Saturday, December 24, 2011

Sweet Gingerbread Dreams

It's almost here!  Christmas Eve is my favorite day of the year next to Christmas.  The excitement, the last minute present wrapping, the cooking and the anticipation of the big day.  This year we secretly flew out to the Orlando area to surprise my Mother-In-Law for Christmas.  The plan was hatched at my Niece's wedding in October and the emails and phone calls ensued.  My Hubby's two brothers and their wives flew from California and we flew in from the Midwest on Thursday.  My Sis in law lives close so I imagine it was quite difficult for her to keep it all a secret!

My MIL was quite surprised and it is still probably sinking in that she now has a houseful of uninvited guests!  It's OK we are an easy going type of family and we are all pitching in to make it a great Christmas.

While here in Orlando we went to see the HUGE, life sized Gingerbread House at the Grand Floridian Resort.  OK, it's Disney, so you know it's going to be 1st Class.  Here are some photos.

 Can you just imagine being a small child and seeing this?

Side View
 Adorable!

 Here's the Calorie Breakdown...

They sell these shingles in the back of the house.  Here is a funny story...  A few years back my Sis in Law took her two boys to see the house with my In Laws.  While they were busy taking pictures and looking at the house, Grandpa went and bought a shingle and started eating it in front of the boys.  They were flabbergasted as they thought that he had ripped it right off the house.  He never let them know the truth!  We sure miss him and his practical jokes, sadly he passed earlier this year. 


 Smile!  The girls were more than happy to pose for the camera.  Cute Aprons!



 Tin Soldiers standing Guard.






Hope you enjoyed my tour of the Giant Gingerbread House!

Merry Christmas to All and to All a Good Night! 

2 comments:

  1. Hi Cindy,
    That gingerbread house is fantastic. We sometimes go out to the disney hotels just to see the decorations. They are exquisite.
    One hotel had a whole gingerbread village display that was made by different schools in the area,
    it was amazing.......
    The grand Floridian always has something really neat there.....sometimes an orchestra and always beautiful Christmas trees at every hotel.

    What a wonderful surprise for your Mother-in-law, especially after losing her husband this year, so thoughtful of all of you to do that.
    That was such a cute story about what he did with the grandhchildren about the gingerbread
    shingles, how cute!!

    Checked out your other posts too, and they were beautiful. Loved your lanterns tucked into the urns. I love both... and your pretty white rose
    floral arrangement was gorgeous too, and your silver tray and glases.........all beautiful and fun to look at.

    Also thanks for coming by and for your sweet
    comments. So glad you had a nice Christmas!

    May you have a New Year full of wonderful Blessings, Nellie

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is truly amazing! Loved reading the ingredients it took to make it! Thanks for sharing!
    Cindy

    ReplyDelete

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