Halloween and thanksgiving.

GalLaura

Just wondering if all you international bumpies will observe Halloween and Thanksgiving. I keep seeing friends at home discussing costumes for their babies. They don't really do Halloween here in Sydney and its kind of making me sad. At the same time, buying a costume and having no where to go in it seems like a waste of money.

I hope to do something for thanksgiving even if its just the 3 of us. Last year we didn't do much and it felt wrong. What are you all doing?

AmericanInOz

Halloween does seem to be getting bigger here  in Oz every year

we even had trick or treaters come to our house last year!

It is disappointing that it's not as big as in the US though

We don't do much for it, I usually dress up dd for pics for my blog, but we don't go all out on costumes - she's usually just a princess or ballerina or whatever ha ha

We do thanksgiving with just the 3 of us - I just try to make some kind of thanksgiving food - like a turkey & the pumpkin pie having been abroad for many thanksgivings I can now make the pumpkin filling pretty well from scratch

Avion22

We had some trick-or-treaters last year at our house -- not many, but maybe a dozen?   We plan on carving pumpkins, but probably won't do any other kind of decoration, and we don't plan on dressing up.   

As for Thanksgiving, we definitely plan to do something.   There are a few other Americans that I work with, and last year we hosted a Thanksgiving dinner at our house.  I'm hoping someone else will offer to host this year, but the rest are all single guys, except one guy who has an Italian wife, so I'm thinking it will probably be us again.  We'll have to see if we can all take the day off at the same time though, and I'm not sure how likely that is.

AmericanInOz

oh yes - the pumpkin!! we carved one last year, and lit it every night - the neighbourhood kids LOVED it and so did dd

you can get the BIG pumpkins here around halloween time - definitely doing that again this year!

VanessaMoMe1

We don't celebrate Halloween really it's not a big deal here , just an American thing that they see in movies. Thanksgiving obviously isn't celebrated here in Eastern Europe but we definitely do our best to celebrate. It just means I cook EVERYTHING from scratch! Pies, stuffing, and whatever else is possible to make from scratch. I do miss driving from house to house though. And seeing all the pics of our families together can make us feel lonely since it's just me and my husband. However next year we'll have our son with us and this Christmas since he's due the 2nd week of Dec

ccip82

Halloween is becoming more popular here in Scotland. In my expat group, our Moms and Tots group is having a holiday party for the kids which I am hosting. Last year, DH and I took DD out for a walk on Halloween in her costume and our dog in his costume. DD was 10 months old so we technically did not do any trick or treating-but I did see many other children out. I bought DD's costume in the States and had family bring it over when they visited in September. It is great utilizing family and friends as mules

For Thanksgiving, we will probably be in Italy this year. Last year, we really did not celebrate it.

numeria11

Not sure what we will do.  DD's excited to dress up and go trick or treating so I need to figure out something. 

As for Thanksgiving I think we will be playing it by ear.  We aren't going to be out of temp housing and into our new place until sometime between the 18-23rd (since our sea freight got delayed and won't be here until the 9th) probably, so will probably just be trying to get the house in some sort of order.   I'm due on December 4th so there's a good chance we will be at the hospital or just bring home our new little guy around Thanksgiving so planning anything this year is pretty much out.  It makes me sad to miss the holiday but it would have been the same in the US this year so it is what it is.

traveling turtle

We've always done something for both. Our first halloween here I was 5 days over my due date and didn't do anything. We got one or two sets of trick or treaters, which wasn't expected. We haven't been here the following halloweens. The first halloween for my son we went to Disneyland Paris. Last year we happened to be in the US. 

This year we'll go to 2 halloween parties. It is tough, though, to see everyone getting their kids ready with costumes and it not really being a priority here.

We usually have thanksgiving dinner thanksgiving day, and then do a separate get together with people in an English speakers kids group (we're the only Americans and there's one Canadian, but the rest of the group really like doing this). 

GalLaura

I think I'm going to pass on halloween this year. It makes me a but sad but is wasteful since my son will only be 17 weeks old.

I'm hoping to get something together for thanksgiving. Even if it's just a roasted chicken and veggies with my husband. .

pinitbaby

Today is thanksgiving here in Canada I'm making a small dinner for my kids and myself..and we all seem to be gung-ho about Halloween here! It's nuts what people do with decorations and spending $50 on a costume is ridiculous to me but to each their own it's all about the memories!!

GalLaura

Happy Halloween!!!!

AmericanInOz

Happy Halloween to you too!! I'm taking my daughter to our neighbor's house for her first trick or treating tonight (they insisted) and putting the pumpkin out lit tonight, hoping that we get a few trick or treaters too