Since I got back from Romania, the girls and I have yet to spend a big holiday together (unless of course, you count… Labor Day?), so Halloween was our chance to get back into our holiday routine. First it was the cookie party, but now it was time for the main event. From picking out costumes to decorating the porch to mapping out our trick-or-treating route, we were definitely ready to have some fun together as a family. In tacit acknowledgement of how far behind I am in posting, here is the 2023 version of the Calkins Family Halloween.
They did not need a sugar-high, because they both dressed up as characters who are insane
While being deployed to Romania from October 2022 to April 2023, the girls and I were unable to partake in many of our annual holiday traditions. One that we missed the most was our annual Halloween Cookie Decorating Party; we also missed the Christmas-version, but you will not see the post for this year’s event for a couple more months. With the girls and I about to enjoy our first Halloween at Fort Campbell, it was also a great opportunity to invite some friends over for some fun with cookies, frosting, and sprinkles.
Halloween is back at Fort Huachuca and the girls were excited as ever to go out trick-or-treating on post. With the Trunk-or-Treat event happening right next to our house and the girls getting the hang of “efficient” trick-or-treating, our last Halloween on Fort Huachuca was sure to be one to remember.
Do not let their calm demeanor deceive you; they are well aware they are about to get a ton of candy
It is time for the annual Trunk or Treat at Fort Huachuca. Given how much candy they got last year from the event, you just knew the girls would want to participate. Time to suit up in your costume of choice, grab your candy bag, and get ready to wait in line for an hour in almost freezing temperatures!
And crime fighting, of course. There is always the possibility of that.
It is really funny how fast things can get out of hand. When the girls came home from Texas on Sunday, I had Halloween sugar cookies waiting for them. This led Elaina to ask if we could bake and decorate cookies next weekend. Sounded like a plan, one that would be fun and fairly easy. While we were eating on the patio on Monday, my neighbor let me know that this was going to be their last weekend in Arizona before the Army shipped his family to Italy for three years, so it seemed right to invite them over for some cookies (and because their household goods are already packed up, their house is pretty much empty). As we were leaving for school, the girls spotted our other neighbor (whose son is in Elaina’s kindergarten class) and begged that they could come too. It still seemed to be manageable, so I did and they accepted. Elaina then told her best friend at school that she was having a cookie party, after which her friend begged to be invited. After I told Elaina that we could do that the Saturday after, her friend wrote a handwritten card to Elaina asking to please come to her cookie party. Like I was going to say no after that. So, I started planning for a Halloween cookie decorating party… for 17 (Note: One of the families cancelled the day before, so while it did not change the spread, the event itself was a lot more manageable).
My Mother and Stepfather (Grandma and Papa) briefly watched the girls while I was away at a conference and we figured it was best for them to stay all the way through Halloween. I mean, what 5- or 3-year old is going to turn down an extra week being spoiled by Grandma? Not these two. Although I did my best to persuade them otherwise, both of my girls were determined to go as princesses this year, with Elaina going as Elena of Avalor and Gabriella going as Rapunzel. I normally would not have minded except that they just wore the same dresses a month ago to Disney on Ice, they wear them to school and around the house all the time, and they did not give me enough warning to get a Flynn Rider costume (we went as the Rockford Peaches last year, with them wearing the ballplayer outfits and myself as the manager). We did try to add to their normal dress-up routine though, with Elaina getting some stickers for her face and Gabby getting a nice new pair of Rapunzel gloves, because of course they already had their tiaras.
Adventures in Single Dadding 