Gingerbread-ing!

So Sunday was the annual Gingerbread-ing day that Stan's mom puts together every year and we all know the holidays don't officially start until you put a gingerbread house together with all of your friends!

We drove down to Fredericksburg for the occasion and got there a little early to take a walk down memory lane. Oh college...

Goofing off on the way down! We're pumped!!

Hanging out in front of Mason Hall, our freshman dorm... where our big fifth floor love affair began. Awwwww.

University of Mary Washington: Where Great Minds Get To Work!

Practicing for the big billboard I'm going to have them put up in Tysons Corner (weird that UMW is advertising in Tysons, non?).

After some time on campus, we went downtown for some lunch at Eileen's. Always. :)

We also stopped by Hyperion to get this girl some more caffeine (not that she needed it). She ended up getting a yummy cider flavored with maple and a fancy tumbler. 

And well, you know...

Gosh! After all of these adventures, you'd think our day was done! But nope, it was finally time to roll up our sleeves and build some houses!

Our plan was to build an epic themed McMansion of some sort (Liz, Yerin, and I) but once construction started, Yerin bailed to help Dizzle out (ridiculous), so Liz and I powered through without the help of a traitorous Korean. 

Some could argue Dizzle really needed the help. Eventually flying buttresses were added to support the structure and everything worked out. 

Their collaboration produced one of the goriest gingerbread houses this group has seen. 

Figures.

Meanwhile, Liz and I went a more traditional (and not as terrifying) route...

Oh man, who wouldn't want to live in there?

Mid-construction photo op!

Check out that shingle work!

Unfortunately, patience/structural engineering isn't really our thing and our house collapsed, but for a few short moments, it really was a thing of beauty.

Some of the other gingerbread houses:

Mazel Tov Manor, complete with moat.

This strange PEZ fortress (?) that the guys built. Kudos for constructing a hurricane/earthquake/godzilla-proof structure.

Plans are in place for next year's gingerbread house design. It's fun participating, but I imagine it's even more fun winning!