Making gingerbread houses has become somewhat of a family tradition in the Dunne home — no matter how messy the outcome is.
“That was probably the hardest part,” Lisa Dunne said, while holding her four-year-old son Eli as they looked at their creation. “It was super messy.”
Their family made two gingerbread displays this year for the Gingerbread Walk. One is on display in KwiKom and the other at Town & Country.
Eli and his sister Makayla, 6, worked with their cousins Chloe, Emma and Grace to craft a train station depot and a farm-house scene. Lisa said they used everything from gum bricks to build the depot to Fruit Roll-Ups as siding for the farm home. She said the cousins are a bit older, and have a bit more creative independence, but her kids are creative in their own way.
“Mostly we let the kids do it,” she said. “It’s all their imagination, they’re getting more creative.”
Lisa said the kids spent around three hours crafting their structures, and they have been participating for the past four years. Her mother, Vickie Tholen, helped along with the children, perhaps as an excuse to have some fun, too.
“I think grandma enjoys something like that to do with the kids,” Lisa said
