Snow Day!

Snow day when your yard is only wood chips and mulch.

2nd try, in the neighbor's yard. His top rolled down the hill before we got a good picture of him finished--

alas, snow-man success was elusive this morning.

Modigliani-inspired self portraits!

For an art unit at school all the students created Modigliani-inspired self portraits 

(and Mom helped hang 75+ of them up for the art show. . .)

Here are Madeline and Sophia's!

Dinovember 2016

Poor Greeny!  

He's not looking forward to 11 months of good toy behavior!

Day 30: Happy Birthday Madeline

A pile of presents is always fun, but

Greeny nearly lost it when he watched the little guys horsing around up top.

Day 29: Dishwashing again

Now we have to run the dishwasher again.  Thanks dinos. . . .

Day 28: Superorder Dinosauria (family) game night

The dinos eagerly gathered together 

for "Superorder Dinosauria" (aka "family") game night.  

 Greeny realized that he just set the T-Rexes up for an easy point!

Day 27: Birthday Pizza

As Dinny and Greeny fought over the last piece of chocolate pizza, 

Rex contemplated swiping it for himself. . .

Day 26: Black Friday Chopping

Dinny attempted to show off his skills with the big knife, but

the herbivores didn't notice--they were distracted, happily chewing with their own jaws.

All in all, the dinos weren't so sure that "black friday chopping" was worth all the fuss.  

Day 25: Festival/Frustration of lights!

As Dinny and Greeny argued over the best way to untangle the lights,

a few of the little guys discovered that tangled lights make a great ropes course.

Day 24: Mashed potato heaven!

Finding the stove unattended, Greeny decided to give carbs a try.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Day 23: Zippity-do-Dino

Greeny finally realized his dream of flying through the air, feeling the wind in his scales.  

It was a little scarier than he expected. . .

Day 22: Oh No Joe-Joe's!

Even the dinos recognize the value of a box of Candy-Cane Joe-Joe's!  

If only we could teach them the value of a broom and dustpan too. . .

Rex couldn't resist, despite his new diet goals. . .

Day 21: Traffic Safety

Greeny was delighted to find that he now had a new audience
for recounting his adventures as a conductor on the Jurassic Railroad.

Day 20: Fruits of closet excavation!

Imagine the surprise of Greeny and Rex during the kids' closet excavation:  

so many small dino friends--once lost, but now found!

(Thanks for the dino set-up, Madeline; and thanks for cleaning your closet!)

Day 19: Dino Domination

Trying to establish dominion over the other dinos, 

Rex and Greeny opted for a traditional "scale the building and roar" approach.

Dinny decided to take a lesson from recent history, 

and just put his name on the building. 

Day 18: Wake up call

The dinos wanted to make sure no one slept in this morning.  

Um. . .thanks for the wake-up serenade, dinos. . .

Day 17: Dino-work

The Dinos were happy to help out when the children were shipped off to bed 

before completing their math homework.  

Day 16: Iced T-Rex

Dinny tried to explain to his little sister the difference between "T" and "tea."

Day 15: Minecraft

The excitement in the room was palpable 

as the little cow demonstrated the new Minecraft update.  

Dinny couldn't have been more pleased: llamas!!!!

Day 14: Mirror image

Only after the ankylosaurus twitched did Dinny realize
that he really hadn't acquired such a glossy shine.

Addendum:

Everyone's suspicions were confirmed about Rex's vampire roots when his reflection didn't show up in the mirror.
(Thanks Madeline!)

And then there was a bat and no Rex!

Day 13: Little sisters always want to help!

As Dinny turned to get his photo taken with his masterpiece, 

his little sister decided she should add her own contribution.

Little sisters are always ready to help out!

Day 12: Frontier negotiations

When negotiating with sparkly horses for lodging in their barn,

glitter glue seems to be the currency of choice.

Day 11: At least someone wants to do piano practice in our house!

Dinny wanted to realize his life-long dream of being a piano virtuoso.  

Luckily, his friends were willing to give him a boost.  

Now, about reaching those octaves. . .

(no Rachmaninoff for him we fear!)

Day 10: Pinochle with the Matryoshka Dolls

During a friendly game of pinochle with the matryoshka dolls, 

Greeny realized he had just blown the whole match 

with an ill-conceived "shoot-the-moon!"  

Day 9: Election

Who would have thought the election would actually be about 

a carnivore with crazy hair and a thing for gold?

Day 9: Brainstorming

Since the humans seemed severely distracted by this "election" thing, 

the dinos held a brainstorming session for future mischief.

Apparently their recent adventures have left them a little wanting in the sleep department.
(And thanks to Madeline for covering tonight!)

Day 8 Take II: A New Ankylo-Addition!

The dinos threw an impromptu welcome-party 

when they discovered a new ankylosaurus-friend in their midst.  

Dinny secretly suspected she might have some 

proto-feathers hidden under her spiky-bumps-- 

she made it from the 2^nd grade prize box to the humans’ home 

in only one afternoon!

Day 8: Election Results!!

When the election results came in,
Greeny and Dinny were both shocked to discover that they both lost
to a third-party candidate with an even better hairdo!

They took comfort in the fact that she was an Allosaurus—

probably the true “#1 Carnivore” anyway. . .

Day 7: Election Day is almost here!

As election day for “#1 Carnivore” approached,

 both Dinny and Greeny took a lesson from some of the humans: 

a good hair-do during the final debate can really turn out the vote!

Day 6: Alien Duckies?!?

Imagine the dinos’ surprise when, 

instead of small trinkets in the geocache, 

they discovered a flock of alien ducks waiting to be freed!