Halloween USA

Last week was the holiday Halloween here in the US. Of course the decorating and festivities started a lot earlier, as Søren mentioned.  Halloween and Fall are synomous here, meaning they go hand in hand;  orange colors, pumpkins and ghourds.  And then there are the spider webs and skeletons, but I would say mostly just lots of Fall colors.  We noticed a lot of people have big blow up Halloween decorations now a days.  See this one of Bluey and family dressed up!  

The boys and I were excited about getting to do Halloween festivities for weeks before Halloween.  We had secured costumes at least a week ahead of time. ;-) Liam as a monkey, Benjamin as his favorite Barcelona player Jamine Yamal, and Silas (after a bit debate about not being allowed to dress up as scary or murderous things) dressed up as a magician.  

The day of Halloween we went to the Trunk or Treat event at our church.  The concept is that people decorate their trunks with a theme and park in a parking lot so people can come visit and get candy. The themes here were very light - popular cartoon characters, movie themes, etc.  My favorite was the Christian themed trunk that was a cat theme and said "God's love is Purr-fect".  It was a nice event to reach out to the community and spread happiness.

Afterwards the boys and I headed to Grandpa and Lizzie's house to say trick or treat! It was fun to get to see them, as we've never been able to do that before, and Silas got to show a magic trick.  

During dinner we were all prepared to hand out candy to trick or treaters, but as it was raining slightly we only had 2 guests before we ourselves went out in the neighborhood.   The boys were excited to go real trick or treating this year, as their previous experiences with trick or treating have included me going from room to room of our own house, changing hats and outfits, so they could say "trick or treat" at each door and get some candy!  They've loved it, but were excited about the REAL DEAL!

We all wanted to go together so we just left a bowl full of candy on the front step. 

Just a little candy ;-)

 Walking around in the neighborhood was such a joy.  All three boys had a great time and were very brave walking up to doors and saying "trick or treat".  Of course a lot of the people handing out candy wanted to talk to them, and ask them questions, so they really got a cultural experience out of it.  We also learnd that people don't just give out one piece of candy, they give out at least 2 or 3, and sometimes even a whole handfull! Some families had built a campfire in their front yards and were sitting around hanging out and passing out candy. It was very cosy.  We enjoyed seeing some houses that had really decorated a lot.  

A few places had moving statues that would sing a spooky song or start moving and blink their eyes, and that was fun too.  There wasn't a single place that had any really scary or gory items. It was just a festive night with lots of activity in the streets and friendly people.  All in all a great family experience. 

We walked around for almost 2 hours and when we got home around 8:30pm the boys quickly poured out their candy and started sorting it.  It was fun to see types of candy I had forgotten about, for example "Butterfingers"....there were lots of Snickers and Reeses Peanut Butter Cups.  The boys got to eat a few pieces for bed, but I think we have plenty of candy for the next long time!

Efterår

Så er det blevet efterår i Minnesota. Vejret er stadig ret lunt her sidst i oktober, hvor vi stadig har flere dage med op til 15 graders varme. Måske egentlig ikke meget varmere end i Danmark, men det føles bare sådan da solen skinner mere og det blæser markant mindre. Nå ja.. og så regner det nærmest aldrig. Det må vel næsten være det perfekte efterårsvejr. Og krydrer man det med alle de utrolig flotte farver på træerne, så kunne efterår nærmest gå hen og blive en favorit årstid. 

Noget andet der er populær i USA i efterår, er at besøge et æble og græskar farm.  (Apple and Pumpkin Orchards).  Disse farm laver aktiviteter, arrangerer selv pluk græskar og æbler, dyr man kan kigge på og foder, og food trucks, på deres grund.  Der er tradition for en skøn lørdag eftermiddag at besøg disser farms og få en god familie oplevelse.  Vi besøgte er ret stor Orchard i år, Fall Harvest Orchard. 

https://www.fallharvestorchard.com/

Vi havde en dejlig dag hvor vi fyrrede æbler ud af kanoner, spiste æblestykker med karamel, kiggede på dyr, og nyd de smukke efterårsdag i over 30grader celsius varme :-)

I USA er efterår er også lig med Halloween. Utrolig mange huse har været "pyntet op" i en måned nu. Både med hyggelige og "uhyggelige" ting. Hvem vidste man kunne få "julelys" i orange farver? Drengene har glædet sig til ENDELIG at "måtte" fejre Halloween (det har deres far nemlig ikke givet dem lov til hjemme i Danmark). Så i morgen (d. 31. oktober) skal den bare have hele armen. Mon ikke amerikaneren i familien skriver om det senere..

Besøg fra Danmark

Et længe ventet besøg fra familien hjemme i Danmark er nu veloverstået. Vi har alle sammen set frem imod besøget fra min søster og svoger og deres 3 skønne børn. Jeg hentede dem i lufthavnen torsdag d. 9. oktober og de rejste hjem igen d. 23. oktober. Så (næsten) 14 skønne dage sammen, kun lige afbrudt deres tur til New York. Det var helt fantastisk at være sammen igen og vise dem rundt i vores nye dagligdag og Minnesota generelt. Mary og drengene var stadig i skole nogle af dagene men der var også fridage hvor vi alle kunne tage på udflugter og bl.a. opleve downtown Minneapolis og St. Paul, The North Shore og selvfølgelig “Mall of America”. Men meget af tiden gik også bare med hygge i vores hus, småture og besøg.

Celina og Liam fik lov til at fejre lidt fødselsdag sammen - som de plejer

Orono High School Football kamp

Kultural oplevelse: Boot Beer (sodavand)

1. ud af mange picnic's 

Minneapolis

Det blev også til besøg på drengenes skole.
Her Silas' High School

Drengene har i år ingen egentlig efterårsferie, men de havde dog torsdag, fredag fri (i uge 42) pga. MEA (Minnesota Educator Academy). Så da Familien Laursen var kommet tilbage fra NY to vi op til Lake Superior og området som kaldes ”The North Shore”, der ligger i den nordøstlige del af Minnesota. Vi boede på Pequaywan Inn der ligger ca. 3½ time væk. Vi havde 3 skønne dage i det flotteste efterårsvejr.  

Det kan være koldt på toppen - Palisade Head

Skønne vandreture

Glaspuster i Duluth

Splitrock Lighthouse

 Vi brugte også en hel dag i ”Mall of America” - det største shopping center i USA! Her blev der både tid til hygge, shopping, ture i forlystelsesparken og mv. På 9 timer nåede vi måske at se ca. 1/3 af hele centeret!

"Activate"

På øverste etage med forlystelsesparken i baggrunden

The Arcade