Parents Weekend Highlights, Pictures & Poll!

[AuzmansMOM]

Here is a "public" thread for people to share their Parents weekend highlights and pictures. There is a private version of this thread for Parents who prefer that option in the Parents forum area. If posting images in thread please keep image under 500px width. Check out the pictures being posted on Photo Gallery under the PW 08' Catagory. If you are a parent, Cadet or Sponsor Family User then you can add your own images.

This is also a great opportunity to start your own blog (Parents , Cadets, Sponsor Families only) which is like a journal of your experiences where all registered users can leave comments. You can also add images to your blog post. Go to User Blogs home page and start blogging!

Finally, look above this thread and you will see our vary 1st poll question!! Make sure you take the time to participate and then view the result to see what others thought. You can select more than one! Have Fun

[pojack]

It is difficult to choose just 1 response to this poll. Everything was great and they appeared to be done with good planning as everything seemed to go off without problems. The Parade was AWESOME as was the football game and all the tailgate parties. I was in the USAF way back when, and a military parade, especially when one's son is in it, is a stirring event for me! Attending the classes with Jeremy, was excellent and it was good to see that our cadets are receiving good instruction from good educators. We found the information fair at Arnold Hall to be an excellent source of educational materials pertaining to our son's career and to what he is "into" now. There was good information for us "newbies" on the services available at the Academy for us and our cadets. We enjoyed seeing our son's room and meeting his room mates and their parents. We have posted some pictures of our "Parents Weekend 2008", on the photo board in 2008.

We are looking forward to PW next year!

[AUSAFADAD]

I find that attending classes is the event we enjoy the most. Meeting the prof and seeing the other cadets in the classes provides good insight - at least for the fall semester. That way if any trials and tribulations come along it is easier to understand what is happening and possibly provide guidance, consolation or just a sympathetic ear.

Unfortunately this year during the parade they didn't have all of the flyovers or the landing of sailplanes on the field. I suspect it was due to the clouds that were in the area. I think they were intending to land the sailplanes because they had their trailers there at the ready.

[flymom]

I had to choose "other" because NOTHING was more special than seeing my cadet HUG her brother and sister! Seeing them all together again just made my heart happy.

[Malm Family]

Just getting to see our cadet! We had not laid eyes on him for 2 months, so it was seeing him that was the greatest attraction. The campus was beatiful and the game was fun also.

[Buddha]

Seeing our cadet and his room and where he trains, was the most enlightening sights. Although listening to his stories all weekend was great. We were told by several not to expect much and that he may be depressed or seem distant. That was all B.S. He was happy, proud and full of spirits. We walked all over Jacks Valley with him, met most of his squad. It was a great visit.

He states "this is my new home, I would not want to be anywhere else."

[pojack]

I noticed also that many folks told us that "...he may be distant", "..he will want to sleep the entire weekend", etc. but we found out that to be entirely false. That did not apply to Jeremy as he wanted to go out and do things on the weekend. He didn't want to sleep and hide in the hotel room. We found him to be vibrant and excited about the Academy and proud to wear the uniform!!

[AuzmansMOM]

I am kinda surprised at this! i would have thought tailgating and game would be wining. I guess your cadets have some cool professors!

[stoneturtle]

Besides just seeing my daughter again, meeting the fine young men and women that she lived and trained with was the best for me. And their parents!

[reneas mom]

My favorite part of Parents Weekend was having all 3 of my kids together for a family reunion. My son came from North Carolina, my daughter from San Diego, and my cadet at AFA. It was great to see them interact with each other.

[amitchel]

Hard to choose one. Picked "other" because the wrestling team sponsers a mini-triathalon Saturday morning and it was very relaxing for us (since we did not have to run it!) and a special time to get to meet his team in a fun atmosphere.

[DzMom]

The weekend was wonderful. All of us together relaxing between the activities. My son just wanted to relax - watch TV and play games in our room. He enjoyed ( and we enjoyed) giving us the tour of the Academy. The tour of Jacks Valley was fascinating. My son took us through the course like a tour guide giving us insight on each station. Looking forward to parents weekend this year!

[pojack]

I just remembered, we posted pictures of Jack's Valley in the pictures on this site. They were of Jeremy and family when we toured it last PW. If anyone is interested about the type of obstacles etc., you are welcome to have a look!

[AuzmansMOM]

A great thread and poll to check out for 2013 parents and if you are a "veteran" PW parents don't forget to vote!

[AuzmansMOM]

[NHmom]

We have enjoyed hiking Stanley Canyon and Eagles Peak (both at the Academy) and we have driven to Breckenridge and Vail.This year we hope to visit Boulder and Estes Park. The highlights our 1st year were reunitiing at the Chapel before class,visiting Jack's and going to classes. We still attend all the classes.

[olejnik038]

amitchel,
How was the triathlon? Our son is a wrestler, and he told us that it would be difficult to "watch" the tri since it is all over the place (and my mom and dad were exhausted). We just went back to pick him up when it was over. I really wanted to watch the tri.

Did you go to the wrestling tailgate? We were going to go, but it was such a confusing zoo to us that we were lucky to find his squadron tailgate. We were waiting for our friends to show up, so we couldn't leave. I felt bad cuz we had met some very nice families at the open mat session that morning, and told them we would see them at the BBQ--but we never go there.

Was you son at the practice that morning? I'm wondering if we met...

Yvette Olejnik
C4C Andrew Olejnik
CS 34 Loose Hawgs

P.S. Oh, I voted for "other" because I liked watching the wrestling practice best. It was fun to see him back on the mat doing what he loves. Everything was great, but being in the wrestling room felt like "old times" for our whole family. We also enjoyed meeting the coaches and other wrestling parents.

[amitchel]

Yvette,
Triathlon was fun especially since wrestlers make some of the worst swimmers, made for some good hearted laughs. Mostly we are able to watch the beginning leg, cheer a few times in the middle, and be there at the finish after the run. Most of the wrestlers and other participants really seem to have a good time.
We were at the tailgate but not for a long time since this year we wanted to make sure our family did not miss any of the pregame activities.
Not sure if we were able to meet at open mats. Lots of neat new people. My son was there and the room did seem like familiar ground.

Carol Mitchel
C3C Samuel Mitchel CS-14
Indiana

[olejnik038]

Thanks for the info Carol! What weight class does your son think he will wrestle at this year? My son will be 141 or 149, but obviously won't break into the lineup as a freshman. Good luck to your son this year!

[kmama]

I think the best oart of the weekend was just being with our Cadet! All the Cadets were so polite and willing to help in any way they could! If you had a question and any one of them knew you had a question, they would tell you all they could about it! They are wonderful young people to be proud of!!!
We did alot of really fun things and Chuck didn't sleep all weekend! I think he liked the "REAL" food we ate!
Most of all we are thankful to have had the time with Chuck!!!