Gingerbread Festival

I'm finally posting about our day last Saturday! I took Shannon and met my sister, Jeny, and my nieces and nephew at Thanksgiving Point for the annual Gingerbread Festival. Jeny and I went last year, just out of curiosity, and some of the houses were so impressive that we had to go back this year. Anyone can submit a gingerbread house and people bid on them and buy them. The proceeds go to a charity. Here are some of my favorite entries:

There were 6 birdhouses like this. I couldn't believe the detail, and every bit is candy! They were very pretty.

This one was a compilation of buildings from around the world. The frozen pond is melted candy. The clock on Big Ben is handpainted with chocolate on white frosting.

This was a scene under the ocean. There is a dragon behind it, if you can tell. Not a whole lot of gingerbread in this one, but lots and lots of candy!

This was the best, in my opinion. Each one of the narrow little windows is made of melted candy, and they had lights on the inside. Jeny and I couldn't even begin to imagine the time it would have taken to make all of those icicles and other details. It was just amazing!

There was music, so of course Shannon really enjoyed herself. That's my niece, Kelsey, who stepped into the picture.Aunt Jeny was nice enough to pay the dollar for everyone to decorate a cookie. Shannon did a great job spreading the icing, but decided the candies belonged in her mouth, not on the cookie.
Shannon loves her cousin, Spencer, but she can barely reach his hand. He is a very tall boy (I think around 6 foot 5). They both had a really good time walking around together and looking at the Christmas trees.