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Spending Halloween in Hawaii

Halloween in Hawaii with Kids: Our Family Night in Oahu

Trick-or-treating with our five kids in Oahu · Scene from our film (41 sec)

▶Watch scene from our film 41 sec

I worried that our first Halloween away from home would be a dud. Then the quiet neighborhood came to life after dark! This is our family’s Hawaiian Halloween story, with scenes from the costume parade, dinner and trick-or-treating in our original film.

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Who else loves Halloween?  Does anyone else look forward to Halloween as much as Christmas (ok, maybe even a bit more)?

Probably just me.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Christmas.  I try to soak it up as much as I can.  Actually, I have a zillion little traditions I’m trying to do each year.

And that is probably part of the problem.

Halloween is my holiday where everything fun I do is bonus mom-points, not filling my mental to-do list to make the holiday magical.  Just too much pressure on Christmas!

Our Halloween traditions away from home

I do try to have some traditions for Halloween.  They mostly include:

• Decorating the house.  I add decorations every year and someday I’ll have that epic house that both scares and welcomes all children to my candy-lair
  
• Themed food.  I can’t handle the super creepy, bloody stuff, but I love the fun mummy dogs, vampire smiles, pumpkin veggie trays, etc.
  
• Class parties at school with my in full witch costume and doing a “Witches Brew”.  I’ve had a teacher turn me down on this. but I’ve done it every year in at least one class.  I’ve been a pregnant witch a couple times!
  
• Dinner with friends or family
  
• Hopefully a spooky movie to end the night

A little costume parade in the living room

Our children’s living-room costume parade · Scene from our film (24 sec)

▶Watch scene from our film 24 sec

In our film, the children did not need a big event to get started. Before we went out, they made their own little parade through the living room in their costumes. You can see the mix of characters moving around together, while an adult films them. Five kids, five costumes and plenty of energy! Keeping a small tradition like that does not need a school party or a decorated house of our own.

Making dinner feel like Halloween

Our family Halloween dinner with glow sticks · Scene from our film (41 sec)

▶Watch scene from our film 41 sec

Later, the film shows us around a table lit up by glow sticks. That was a small celebration we could make together before going out. The film keeps those ordinary family moments alongside the trick-or-treating. The children are still playing with the glowing sticks at the table, and the costumes are part of dinner, too. My list of traditions was shorter that year, but dinner and costumes still made it into our day.

So, this year is obviously a little different.   My list has to be a lot shorter… no house… no friends… no school.

This put me in a little funk today, not going to lie.  I had a hard time getting out of bed, a hard time getting out of the house, and then I scrambled at the end to try to throw a dinner together at the end (and after a power nap).

What happened when the neighborhood came to life

My take away from Hawaiian Halloween: I thought it might be a dud here.  There were really no decorations and we hadn’t seen any children yet.  I was a little worried and so were the kids.

We were dead wrong!

Trick-or-treating with our five kids in Oahu

Watch the change from our living-room parade to the children walking outside after dark. In the film, the little ones are carrying their candy and glow sticks as we move between stops. I ask whether they are having fun, and the answer is a happy one. That is the part I had been worried about! The streets that looked quiet earlier turned into the Halloween outing we had hoped for.

Watch our original related film on YouTube

Magically, in the dark, the neighborhood became a huge gathering place.  Kids and parents were flowing around the streets, blowups and decorations came out,  and pretty much everyone that wanted to hand out candy set up outside their house at a table.  This made it super fun!  No wondering if the house wants to hand out candy and you get to stop and chat!

It did make me a little lonely- I can’t tell if I’m making it up or if it’s really that I feel outside of the loop here.  Like we aren’t quite welcome by the locals.  We are pretty obviously tourists, but I want to tell them I really WANT to get to know them and how they live.  I want to be with them and immerse in them.  I’m not just here to damage their island and be annoying.  I can’t say those things, of course.

The kids had a fabulous time and we got all we wanted out of trick-or-treating.  My rule is you eat as much as you want on Halloween night and after that mom rations (and soon throws away) the rest of your candy.  I was proud of Lincoln- he plowed through a bunch and then threw the rest away.  Way to go, bud!

A familiar bedtime after an unfamiliar holiday

We also have been reading every night together right as they get in bed.  I’ve been reading them Roald Dahl.  We started with Matilda and watched the movie, which they LOVED.  It has become a pretty solid part of bedtime and I love it.  It’s one of my favorite times of the day.  We just finished reading Witches, which is such a fun book.  Tonight, we watched the movie.  It was scary, creepy, and very enjoyable.

Additional Readings

What To Expect As A Family In Halloween At Disneyland Paris – All You Need To Know

2024 Ultimate Guide To Halloween In Utah: A Kid’s Dream!

Spending Halloween At Disneyland With Kids – What You Need To Know