Annual Gingerbread House Destruction

Annual Gingerbread House Destruction, a photo by islandj on Flickr.

Is it that they enjoy building the house, tasting the treats as they go, or is it more the fun of utter destruction and the plundering of every possible edible part afterwards? I surely don't know, but as we move into the period of history long past, of barbarians and vikings, I think my kids are taking it quite seriously. This year we made the alpen house early on, and on Christmas Eve we took it to the beach with us so that the pillaging would benefit the local wildlife, my kids included. They tore at the walls, picked off every bit of soft candy, and munched away. A bit was carried off by marauding gulls, and the rest found its way into the trash. With a flick of our blankets, we left even the crumbs behind. I'm not so sure the vikings would have approved of such clean measures!