At the end of our long weekend at the Air Force Academy, one of the kids said, “This has been the best vacation!”

I hadn’t thought of our trip out to Colorado Springs for parents’ weekend as a vacation until then. But now that we’re home and reflecting on our time there, it really was a great vacation!

Some of us drove out, leaving early Thursday morning. The vehicle felt awfully bare without the two oldest children in attendance.

Knowing we’d be away for four school days, we did bring schoolwork along.

Algebra in Iowa!

After 14 hours, we arrived in CO Springs. We’ve become quite the road warriors; for the most part the hours passed quickly with little to no complaining.

The complaining was heard the next day, however, when we woke up to a hazy sky and wet, cold temperatures.

We weren’t sure what to expect crowd-wise at the Friday parade, so we were sure to get there early. We arrived an hour and half early to stake out seats. But because of the frigid weather, the stands didn’t fill up until shortly before the parade started. Live and learn.

Still smiling…

The entire cadet wing lined up to march onto the field.

We saw Jake in his service dress for the first time.

After the parade, families stormed the field to meet their cadets.

My parents–who flew in on Thursday–had already spent some time with Jake the night before, and their reunion was pretty special. This day was the first time the three younger siblings had seen their biggest brother since June. They were bursting with excitement.

All we were missing was Derek. He had school and football commitments to keep and was scheduled to arrive the next day…