Parents' Weekend

Sam2018 · Dec 2, 2013

Is parents' weekend always labor day weekend? Are there activities on Friday during the day? Also do many parents come out for Acceptance Day? Just trying to get things planned etc. Thanks!

kdc246 · Dec 2, 2013

Yes, PW is always Labor Day weekend. There are some activities for parents on Friday: the Parade and there is also a Parents group fair in Arnold Hall, they can also attend class with you if you want them to. If per chance your parents arrive on Thursday, they can bring you a dinner and you can stay near the Chapel wall and eat and visit with them for a short time. Some parents, if they can afford the short trip, come for Acceptance day. If your parents cannot come it is not a big deal. It is a very short amount of time that you can spend with your parents, approximately 2-3 hours. Many that do come buy extra food for those cadets who's parents couldn't make it. Either way you won't be alone.

Sam2018 · Dec 2, 2013

Thank you!

Texasrocks · Dec 3, 2013

one important point is they can stay with you at your hotel on Friday night, they just need to be back per the squad for the tailgate or whatever is required by the squad. Plan early as hotels do fill up. If they are a 4dig they will most likely want to eat and sleep, but don't be discourage by the time they get to firstie they have a lot more energy.

Sam2018 · Dec 3, 2013

Fill up and get $$$$! Is it important to be as close as possible to the Academy or will it be ok to be a little farther? I was planning on booking at the Residence Inn near base as my DD has requested we bring her dog but the larger 2 bedroom suites are already close to $400 a night...yikes!

Blackbird · Dec 3, 2013

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.

Blackbird · Dec 3, 2013

Sam2018,

Sent you a PM.

Sam2018 · Dec 3, 2013

Thank you for all the info! DD is our oldest so imagine it will be emotional, heck I'm already emotional

pointguard · Dec 3, 2013

Blackbird said:
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.

You can bring a bag of Subway onto the Base with you for after the Acceptance Day Ceremony? Was wondering how to 'celebrate' without going to Mitchell, if that's an option.

Tigger · Dec 3, 2013

pointguard said:
You can bring a bag of Subway onto the Base with you for after the Acceptance Day Ceremony? Was wondering how to 'celebrate' without going to Mitchell, if that's an option.

I got to know several parents of cadets in my DD's squadron (through the Facebook parents page) and before Acceptance Day we coordinated and had a picnic for the cadets and families. We had Subway, Chipotle, Panera and homemade goodies and all of the extra was taken back to the squadron. It was a really great time as we had the opportunity to not only visit with our kiddos but also with the BCT cadre who joined us. Some great stories :wink:

Sam2018 · Dec 3, 2013

Acceptance Day?

Ok so when exactly is Acceptance Day? I see on the calendar that BCT ends on Aug 2nd so is A-day the 3rd or 4th?

Tigger · Dec 3, 2013

Sam2018 said:
Ok so when exactly is Acceptance Day? I see on the calendar that BCT ends on Aug 2nd so is A-day the 3rd or 4th?

Last year it was the Tuesday after BCT ended, August 6. We arrived the evening before and picked up food and supplies for the next day.

Sam2018 · Dec 3, 2013

Ok I guess I will plan on around that time. I can always cancel a night if needed. Is the facebook page class specific? Thanks!

Tigger · Dec 3, 2013

There are 2 FB pages that I belong to. One is general and the other is for the class of 2017. I am guessing no one has set up a page for 2018 yet.

Feel free to PM me any time. I remember being where you are and am happy to help in any way

Sent using the Service Academy Forums® mobile app

Sam2018 · Dec 3, 2013

Thank you, I will. I'm sure I will have tons of questions. :smile:

melindayching · Dec 3, 2013

Sam2018 said:
Fill up and get $$$$! Is it important to be as close as possible to the Academy or will it be ok to be a little farther? I was planning on booking at the Residence Inn near base as my DD has requested we bring her dog but the larger 2 bedroom suites are already close to $400 a night...yikes!

Traffic getting into/out of USAFA for the Saturday football game and parking on Friday both tend to be a bit crazy, so it's always nicer to be a bit closer. But it's really no big deal to stay farther away; just plan plenty of travel time especially when you cadet has a deadline to meet, e.g. reporting into the tailgate on Saturday morning and return back on Monday evening.

SandyM · Dec 4, 2013

We did not go to Acceptance Day, and very much regretted that decision. If it is within your travel budget, I encourage you to go.

A good friend invited our Cadet to join their family and their Cadet for lunch on Acceptance Day. My son had a nice time, but I spent the whole day wishing I was in Colorado.

Please feel free to PM me with any questions.

Sam2018 · Dec 4, 2013

I've made the reservations for I-day, A-day and parents' weekend. The younger brothers know we will be spending a lot of time this summer on the road to Colorado :smile:

Thanks for all the help and info.

Photog · Dec 4, 2013

If you can afford it, definitely go to A Day! Those 2 hours with our son were worth every penny we spent on plane tickets, rental car, and hotel to get up there. We brought extra food as suggested, but didn't end up having any extra cadets with us. Most of the parents of my son's friends came up.

As for Parent's Weekend, remember that you know your child best. Everyone had told me my c4c would be ridiculously tired and want to sleep all weekend, but as it turned out he was upset that we had not planned more stuff to do. All he wanted to do was hike, raft, and see and do everything he could while he had the chance to get off base. Looking back, I should have gone with my gut and known that he would be the one c4c that didn't want to waste his free weekend sleeping. He was very upset with me that we didn't bring proper footwear and clothes to climb Eagle's Peak with him. :shake:

We had to promise him we'd do it next year.

Sam2018 · Dec 4, 2013

Photog said:
If you can afford it, definitely go to A Day! Those 2 hours with our son were worth every penny we spent on plane tickets, rental car, and hotel to get up there. We brought extra food as suggested, but didn't end up having any extra cadets with us. Most of the parents of my son's friends came up.

As for Parent's Weekend, remember that you know your child best. Everyone had told me my c4c would be ridiculously tired and want to sleep all weekend, but as it turned out he was upset that we had not planned more stuff to do. All he wanted to do was hike, raft, and see and do everything he could while he had the chance to get off base. Looking back, I should have gone with my gut and known that he would be the one c4c that didn't want to waste his free weekend sleeping. He was very upset with me that we didn't bring proper footwear and clothes to climb Eagle's Peak with him. We had to promise him we'd do it next year.

That's good to remember. My DD will want to sleep, watch TV, play on her phone and maybe shop a little. She's like that now, her favorite activity in her rare free moments is holding down the couch :biggrin:

Her brothers on the other hand, especially the middle one, would want activities planned.