An Okinawian Halloween!

Happy Halloween!  Though I don't go all out for this holiday quite like I do for christmas, I am a huge fan of Halloween!  I remember stuffing pillowcases full of candy on halloween night with my brother and friends back home.  The tricks, the treats, many of my greatest memories included the spirit of halloween.
I was so excited to finally enjoy a halloween with my husband (this is the first time we have EVER been together for this holiday!).  I knew what we were dressing up as before Zach was even born!

My little sushi man

My "bad dog"

When Louise and Ann Marie came up with the idea of an oki octoberfest months ago, I got super excited.  I may be too old to trick or treat, but darn it if i won't have an excuse to dress up and play silly games with my friends!
Because the weather was not great for the date we originally planned, we rescheduled the games portion of our party for today, before the kiddos got to trick or treat.  First up... bobbing for Goya!  For those who don't know, Goya is a very unique veggie here.  It is also called Bitter Melon because it has a very distinct bitter flavor.   I don't love it, but I will tolerate it in some dishes.  I have heard it's one of the reasons Okinawians live so long.

Yay London!

After much spitting into the water, Emmy too got her Goya!

Even Zach had some... this is his face after getting the bitter taste... Ick Mom!

Next up... decorating squash!  The plan was to decorate Okinawian squash, but unfortunately they are very expensive.  Instead we decorated imported pumpkins from America!

King Ben working very hard on his pumpkin!

The next event was my favorite... Neko Hog Tie!  If you know anything about my dog, it's that he's wild.  He is actually a very good dog- he sleeps most of the day, and is so sweet with his baby brother.  But when he's outside, he's a different dog all together.  He runs off in circles trying to get away from you (ironic considering he never leaves our sides inside the house).  The only thing that can get him to come home is his squeaky ball.  The plan was to have all the kids chase Neko and whoever could tackle him first won!
Ready, Set, GO!!!

And they're off... London has a pretty good lead on the other kids here...

This lasted a good 5 minutes or so.  Until.....

Success!  The winner of the 1st annual Neko hog tie is...EMMY!

With this win, Emmy won a nice goodie bag from the Stepanoff family.  It included a cute little halloween stuffed animal, some candy, and some homemade "halloween bark" (similar to peppermint bark, but with reeses instead of peppermint)

Emmy devoured the halloween bark... 

The big event of the afternoon included a sushi roll contest!  This involved every person being rolled up into astroturf and rolled down "Lester Heights."  The kids seemed to be having so much fun with this, I just HAD to join in!  

Louise rolling her sushi!

And there i go!  It was actually really fun.  The kids loved it!

Of course, what's halloween without some adorable kid's costumes?

Claire the bee

Nola the Vampire!

Tim is from the 70s? Natalie was a pirate

My boys :)

Joe... i don't know why he didnt dress up.

Joe loves halloween.  He decorated his entryway with black trash bags and a fog machine and came out to the trick or treaters like this.  At the end of our halloween night, he chased a 17 year old boy down the hill in this.  It was the highlight of my night!

Joe's decorations

Happy Halloween!