Did anyone see the facebook postings on Dinovember? I had a few friends post it (Thank you Rachel and Tina) and I was quite taken with the idea. These parents place dinosaurs in different poses in the house every night, mostly getting up to mischief.

After seeing it, I started to get obsessed about it.

It was just the kind of thing my father would have done for me when I was a kid. He often would make the extra effort in order to surprise and delight us. I told you about his elaborate tooth fairy tales before. But it didn’t end there. He did so many wonderful things when we were kids. I remember once I woke up in the tent I asked for my birthday!

So, Dinovember was just my alley.

But we put a twist on it.

We Thanksgivikahed Dinovember.

Day One. Also the first day of Hanukkah.

The first morning Jack found them and we started the legend of the mischievous Hanukkah bears. We didn’t count on the fact that they boys would each want one. And that they would each want to sleep with them to keep them out of trouble for the next night. We had to wait until they fell asleep and wrangle them away from them.

Day 2. Zip Lining Thanksgiving Hanukkah Bears.

Here is a close up of their Thanksgiving get-ups…

Those are Hanukkah bears from Build a Bear Workshop. It’s actually very hard to find a Hanukkah mascot. A bubbeleh on the shelf, if you will.

Day 3. Also Black Friday. The Hanukkah Bears have a battle against the Christmas Mascots. 

Here is a close up of my toilet paper roll and construction paper mascots. 

This bear in the back preferred to build a snowman, and the last one is just laying in marshmallow.

Day 4. Looks like someone found the music bin.

There was a bear audience as well.

Day 5. The bears toilet paper the bathroom.

On day 6, they partied with the original toys that come to life when no one is around…

Day 6. With Woody and Buzz.

Day 7. Do you think we have enough stuffed animals?

Finally the bears were caught by Jack’s Switch & Go Dinos, four of which he received for Hanukkah. Other Hanukkah toys that Ben got, like superheros, The Buzz Lightyear Monster and Splinter, helped them.

Day 8. Finally Captured.

This week, onions, pumpkin, rainbow carrots, sweet potatoes, sage, spinach and cranberries.

I feel like this post should be labelled “Thanksgiving” instead. Or maybe Thanksgivingish.

We used the cranberries to make a very simple cranberry sauce.

Adam asked for creamed spinach for Thanksgiving and I delivered with this batch. it’s a lighter version, no heavy cream.

Fresh Picks Sweet Potatoes (right) were mixed with store bought ones (left).

When I was a kid I always remembered the marshmallow sweet potato dish and could not resist having it this year. But I also really wanted the pecan, cornflake, brown sugar topping as well. Thanksgiving only comes one a year so I just put both on top.

The rainbow carrots were also put out on the Thanksgiving table. Peeled, cut and steamed. No sauce needed.

Some onions and sage were used in the stuffing.

And the pumpkin was used for pumpkin salsa. WHAT KIND OF THANKSGIVING DISH IS THAT you ask?

Simple Steamed Carrots.

It’s not. But I’ve been obsessed with Rick Bayless’ Pumpkin Salsa. It’s a limited edition and lately I’ve been eating it like it’s… like it’s… well like it’s going out of style.

I peeled and cut the pumpkin into large chunks and roasted them next to tomatilloes, roma tomatoes and garlic.I put them all in a blender with some chipolte in adobo, one of the onions from above, salt, a dash of sugar. It was a bit thick so I added some water and voila! It wasn’t as spicy as Rick Bayless’ and was a bit sweeter, but I think I can tweak it a bit next time.

We hit Zoo Lights at the Lincoln Park Zoo tonight.

We try to make it every year, but as we get more and more kids, the task seems more and more daunting. I’m fraught with anxiety I never had with one or two kids. Will I lose one? Will it be fun for all the different age groups?

And then there is that moment before you leave, the one where Ben is throwing a temper tantrum on the floor for no apparent reason, one twin is pulling off the mittens you just put on while the other one is kicking off his shoes where you think that this is definitely NOT worth it.

But in the end Adam and I always do it. We get out, we make the effort. We try let the kids have as many new and different experiences as we can. And in the end it is almost always worth it.

And it was another eventful and fun evening for all. Everyone loved watching the lights that went on and off set to music. The picture above does not do it justice. And the twins did their first train and carousel rides.

(Aaron’s head is by Ben’s chest.) Adam had to drag Sam out when it was over.

Having so many kids does change the landscape, though. Instead of going and spending a lot of time there we went for about an hour. Adam commented on how different this was from our experience of taking Jack to the zoo when he was the same age as the twins. Adam would ride the carousel with Jack over and over again because Jack loved it so much.

So much time and money back then! If I only knew then what I know now I would have become a nuclear physicist in all that free time I wasted!

These days, once around was plenty. For six of us to ride the carousel for 3 minutes it cost $15!

I know I’ve lived here for a decade now, but it always amazes me how much this city has to offer! Zoo lights are great for all ages so if you are one of my Chicago readers, check the weather for a good night to go. Make the effort.