Hangin' With The Houltons: Halloween 2011: Fukuoka, Japan

So this was the first year we have ever been in Japan for Halloween. As much as we wished we were home we actually made the best of it and made some good memories considering Japan doesn't actually celebrate the holiday. Japan loves holidays! They try their best to take on the customs of foreign countries but it really is not the same... or actually even close :) But luckily with a little searching around and a couple of creative moms I think we pulled it off!

We started our celebration with costume shopping. The one and only place to buy them was Toys R Us. There were only a few choices but we finally settled on Cinderella (after picking Snow White and then returning it)and Buzz Lightyear. They weren't the best costumes but after a little altering they did the trick.

The day before Halloween, the downtown Hakata area, held a costume parade. It was to start at one location and end at the local mall. The kids were going to Trick-or-Treat along the way. Sounded perfect, until we found out that we didn't register in time and could not participate :( But we thought it might be fun for the kids to see everyone dressed up at the finish line and decided to head down there anyways. The only bummer thing was that when we woke up that morning it was pouring rain. So we loaded in a taxi and drove downtown... to see no one dressed up but our own kids :) Oh you gotta love Japan! So we hung out there for a little while, at least it was decorated and we could get a few pictures, and then decided to head over to Hard Rock Cafe where they were having a Halloween Party. Now that was a lot better. The place was full of people in costumes and we saw a costume contest while we ate lunch. But yet again, we didn't register in time and couldn't participate in the trick-or-treating :( Maybe next year... actually I take that back because I hope to be home next year!

All dressed up and ready to go!

Our CRAZY wet taxi drive :)

Cruising around the mall

Hard Rock!

On Halloween, DJ got home from a week road trip, and we had a little Halloween party at our house for the kids. The Falkenborgs came over and we had a yummy dinner and tons of treats and surprises. After dinner, we went "trick-or-treating"! Since they don't trick-or-treat in Japan we had to figure some way for them to trick-or-treat. What is Halloween without it? So we decided to have the dads and grandma go in each bedroom in the apartment and the moms took the kids trick-or-treating down the hallway... twice!!! The kids would knock on the door and Brian, Cathy, and DJ were awesome playing the part of the neighbors Ha Ha! The kids were so excited and had such a great time. Tessa even told DJ after we had finished "Thank you for trick-or-treating. I had so much fun!" Now that is what made all of the planning and scrambling around worth it!

Our Halloween Decor. Tessa really wanted a jack-o-lantern tablecloth. Since there was not one to be found anywhere, I got a little creative with construction paper, tape, crayons and stickers :) She was pleased!