Halloween is right around the corner, which means the holiday season is going to be here faster than you can say, “elf on the shelf.” Personally, I know how hard it is to be away from my family during the holiday season, but despite any change in homeport I always keep doing a few special things every year to make the season feel as normal as possible for me and my kids. No matter where we live, I always try to keep up with our favorite traditions.

Here are some of the things we do to keep traditions alive for the spooky season:

• Carving pumpkins in New England means you can keep them out for a few weeks. Carving pumpkins in Hawaii means you cut into them a few days before Halloween and magically your $12 pumpkins will mold. Gross and spooky. No matter the temperature am I still going to lug the heavy pumpkins to the front porch after carving elaborate designs by my children who gave up halfway through? You betcha.
• Will we watch Hocus Pocus and the Charlie Brown special? Absolutely, but instead of cozying up on our couch we will be outside watching on our projector with chilled apple cider and bug spray.
• Trick-or-treating is usually something you can count on being the same every year and living on base has actually made it that much more fun for my kids. They love being able to run around easily from house to house collecting as much candy as they can and then sitting down to sort it with friends. The location may change from year to year but the magic of being a kid with a sugar high, when it’s normally bedtime, will not. I’m convinced Halloween is like the Super Bowl for children; they get riled up, eventually crash after a crazy night, and will most likely want to call in sick the next day! 
• Decorate your house. My kids get a thrill out of all the Halloween decorations scattered across lawns in our neighborhood. Right now we have some sad looking Halloween lights but this year I’m buying a blow up ghost or two to add some flair to our front porch. A new tradition, but I know this will be something we look forward to every Halloween and maybe one day my children will actually help me.
• Let your taste buds help keep the spooky spirit alive. Drink the pumpkin beer with the cinnamon sugar rim, bake some apple pies, go get yourself the PSL. It might feel slightly different in flip flops near the ocean but blast the AC in your car, close your eyes and be transported to wherever “home” is for you.

Everything that is different in this new duty station will be spun into a unique memory to look back on one day:

• “Hey, remember that time we got a sunburn at the pumpkin patch?”
• “Remember when we spent $83 on Halloween candy and it all melted before we had any trick or treaters?”
• “Remember that awesome fright fest the last duty station did?”

If you can understand that in this life things may be different from years and stations prior, but you can still appreciate the holidays and make any new place feel like home. Now, put on your favorite flannel and blast the AC (just for a bit-electricity ain’t cheap). 

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