Trick or Treat- Norwegian Style!

Being new in Norway, I was curious to find out if the Norwegians celebrate Halloween (and if so, how do they do it?).  Luckily there were a few people that gave me the scoop on how things work around here.  First, I was excited to find out that Halloween is acknowledged here (at least it has been for the last 10 to 15 years).   It has not quite reached the level of excitement, and yard decorating, that occurs in the U.S., but perhaps in a few years....

Where can I buy this??

So what about trick or treating?  Yes!  The children go door to door saying "knask eller knep" which means pretty much the same thing as "trick or treat".   Most people who welcome trick or treaters will light candles outside (or just keep a bunch of lights on) as there are some Norwegians that are a bit reluctant to embrace this relatively new tradition of Halloween.

And what about costumes?  I discovered that most of the kids here dress up in something scary which is a bit different from the princess or cute animal costumes my girls have been wearing pretty much since their first Halloween (again, glad I asked!).   Here's a quick throwback to Halloween several years ago...

So girly!

This year, the oldest decided to be a witch and the youngest wanted to be a zombie....funny for a little girl who is often terrified by people in costumes (think Chuck E. Cheese or even someone playing Santa).

"I'll get you my pretty- and your little dog, too!"

I am truly terrified by this one!

After costumes and makeup were finished, we headed to our friends' house for tacos (yum) and trick or treating.  Even though it was quite cold, neither of my kids wanted to wear a coat (God forbid something would obstruct the view of their costumes).   After a good tour of the neighborhood and a bag full of sugar, we headed inside where the kids posed for a quick photo.

What happened to my little girls?

My friend made fantastic, and festive, cupcakes which we enjoyed while the girls played and looked through their bags of candy (I'm sure they weren't eating any!)

The cupcakes even had "blood "inside

I made one simple contribution to the evening which was a very "American" one (many thanks to my mom for sending these with our Halloween care package).

Peeps...not just for Easter anymore!

I hope everyone had a safe and Happy Halloween!