Acceptance Day
DW flew out for the 3 hour event and thoroughly enjoyed it as did DS who repeatedly thanked her. As has been recommended, she brought lots of extra Subway sandwiches for cadets without family. She was not planning to attend A-Day but was convinced to go by another USAFA mom and she was very glad she went and still speaks about her experience there with her son with a twinkle in her eye.
Parent's Weekend
Our entire family has enjoyed these weekends which are not limited to parents. DS has had his grandmother, aunt, uncle, and sister attend as well as us. As was said, you can meet your C4C on Thursday afternoon and perhaps share a dinner by the Chapel. However, C4Cs can not leave base on Thursday.
Friday is a full day. You can attend a few classes with your cadet, see a parade (hopefully with an air demonstration), eat lunch with your cadet at Mitchell Hall, walk the campus, visit the Fair in Arnold Hall, see their squad area and room, meet other cadets and parents, and then take them off base. Keep in mind that C4Cs are required to be in their blues during the entire weekend unless they are in their hotel room. The exception being they can wear PT gear as appropriate. Last year we checked out the Zoo and enjoyed it (a great zoo), but the C4C's we saw there in their blues did not look overly happy. When DS was a C4C he wanted to eat, sleep, eat, go to a movie, go to Target for a few items he needed and just chill. We didn't schedule any real activities until last year, his C3C year.
As was said, you will need to have them back on Saturday morning for the football tailgate. I took him and spent time in the cadet tailgate area meeting his squadmates and their families. By the time DW and sister got there, security was only letting in cadets because the area was at capacity. We all enjoyed the football game, but cadets are not allowed to sit with family. They get the pleasure of standing the entire game in their own section.
After the game and AF song is finished, your cadet will be released and you can have them until Monday afternoon. Some families stay in COS, others go out a ways (Denver, Boulder, mountains, etc). First year we went north to Louisville, CO to visit with some friends. Last year we stayed on the south side of town which seemed much less crowded than up north by the Academy, and we also enjoyed the hot air balloons that launched each morning from a nearby park. Some families go shopping for a printer, monitor, and other things the cadet wants. DS provided us a list ahead of time and we brought these items in the car so we didn't need to do this shopping (neither he nor I enjoy any type of shopping).
We dropped DS off at about 2 PM on Monday so that we could start the drive home. This seemed to work well for him as it allowed him to mentally shift gears back to the Doolie life. I have read that the drop-off can be a very emotional time for some families so plan accordingly. For our family it was just hugs and best wishes. He is glad to be at USAFA and while we do miss him, we are so thankful that he has been blessed with the opportunity to be there and to serve his country.
Of the two events, PW was clearly the most important to both DS and our family.