<p>We just registered for the event, and we were wondering what's a must and what's a miss. It seems strange that nearly all of the "academic-type" events take place on Friday afternoon. Aren't classes in session? And those of us flying in from distant places seem to be missing a lot, unless we come the day before. My freshman doesn't seem to be as enthused as we are. Obviously, we will cramp her style!! I have to remind her that it's a free meal. Your thoughts?</p>
<p>I'd also be interested in what parents who have attended this before have to say. I find it curious that it starts on Friday morning. We've pretty much decided not to go, since it's a full day drive to get there, but to visit sometime when our other children have a 3 day weekend and won't have to miss their own classes.</p>
<p>We registered too. My S doesn't want to attend many of the events, so I guess we will miss them. However I did get tickets for the President's BBQ and maybe we will go to some of the Friday morning events while S is in classes. I'm sure someone will chime in and give us the low down on what's a hit and what to miss.</p>
<p>I hope M-3-S pops in and posts, because I can't give any advice. We've never been to a family day. I wouldn't hesitate to say though, if there's a game at the OB that weekend, that would be an event not to miss. Son says that Parent Weekend is never that big of a deal. If it were me, I just have a great time visiting with your kids, and do what you and your family will enjoy...whether that be the beach, the Miami attractions, or just plain visiting. Have a great time!</p>
<p>Well, we went last year but didn't register, and so didn't do any of the 'official' activities...
our main interest was the football game and that was the same time as the on-campus activites, so we made our own "family weekend'! - we bought our tickets through the box office by phone (they mailed them to us), we took the metro over and back, sat in the 'parent' section - so we felt part of the hoopla - we just made our own schedule!<br>
If I remember correctly, we did dinner at Monty's in the Grove Friday PM (really neat seafood/raw bar/music on the water), and breakfast at Denny's Sunday AM :)
Fafnir - you might enjoy watching the marching band practice on the field Friday afternoon - its really fun to see how they organize the whole thing. Its easy to watch without being seen...D tells me local families come with picnic blankets and dinner to watch them rehearse. If you get to the Orange Bowl early you can see them go through the parking lot playing to the tailgaters, and then they do a pregame show for the earlybirds;)</p>
<p>We did go last year and registered for the events. I will admit though, that we did not take advantage (although the events looked nice) and wound up making our own weekend. This year we are doing as ctmom and just buying our football tickets separately. S moved his stuff into the fraternity house at the end of last semester, so he didn't need us to help him move-in last month and went back to school on his own. I'm very anxious to get down there for Parent's Weekend and see his room.:eek:</p>
<p>We had Grandma and Grandpa with us along with little bro and S's "she's not my GF". We flew down Thurs night and on Friday, the kids took in a formal tour and info session as GF was applying last fall and we gave the Grands a more leisurely tour while S was in class. We picked up S after his last class (chem test on Fri night of PW!) and went to the Grove for dinner. I highly recommend taking the metro to the OB with the kids for the game on Saturday. We had a blast and then went to dinner at Monty's with the RM and his family which was really nice. Sunday we took a sightseeing cruise around Miami from Bayside Marketplace. This year we may try to head over to the Everglades on Sunday.</p>
<p>I agree that Family Weekend is all about visiting with your kids, so do what is most pleasing for your family and don't worry about the schedule. There will be lots of parents and families on campus so I think your kids will be more excited once you get there. It's nice to take your kid's RM or friends who don't have family visiting to dinner and see your S/D interact with their new friends. We had a great time last year and so did S. Have a wonderful weekend.</p>
<p>ctmom-When the grandparents started to tire, we "parked" them by the band rehearsal and they had a great time watching!</p>
<p>Oh I had forgotten until you mentioned the Everglades - last year the dorm resident parents (Stanford) organized a trip to the Everglades on that Sunday afternoon - we all took a coach bus over and then did an airboat tour - it was fun! (and free :) - the kids just had to sign up with a small deposit which they returned when we showed up for the bus).<br>
You could do a similar tour on your own - its a short drive (past FIU which is interesting to see), and there are several different air boat tour operators.
Bayside is also fun for local color - much more diverse than the Grove, lots of live music, food, craftors, etc.</p>
<p>And I thought Monty's was just the kids "hang out." LOL... Perhaps a trip there during graduation time may be in order....:)</p>