As October and November came and went, we've now celebrated both our first Halloween and Thanksgiving in Scotland. On Halloween night, the boys dressed up and we went to a little party with friends before trick or treating (or guising, as they call it here). In Scotland, the children dress up and go to each house where they have to do a song, dance, joke or riddle to get candy.
We went to our neighborhood for the actual trick or treating since we have a few American neighbors and other families with kids that would be prepared for our crew. One of the older kids came up with a joke so we could fit in with the Scottish custom. Our house had one round of trick or treaters, our twin next door neighbors. They both told a riddle from the Hobbit to get some candy:)
On the following Saturday, we went to a small get together with some other families from St. Mary's for an All Hallow's Eve party. Food, games, face painting, story telling, and "guising" made for another fun evening!
In early November, we hosted Joey's room at the Roundel at our house for a Thanksgiving dinner. They spend so much time together buried in books so it was nice to get together without studying (and to include families that don't spend much time in the Roundel).
Our two Scottish knights
Friends from St. Mary's and Canongate, Joseph's school
The Buchanans hosted and threw a great party!! The kids played a few games (with real American candy for prizes!!) and watched Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin before heading out to trick or treat.
the whole group
listening to a story about All Hallow's Eve
Joseph reading a book to James and our friend Drew
our table set for Thanksgiving
I didn't get too many pictures but we had a wonderful early Thanksgiving with lots of great food and conversation. I made the turkey and some cookies for the kids and we had stuffing, green bean casserole, homemade cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie for dessert!
Celebrating Thanksgiving in Scotland felt somewhat strange at first. So far, we've been able to celebrate occasions like we would in the States but just with a little Scottish flair. But, since there isn't Thanksgiving here, it felt like just a normal day. The kids went to school on Thursday and Friday and Joey went in to study while I did my normal daily things.
However, Thanksgiving evening was a wonderful celebration with American friends that could appropriately appreciate the holiday with us. We had turkey with all the fixings and yummy pumpkin pie for dessert. The Buckners graciously hosted us and came up with lots of fun Thanksgiving activities for the night.
boys watching the livestream Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade after school
Forrest leading the kids in a Thanksgiving version of Musical Pillows
All of the kids at the kid table working on a Thanksgiving sheet
Now, we can move on to Christmas like the rest of Scotland did on November 1 :) We did put our tree up several weeks ago since it gets dark so early here. Plus, we are making most of our ornaments so we needed a little head start on getting everything ready.
our sweet little tree that I found at my favorite place: MacGregor's Auction
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