Halloween in America

Minnesota

What a crazy holiday... Halloween is definitely not big in Fiji, so this was yet again an interesting experience.  I loved all the adults dressing up and the cute trick-or-treating kids

Book Club's Halloween Get-together (Oct 23rd)

This was a fun night -  All the ladies (members of the neighborhood Book Club) arrived dressed up - we had snacks to nibble on and hot apple cider to drink.  This was my first experience of Halloween in America and it was great.... That evening everyone sat around the table eating snacks and telling 'scary' stories!

After scrounging around in Cindy's costume closet I found what I needed to become BIRD WOMAN!

There's a ghost in the yard!

bird-lady and a flapper from the 1920s!

Group shot L-R: Banana, Pirate, Flapper 1, Cat, Amelia Earhart (her costume was remarkable - too bad I don't have a better photo of it), Flapper 2, Bird woman, woman in pajamas!

Making Jack-O-Lanterns (Oct 30th)

We picked out our pumpkins a week before...

Slimy seeds: Growse!

I picked the Cat stencil

Ready to be carved

This is the first pumpkin I've ever carved!

Tah-dah!

And here is Cindy's jack-o-lantern that she designed :)

Halloween at Syngenta (Oct 31st)

Halloween at work was awesome!  Where else in the world do adults dress up like crazy people and then go into work?!  It was fun to see what everyone turned up wearing - some were very creative and some not so much.  Halloween was a great way to start my last week of working in Minnesota... That Friday, on my last day of work, I received a framed photo of our group shot on Halloween and a card signed by everyone.  #There are amazing people everywhere!  I had a great experience working in the Quality Assurance Dept.

L-R: BACK: Alice, Ghost (Rachel), Greek goddess (Jacquie), Coach Sue Sylvester (Lissa), Witch (Becky), Monk/ Hobbit (Jesse), Makita (bird lady), Witch 2 (Bobbi), Pumpkin-face man (Skip).  MIDDLE: Cat (Laurie), Cowgirl (Kathryn), Frankenstein (Hope), Skull-face (Mary), Waitress Flo (Ellen), Pirate (Johnna), Pippy Longstocking (Sarah).  FRONT: Construction worker (Carol), Obama (Brent), Skeleton (Cindy M), Lab Tech (Cindy W), Corn Looney (Jeannie).

Snack time!

Greek goddess (Jacquie), Charlie Brown (Rachel) and a witch (Bobbi)

Pippy Longstocking (Isn't her hair great?!)

 Cindy W, the Lab Technician

With Becky, the witch

Waitress Flo.  (This is my super nice supervisor Ellen)

Kathryn as a cowgirl

Halloween night at Home (Oct 31st)

My Aunt, Cindy, enjoys decorating the house, even for Halloween!  The place looked great and the trick-or-treaters came! 

Standing by the front door

Awesome Autumn

During the beautiful season known to Americans as Fall, we took a few beautiful hikes...

Cannon Falls

Swans in the background... In this photo I have obviously put on some weight.  It must be due to Aunt Cindy's great cooking!

The park has a nice little duck and swan pond

Behind me are the Cannon Falls

Posing for a pic after a nice pizza dinner by the Falls

Cindy and I

Minnehaha Falls, Minneapolis

On a bridge just above where the Minnehaha Falls drop

The Minneapolis Park Board keeps the paths well

A Fall day at the Mississippi

The Minnehaha Falls attract many tourists

It is during the Spring that the water really gushes

There's a cool Fall breeze and a crunch to the leaves

Barn Bluff,  Red Wing

With 'cousin' Karl

I loved this trail

Rock climbers

We reached the top!

The view out to Red Wing

Enoying Fall at home...

I took this photo while sitting on the boat dock and enjoying the evening

The view from my room out to Lake Byllesby

Twilight

Wisconsin (Cheese and other things)

October 1 - 2

Yet another great weekend in America.  We took a 5 hour road trip to visit second-cousin Michael at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  Milwaukee is a pretty nice city with a lot of character.  There are a lot of old mansions and buildings -we toured the Pabst Mansion, which belonged to the late owner of the famous Pabst Brewery - but there are also many modern, architecturally fascinating buildings in the city like the Milwaukee Art Museum,  for example.  

While in Milwaukee I got to try bowling for the first time!  (Count on Aunt Cindy to ensure I don't miss out on any American traditions)... We also took a little walk around the Marquette campus, which was interesting to see because it is quite different to K-State; it is right in the city and is a mid-sized private school.

 Wisconsin is well known for it's dairy industry so we made sure to stop at a cheese house on the way home on Sunday afternoon... Apart from that I must mention that the drive between MN and WI is very beautiful, especially along the Mississippi River during Fall with all the coloured leaves!  

Michael and I

Tonnes of fun... but I need a lot more practice! lol

Trying a different coloured ball to see if it might change my luck :)

We had dinner at this nice little Japanese restaurant in downtown Milwaukee.

Wisconsin is famous as the Cheese capital of the USA, so it was necessary to make a stop!

Practically every different type of cheese one can think of...

Moo!

The Mississippi separates Minnesota and Wisconsin

Nice fall day to drive back home

the red Prius

On Sunday evening, back home in Minnesota, we watched a Prohibition documentary and ate different flavoured cheeses with crackers