Rinn Reflections

I had been hoping that David and I would be able to take Isaac and Emma to an apple orchard this fall. I spent several nap times calling orchards all around Texas--I was willing to drive!  Every orchard near Lubbock had lost all their apples due to a late April freeze, and the closest orchard I could find was 4 1/2 hours away.  Even though I really wanted to go pick apples, I knew 4 1/2 hours away was definitely too far to drive.  There is an orchard in Roanoke that I called, but the owner said she gives her priority to field trips.  She said there was a small chance she would open to the public this last Saturday, so I'm sure you can imagine how ecstatic I was when she announced that she would open!  

It was the perfect end to my birthday celebrations.

I'm so thankful for my sweet family!  

During the years when we were waiting for a baby, going to the pumpkin patch and apple orchard were at the top of my list of things I couldn't wait to do with my children.

All of the trees were dwarf apple trees, which meant they were just the right size for little ones to pick apples.

Isaac insisted on wearing his hard hat.  "Mom, I don't want any of the apples that might fall off the tree to hurt my head!"

Isaac and Emma also had a lot of fun watching the chickens.

I don't think I've ever seen Emma laugh as hard as she did when watching the chickens.  She thought they were hilarious!

Isaac just looked through all the apple orchard pictures, and this is what he said:

"The apple orchard was great and we picked some apples.  Daddy came, and we had so much fun.  And, we could not even stop laughing!  I loved it."

It's fall--my absolute favorite time of the year!  Today, I am excited to link up with Tot School Gathering Place to share some of our fall activities from the past two weeks.

My little ones made hand and fingerprint apple trees (idea from Learn~Play~Imagine).  I have been trying to involve Emma in more of our "school time"--I think you can tell by her smile that she likes it!  She glued, painted, and tasted paint. :)

Isaac loves doing projects, especially anything involving paint!  It has been neat to see his ability to concentrate grow as he gets older.  I love how focused he is in the above pictures.

Little Emma has quite the red lips in this picture!  :)  

The finished trees are darling!  If you read our blog long enough, you'll find that I love any craft or project involving hands/handprints! 

With Isaac, I've been focusing on number recognition and pre-math activities.  Isaac and his sweet   friend, Landrie, cut their own tree trunks out of brown paper.  Then, they glued the green leaves to the branches and added "apples" (red poms) to each tree.  We counted (and counted and counted) the apples on each tree. 

Throughout this week, I've practiced beginning addition & subtraction with Isaac.  I'll give Isaac two apples while holding two apples and ask, "If you have two apples and I have two apples, how many do we have all together?"  Being able to touch and see the apples helps him a lot.  He likes the subtraction questions better (probably because they involve a storm!).  For example, "If you have four apples on your tree and a giant gust of wind blows two off of the tree, how many apples are left on the tree?" 

Isaac thought this was so much fun!  He sang right along with me, too.

Of course, Emma was right beside her big brother the entire time.  She picked the apples off as quickly as she could!

I think we've reserved every fall/apple book in the entire Fort Worth library system.  

Here are our favorite apple books:

The Apple Pie Tree

I think this book is excellent.  It starts in the winter when the tree's branches are bare and then shows what the apple tree looks like in each season.  

I Know It's Autumn  

Ten Red Apples

 Emma loves lifting the flaps on this fall board book.

Baby Loves Fall

Happy Fall, Everyone!

Dave was headed to the oilfield with some equipment yesterday, so he had to shave it before he arrived on the premises.  

I wondered what Isaac and Emma would think of Dave when he arrived home last night.  (I hadn't told Isaac anything about this.)

When Dave got home last night, Isaac ran to the garage to say "hi" as he always does.  He paused and then asked, "Why are you wearing that?"  Dave explained this is what he'd be wearing at the oilfield.  Both Dave & I could tell Isaac was thinking really hard.  Isaac studied him again and then said, "Hey!  You don't have your beard!"

"Daddy, why did you shave your beard?  Daddy, you look silly!"  Isaac said both of these phrases over and over last night.

Beard or no beard, this is one fantastic daddy!

Before bed last night, Isaac touched Dave's cheek again and said, "Daddy, I really like your no beard."  

This reminded me of the time when I was in 6th grade and my dad surprised my sister and me by growing a beard.  My family was living in Minnesota, but my dad had been working in Texas for several weeks (long enough to grow something that resembled a beard!).  Emily & I were so shocked when our dad came home with a beard, because he had never had any facial hair.  I don't think he'd been home from Texas for an hour before he shaved it off.  :)

Flashback to 1994!  My mom took this picture of Emily & me watching our dad shave his beard off.  

Our expressions make me laugh!

I think my favorite part of our weekend together was watching Isaac and Griffin play together.  Isaac hasn't stopped talking about Griffin since he left!  He has asked me more than once, "Mommy, why couldn't Griffin just stay here forever?"  

On Saturday morning, the three Rinn brothers and Papa headed to Top Golf, while Kristy, Nana, and I took the kids to the Trophy Club waterpark.  Later that afternoon, the dads watched all the kids while Kristy, Susie, and I went out for smoothies and then went shopping at The Plaid Peacock in  Roanoke. It was so fun!  

That evening, we all grilled and swam at my parent's house.  It was a blast!

All the guys created some sort of game where they stood in a square and tossed Griffin and Isaac back and forth!  What a workout!  I'm really not sure who had more fun--the big boys or the little boys.  :)

I think Isaac is asking Griffin, "Hey, Griff, want to see a new trick?"  It's going down the slide...backwards! :)

Emma loves running and jumping into the pool with her daddy!

Isn't Sawyer so cute?  One afternoon, while Isaac was crawling beside Sawyer, I asked him if he'd like to have a baby brother.  He patted Sawyer's back and said, "Yes, just like him."  :)

On Sunday morning, we all went to Keystone Church.  

Isaac loves riding the trolley at church!

And, of course, church is a perfect place to ask someone to take your family picture!  I love how Isaac has his hands on Nana's neck!

On Sunday night, my parents babysat Griffin, Sawyer, Isaac, and Emma so that we could all go out to dinner.  It was such a fun night!  We took everyone to our favorite Mexican restaurant (Pappasitos, of course), and then we all went to Cheesecake Factory for dessert.   I don't think the "adult Rinns" had ever done anything like that before, but I think it needs to be a tradition when we get together.

I'll end this with one more picture of Isaac and Griffin.  These cousins are adorable together!

And, we can't wait for our next Rinn get-together!  :)