Gingerbread Houses

For the past several years I've been going to an evening craft show in Saline and in the last couple of years my niece Lauren and nephew Isaac have come along. A particular feature of this show is the Gingerbread House competition/fundraiser.

Part of the competition is for professional bakers. The public votes for their favorite houses by dropping change in a little box by the displays, the display with the most money wins and all of the money is donated to a school charity.

I voted for this one. It was decorated by the children of the bakers and it is just so gleeful (more is more!)

The area school kids get in on the action, too. Part of the school's cafeteria is taken up with their houses. I think the younger kids all do the same basic pattern and the older kids get more leeway.

There is a cookie decorating station. Lauren takes her decorating seriously.

Sort of.

Isaac is of the More is More school of cookie decorating.

He went out on a sugar high.

We came home to find my dad backing out of the attic crawl space with this little guy in tow. Lauren was smitten, much to my dad's horror. They took him a few miles out to a nature preserve and let him go.