, age 2

and then the next morning, as soon as it happened, it was all over. It felt like a little bit like I’d had a really vivid dream, and then before I knew it I was on a plane in Kansas City, Missouri getting ready to go home. and this reminded me that it wasn’t a dream, but a whirlwind few days with the people I love so much.

Until next time, Nashville. Thanks for being so good to me.