Halloween Cookie Decorating Party

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).

“We lost a lot of good sprinkles today…”

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Rooster Cogburn’s Ostrich Ranch

So the girls and I have been to numerous zoos, normal or petting, but rarely do they ever intersect. Tigers and bears stay in regular zoos, while horses and goats are usually reserved for petting zoos. So the girls were very surprised to learn that there is an Ostrich Ranch right outside of Tucson and that you could actually feed them (they regularly see them from a distance at the Reid Park Zoo in Tucson). While initially a little reserved (their mother has a surprising fear of ostriches), they eventually gave in and ended up having a great time feeding (and sometimes petting) miniature donkeys, fallow deer, rabbits, and yes, even the ostriches.

Size check, just so they know exactly what they are getting into.

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Pajama Night at the Movies

So I picked up the girls from Texas almost a month ago and I am just now getting some time to write. And a lot has happened in that month. Elaina started Kindergarten and Gabriella started Pre-K. The girls are signed up for soccer. And I am crushing my new job and about to be promoted. Things are going well in the Calkins household. But as far as getting back into the routine of writing, I figured we should start with something small, like going to the movies. Good thing that The Lion King (live-action) was playing at the on-post theater… and that it was Pajama Night.

Get your pajamas on and let us head into the theater!

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Calkins Family Game Night

Family Game Night seems like a weeknight staple in the United States, but it can be a little difficult when you have a five and three year old. We still find time to get in a game every now and then though, as they are finally getting old enough to understand the rules and develop a seemingly coherent strategy. Coming from an avid board and miniatures gamer, it is good to see my girls get into the hobby, and it is great to have another activity we can do as a family.

Building a Puppet Theater with the Girls

One day when my daughters and I were making sock puppets, Elaina very casually asked me to make her a puppet theater. She wanted it to be pink and purple, with pink curtains. Challenge accepted. While I am not much of a DIY person, this seemed like something fun that we could all do together as a family.

Ok, Puppet Theater / Restaurant / General Store

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The Calkins Girls try LARPing

Anyone that refers to themselves as a nerd knows that there are many tiers of nerdom. For instance, liking Star Wars may seem a little nerdy, but since it has become pretty mainstream, it is certainly a low-threat. Liking Star Trek though, means that you are delving further down the rabbit hole. Everyone has a different scale too, one that likely includes less mainstream board games (check), Dungeons & Dragons (check), and even miniatures for wargaming that you painted yourself (*hangs head*… check). Of all the possible tiers for me, Live-Action Roleplaying (in tandem with cosplay) is my red line (for some it is Star Trek, others Dungeons & Dungeons, while some have nothing that is “too far”). Having said that up front though, I always aim to be a good friend first. And when my friend Steve invited my daughters and I to join him and the local Amtgard chapter at Veterans Memorial Park in Sierra Vista, we would not have missed it for the world.

This guy might have wanted to miss it though.

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Swim Lessons

Whether it was for pure survival skills or because we were letting the pools go to waste at Walt Disney World, it was only a matter of time until I put the girls in swim lessons. Their mother also likes to take them to Great Wolf Lodge and they can only wear floaties for so long. While this class only lasted for two months, it was an excellent introduction into the wonderful world of swimming.

Make sure to get up and stretch, because we are about to dive in!

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“Pass on what you have learned:” Taking Yoda’s Advice and Baking a Death Star Cake with my Daughters

So we are a unabashed Star Wars family. I play a Star Wars tabletop miniatures game. Elaina is a huge fan of Rey from the sequel trilogy and continues to ask me when she is getting a lightsaber (Me: “You got one at Disney World.” Her: “No, Dad, a real one.”). And Gabriella enjoys learning her colors, letters, and numbers from Star Wars children’s books, because, why not? Because of this and being a relatively good baker, it was no shocker that my friend’s wife contacted me about a making a Star Wars cake and surprising him with it during his party. But of course, I cannot do anything in our house without being interrupted by two wonderful little girls, so I just let them in on the baking fun. So here goes the Calkins Family’s attempt to bake our very own Death Star.

“I got a bad feeling about this.” (Note: The applicable Star Wars quotes will not end here)

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Weekend Activities – Pima Air & Space Museum

Since I was a young boy, I have always been fascinated with both airplanes and World War II. One of my fondest memories was when my Dad took me to Washington D.C., which included a visit to the National Air and Space Museum. Since the Pima Air & Space Museum in Tucson, AZ has an absolutely amazing collection of aircraft, particularly those from the Second World War, I have always wanted to make a visit. But with having two daughters who spend their evenings hosting tea parties in their princess dresses, when were they ever going to let me visit a museum with stationary planes? As I have mentioned before, these girls just keep surprising me.

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Weekend Activities – Children’s Museum Tucson

So we had a four-day weekend due to Veteran’s Day (to all you Veterans, thank you for your service), which meant that the girls got to pick two day’s worth of activities instead of just one. The first day consisted of Children’s Museum Tucson and the Pima Animal Care Center, the latter of which will be a part of an (eventual) series on our family’s journey towards adopting a dog. We have a membership at this children’s museum, just like we did for one at our previous duty station in Washington, because it pretty much pays for itself after two visits. And given that we have already been there four times in the last two months, we seem to be getting our money’s worth.

“And your child can earn their PhD in minutes!”

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