I wasn’t really sure what to expect from Halloween on an air force base. My family celebrates Halloween like some families celebrate Christmas: big. Every year, my parents throw a big Halloween party that has become a tradition for many. They deck out the house, inside and out, with everything from ghouls and witches to giant yard inflatables. I was a little disheartened that only one other house on our street on base had even gone beyond carved pumpkins. Then, we started getting e-mails about regulated trick-or-treating hours…needless to say, my expectations were pretty low.
Much to my delight, Halloween activities started almost a week prior, on Monday. H and her preschool class took a field trip (her first!) to the local pumpkin patch. They listened to a spooky story, learned about pumpkins, and got to pick out a gourd of their own.
On Thursday, the base had a big fall festival, complete with games, bounce houses, and free food for all.
Friday morning, we joined H’s class for a costume parade around base. The kids marched down the sidewalk, little princesses and ninjas, to trick-or-treat at several buildings and wow the crowd with a rendition of pumpkin songs.
Later that afternoon, we went to the administration building, where each office was festively decorated and offered treats to the kids. From there, we proceeded to the squadrons for more spooky fun. The student pilots had turned the quiet hallways and classrooms into terrifying haunted houses, complete with cobwebs and strobe lights.
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| Princess Belle |
On Saturday, the day before the actual holiday, we drove several miles away to a popular local corn maze. We discovered that it wasn’t just a simple maze – there were 4 different mazes, a petting zoo, hay ride, pumpkin patch, playground, and more! H had a great time leading us through the mazes and petting all sorts of furry farm friends.
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| Enjoying a hay ride |
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| Petting the pony |
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| Navigating the maze |
That evening, we hit up the base bowling alley for a bit of “boo bowling” in costume.
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| Boo Bowling! |
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| C, H, and our friend, D |
Finally, it was time for the big day. We spent most of the morning searching for a pumpkin-carving kit – which apparently was a hot commodity this year. (We never did find one – we painted our pumpkins instead) At 6:00 we hit the streets with every other little robot and fairy in the vicinity and garnered a whole new batch a sweet goodies. By 8:00 the fun was over and we were ready for bed!
As it turns out, Halloween on base is actually a pretty big deal. From base employees to commanders, everyone went to a lot of effort to make sure that all of the kids (and even the dog) had a great, safe time.
