Halloween!

We had a fantastic Halloween this year!  Our friends from Australia, the O'Briens, were still in town and we introduced them to Halloween- American Style! 

We had discovered that all were welcome to Trick or Treat on the US Army base, so we decided to take the O'Briens there.  We spent the afternoon shopping in Wiesbaden and had lunch at the American Sports Bar- I even found Miller Lite!  Light beer is so unheard of in Europe!  No one here respects it as "real" beer, but I was happy to find it.  This is how we started our "give the Australians a taste of America in Germany" evening.

After our late lunch, we met up with friends from school for Trick or Treating.  Aidan was a skeleton (but his pic wouldn't upload) and Lainey was a fairy:

Here we are ready to get some real American candy!  I've had enough Gummi Baren, danke!  I was on the look out for Starbursts and Three Musketeers!

And they are off!  It was just like home!  Lots of families had decorated outside and were dressed up and playing scary music.  I asked Aidan if he remembered Trick or Treating at home, but he doesn't!  So it was a great experience for him.  Sometimes, while experiencing so many new things as ex-pats, I forget that our kids don't remember much of the American experience because they were so little when we moved.

Lainey and Lucy caught on quickly, and just kept saying "this is the BEST Halloween ever!".  Megan and Damian couldn't believe how much candy there was and how many kids there were.  Halloween is much smaller in Australia. Lucy and James may want to move to the US after this experience!

The kids made a big haul, and even I got some of my favorites on trade!  I had brought a few bags of candy to donate to the cause and I bartered my bags of German candy for Starbursts, Three Musketeers and Sour Patch Kids.  YUM!!!  I think we may need to find a dentist in Germany after all ;)

Since Trick or Treat was on Saturday, we spent Sunday, the real Halloween, at home recuperating from our fun-filled week.  We finally got around to carving our pumpkin too.  We thought we might have some Trick or Treaters in our neighborhood, but we didn't.  At least our house was decorated and a little spooky!