Yer Helping Fight Diabetes, Harry! - My Visit to Sheraton's Gingerbread Village 2016

Yesterday I went to the Gingerbread Village at the Sheraton.  This year's theme was Harry Potter!  There were six large gingerbread sculptures all about the series, and one, cool Harry Potter themed Christmas Tree.  I was a little surprised how many people were there to see the exhibit already, but it was great!

If you haven't gone to the exhibit, you may not want to look at all my photos quite yet.  Wait till you have the chance to see these things first, because they are obviously so much better in person!  If you have seen the exhibit, or have no way of getting there, I hope you enjoy these photos!  After visiting, you may notice a few details in my photos that you did not notice at the exhibit before.  I sure did.

The first part of every gingerbread exhibit starts with a themed Christmas tree.  This tree was particularly fun, with a burgundy and yellow scarf instead of tinsel, large round spectacles, and other ornaments all associated with the Harry Potter series.

The first two sculptures in the Harry Potter exhibit were of Hogwarts, both cool, but interpreted a little differently.

 I really liked this detail of Hagrid:

I also noticed on the side, they had Fluffy, the 3-headed dog:

The next Hogwarts was very tall and had the dining hall (shown through the window on the bottom left): 

The next sculpture had the Knight Bus, it was cut so you could see all the detail inside (I really liked this detail): 

This next sculpture was from the Goblet of Fire.  It looked even better in person.  I thought it was awesome.

I was really impressed on the next sculpture, which had a very detailed Dumbledore holding a phoenix:

The last sculpture had Ron and Harry, with a Patronus in the background, that also looked much better in person.  You can also see Hedwig in a Christmas Tree.

All the sculptures were pretty great.  I love all the thought and details that went into every one of them.

Here appears to be Dobby and another House Elf:

Dolores Umbridge, in her pink outfit, though I have to say she looks a little more thin and prettier than she is probably meant to be:

Harry Potter on his Nimbus 2000:

I also just noticed while reviewing my photos, there are several Harry's here (above) in separate parts of the story!

The car that Ron crashed into the Whomping Willow:

The chess game, with Nearly Headless Nick and other ghosts watching (also a large Hedwig below):

Here is Ron, Hermione, and Harry with Buckbeak in the pumpkin patch:

My absolute favorite detail was the moving staircase in this Hogwart's sculpture.  It actually moves!  It is so amazing!  If you look closely, you can also see Harry, Hermione, and Draco on the steps.  Very well done!

To the bottom right of the moving staircase, the sink area in girl's bathroom can be seen, and Moaning Myrtle is looming above it!  I just noticed Myrtle after I got home!

The Gingerbread Village at the Sheraton is a great activity for the whole family to enjoy.  The exhibit is open 24 hours, 7 days a week, from November 22, 2016 - January 1, 2017.  The exhibition is free, but donations of $5 per person are encouraged in efforts to find a cure for diabetes 1, and it's complications.  For more information on the Gingerbread Village exhibit, go to http://gingerbreadvillage.org.

Vintage Toy Exhibit

Back in September I was given tickets to MOHAI in Seattle, which is the Museum of Art and History and Industry.  My friend, Suzie, thought I would like a special exhibit on toys from the 50s, 60s, and 70s.  The museum itself is kind of interesting inside:

The toy exhibit was especially fun.  There was three sections to this exhibit, one for each decade of toys.

Toys from the 50s:

I think I saw this particular toy (below) at one of my grandmother's houses, a long time ago.  It appears you could actually sew with the tiny sewing machine.  It seemed pretty cool.

I would have loved this toy as a kid (below).  I suppose some of the products here are considered dangerous now...

I was surprised that some toys were from the 50s, like Trolls, for instance.  I thought they came out much later.  Obviously, they are still pretty popular, considering there is a new movie out staring them.

Among the toys, each section had a TV playing former toy commercials of that decade, and was decorated to fit the decor of the times.  Couches were set up so people could sit and watch, sing along, and reminisce with the commercials.

T.V. with 70s decor (above).

This T.V. played toy commercials from the 1950s. 

Complete strangers would talk to each other, and say, "Oh, I remember that! "  or "I used to have one of those!"  Some would enthusiastically sing with the commercial playing.  One of the commercials that many sang along with was for this game called "Mystery Date." It was pretty funny.

 This is a different version of the commercial I saw, but the song and the actresses are the same.  You get the idea.  This commercial played in the 60s section:

Great.  Now I have that song playing over and over in my head!  Moving on!

I saw a little wooden cat (as decor, not a toy), just like one my grandmother had in her living room.  She had two smaller ones as well.

...and I know somebody I knew had grapes like these (also just decor):

There were several Barbies/Ken/G.I. Joe type figures between 50-60s section:

"I'm a Barbie Girl in a Barbie World!" - Aqua

I tried to get a better photo of this James Bond figure.  It didn't look much like Sean Connery, but I thought it was cool.  He was in the 60s section, along with G.I. Joe.

More 60s toys:

Above:  This is an Easy Bake Oven!  I had no idea they had been around that long!  It looks totally different from the Easy Bake Oven that was out when I was a kid!

Aqua-Man was from the 70s, perhaps the case he was put in had both generations.

There was a fake back yard set up with a mess of toys:

There was a section of "Dangerous Toys."

Some more 60s toys:

I don't know about you, but this Casper looks a little creepy to me...

The 70s toys also had some Barbie type figures from popular T.V. shows, like the 6 Million Dollar Man, Bionic Woman, and Charlie's Angels:

There were Hungry Hippos,

...a Fisher Price McDonald's,

...and this great Fisher Price castle!  Complete with dragon.

There were electronic games and a video game:

I certainly cannot leave out the Star Wars action figures!

Despite how many photos I have shown, the exhibit seemed relatively small.  It wasn't near the size of the Hello Kitty exhibition I went to last year, but it was still fun to see toys from the past, and how they have changed over the years.

The toy exhibit is long gone, but the MOHAI is still there, with other cool things to see and interact with, including this iconic toe tow truck (which you can look at, but not interact with):

For more information on MOHAI, please visit http://www.mohai.org.