<p>I hope all the 2011 parents had a wonderful time with your Midshipman this weekend, you certainly had beautiful weather. We'd love to hear all about your weekend!</p>
<p>Indeed it was a beautiful weekend here in Maryland. Hopefully, everyone had a great weekend. I remember like it was yesterday the excitement of seeing our Plebe after a long summer. The changes in him were amazing. Now I received a packet in the mail this week for Firstie Parents Weekend in September! Where did the last three years go?!! Our Mid has had some amazing experiences and now is faced with service selection. Parents, enjoy the next few years as they will be over before you know it.</p>
<p>Curious is they got overnight liberty or not. It was the subject of this big discussion on here a week or so ago !!!!</p>
<p>No overnights this year. </p>
<p>We haven't gotten our Firstie Parents Weekend packet yet, hopefully it will be in tomorrow's mail. Boy's planning to spend the next two days gathering his bits and pieces so he can get back to USNA on Tuesday. USNAMom's right, the last three years have flown, it's hardly seems possible that he's starting his final at the Academy</p>
<p>OK, I'll weigh in: It was fantastic! </p>
<p>Friday was steaming, and just watching PT was tough. Even @ 07:00, every plebe shirt was soaked front and back, every chin dripped, but not one of them wavered. Meeting up w/ plebes on Stribling Walk later on was as emotional for me as I-Day there in June. No overnights, so we had plebe company 'til 22:00 Friday, 'til 24:00 Sat., and Sunday 'til 18:00. Our son didn't want to do errands, go to a mall or movie -- he just wanted to hole up in the a/c'd hotel room and talk, or veg out, punctuated by meals where he ate like a condemned man (I'm impressed w/ Annapolis restaurants). Our son is extremely tall and way too thin for a mother's taste, but he actually gained a couple pounds this summer. </p>
<p>At a parent briefing, we were told that 2011 tied w/ 2010 for the lowest plebe summer drop out rate ever, and admin hastened to add that they believe it was NOT because anything was easier but because applicants were more qualified. (Let the cc bickering begin.) The class lost 29 to quitting and two to medical separations. </p>
<p>Our son's sponsor -- possibly the most wonderful woman on earth -- invited us to her home for lunch on Sunday so we could see where our son will visit. She has 6 mid's under her wing! What an angel!</p>
<p>Leaving our plebe Sunday was horrible, but hats off to the Northern California Parents' Club for planning a banquet @ the O-Club for 18:00 Sunday. It was a welcome distraction -- I think our family would have sulked all night if we hadn't had to pull up our socks and show up somewhere. The speaker was CAPT Klein, and to my surprise, during Q&A no one commented about the 'no overnights' decision. There was a story going around that during a recent alumni mtg w/ her, someone asked about it and she said, "When I was a plebe, we had no overnights..." The questioner interrupted her w/ "When I was a plebe, we had no women." (This year's plebe parents seemed to like to retell that anecdote.)</p>
<p>Our son spent last year @ NAPS, which might be why I didn't see the huge behavioral/bearing change @ PPW that others comment on. He called plebe summer "doable if you want to do it" and said it was psychologically easier than NAPS Indoc because of the Academy's open campus. He said the Navy base @ Newport seemed isolated compared to USNA where "How bad can you feel when you see sailboats and dogs and babies all over the place?" He was terribly proud to point out various bits of history and architectural interest in the yard as we walked around (everyone else walked -- I staggered in that humidity -- how did I survive to college in Washington DC?). Though he never said he loved it @ USNA, I can't imagine him anywhere else. </p>
<p>And once again, I thank the stars (and his sainted BGO) that my son is where he belongs.</p>
<p>PPW was awesome! Lots of watching my plebe sleep, read and eat! She looked incredible and was a Happy Camper! I HATED TO LEAVE ANNAPOLIS!</p>