a Dinovember inspired Thanksgiving

I'm just going to say it: I can't stand the Elf on the Shelf. And I truly mean no offense to the parents who do it. If that's your thing, by all means, enjoy. But it's not mine. That said, and I'm not sure why, I loved the concept of Dinovember when I first read about it last month. Initially I'll admit I was like, oh here we go again with another parent who wastes a perfectly good nap or evening setting up these elaborate photo shoots that sometimes make a legitimate mess that I personally would not want to then have to clean up. But the project stayed with me and I got a legitimate kick out of each photo they posted.

And I love that as a parent, regardless of the gender of your child/children, you probably have a bunch of plastic dinosaurs laying around, right? Everyone could participate and share pictures without this one-upping-them vibe that I associate with Elf on the Shelf which is, at the end of the day, pretty similar. With all that said, I present to you our very mellow Thanksgiving 2013, during which we bucked tradition with our turkey meatloaf and let the dinosaurs have a little fun as well.

The dinosaurs help with food prep, with a couple of mischievous dinos trying to sample the green beans.

Dinos set the table.

Dinos are a little stumped by the mashed sweet potatoes.

Dinos wash up.

Dinos wait patiently.

Dinos are all, "turkey meatloaf, are you kidding me?" No dinos, I am not. (I mean, seriously, who wants to cook a turkey with an infant and a 5-year-old who won't eat it, anyway?!)

Turkey meatloaf is redeemed by pie and whipped cream.

We had fun. And there was no lying involved. I don't know, I guess it might be fun to surprise your kids with a dino shenanigan that they find in the morning but I just can't imagine we'd pull that one off with a kid like Elias. He seems to believe in Santa and the Tooth Fairy but I don't think he'd be fooled by an elaborate dinosaur set-up. Also, he's a little cranky in the morning so I don't think we want to go there. Nope, Elias helped out in this case, coming up with ideas about what the dinosaurs would do next and helping set them up for the photo.

Hope y'all had an equally relaxed and enjoyable holiday. Also, this post reminds me that I never did a holiday wrap-up last year! Gasp! I'll see if I can squeeze that in with current holiday shenanigans, Daphne's 10-month update, all about Elias's transition to Kindergarten, etc.!