Gingerbread

And the holiday traditions continued this weekend with our annual trip to the Port Festival to see the gingerbread displays. I can't say gingerbread houses, because although some were houses, many were not. Whatever they were, they were made with much more talent than I will ever possess!

A Cajun Christmas. Henry really liked this one.


Alice was fond of this fairy wonderland. And of course we loved this one. It took 1st place. This was my favorite. A gingerbread house of a berry farm. How cool is that. Look at the little raspberry bushes on the side.
This was another favorite. It was called "Goodnight Moon." On the side of the roof there was a window looking inside...And this is what was inside. The exact room in the children's book "Goodnight Moon." Believe it or not, this is one of the battle scenes from Lord of the Rings. Really, it is.

After checking out all the gingerbread houses (there were many, many more than the ones I photographed), we had a gingerbread cookie and some cider then got to see a local ballet company perform scenes from The Nutcracker. What a treat! The ballerinas were beautiful and Alice watched quietly in awe. We're going to see The Nutcracker next weekend, so this was a fun preview.

After leaving the Port, we continued with our traditions and went to see the lighted boat parade. No photos. They never do the boats justice. But trust me - it was really cool.

Then we went to dinner and enjoyed our last tradition of the evening by driving through a neighborhood where nearly every single house is decorated with lots and lots of lights. Once again, photos don't do the displays justice, but here's an idea of what one house was like...

And, I would like to take this opportunity to document the very first time Henry has worn pants this entire year. I'm not kidding. He wears shorts every single day. Last school year, we had a 40 degree rule - if it was below 40, he had to wear pants for that one day. This year, he has forgotten that rule and wears shorts every day. However, we knew we'd be standing outside to watch the lighted boat parade and Dan made him put on pants. We may not see it again anytime soon, so I'm glad I got a photo!