Parent's Weekend 2014

For the Friday of Parent's Weekend, parents are welcome to attend class with their cadet.  Pumpkin has a full Friday schedule.  I was afraid it would be a long day.  It was so nice to get an idea of where he goes, who he is with, who teaches him, and what the day is like.  We were grateful the Physics professor cut the two hour class short.

We pre ordered lunch and ate the big ball room.  Pumpkin had the Big Guy's birthday gifts.  It was too funny.  He got him protective gear for working in the yard.  Just like his mom, the Big Guy attracts all biting bugs and rash giving plants!

They did a mock rescue on the Thames.  We took the lazy route and watched from inside.  If you look closely you can see the helo parked on the soccer field.

In this shot, both helos are on the field.  They were open for tours.  We had to pass as Differential Equations was calling.

 On our way to class...

On Friday late afternoon, the swim team had an inner squad meet.  I was so glad they did this this year. It was fun to watch the kids and chat with some parents.

Pumpkin got to spend the night with us.  We were up bright and early Saturday morning.  He got ready for review and we went to some parent meetings.  The kids hate the review stuff.  But, they sure do look sharp.

We got to see Pumpkin's dorm room and then headed to the football game.  We missed the peak of the leaves by about a week.  The view from the stands is still pretty impressive.

Friday night, the Idlers, the male singing group, sang at Griswold Inn.  It is a very old colonial restaurant.  They sang in the tap room.  We had to go back the next afternoon to retrieve someone's credit card.  No names mentioned, but it wasn't me!

 The town of Essex is very old.  After we got the card, we walked around for just a bit.

From Essex, we headed down to New Haven.  I'd hoped to get a better glimpse of Yale, but it was late and dark.  Ironically, a few weeks ago, the Big Guy heard about pizza in New Haven on NPR.  We researched it.  It turns out they have some of the best pizza in the country.  We waited in line at Frank Pepe's.  The wait was long.  We met the nicest local family.  They made the time fly by.  It was worth the wait.

Of course, we had to find ice cream after dinner.  I think we were in the heart of the Yale campus.  Ashley's makes fresh ice cream every day.  It was so yummy!

We all slept in on Sunday.  We went to Kitchen Little for a late breakfast.  It is a small restaurant pretty much right on the water in Mystic, CT.

We ended the weekend at the oldest steam powered cider mill.  It was very crowded.  Again, we waited in a long line to buy some donuts and cider.  The apple cider donuts were wonderful.  If we had been staying longer, we might have tried the hard cider.

The weekend would have been even better if - if Peanut would have been with us.  I loved spending time with Pumpkin.  He is doing well.  The best thing is we are on the four week countdown to Thanksgiving!