Dan, and I say this as someone who raised an ROTC knucklehead (hard to get into the program in any service) who went to VMI (The Rat Line), your daughter is going to find that her classmates and their families are in the mean the finest kind.

If you can, try to get back to Annapolis at least once a year for a parents event, a ceremony, etc.

It really refreshes your faith in the future of this country. The one thing I miss is going to Parents Weekend at VMI and tailgating.

I am so very proud of her and the parents who raised her.

Amazing......just so inspiring.....

Thank you Dan! :)

great point

Navy football games are worth attending. Good fun but way more family oriented and low key compared to most college and especially pro games/stadiums. Seeing the brigade come up is worth seeing, never gets old.

Dan-Thank you and your wife for raising such a wonderful daughter. The entire nation should be proud.

We already have flights booked for Plebe parent weekend. (won't be staying where we are now!) Great to do walk a bout. That's how we roll. You don't see the town by just driving it. You need to walk it! We are logging the miles baby! Leslie and I are here till Monday. We did not rent a car. We have walked from O'Callahan to The Boat House or to down town sometimes 3 or 4 times a day.
If any of you want to write her a letter of encouragement please PM me. I will forward her address for the next six weeks. Needs to be positive!

Scott (aka Pavulon) Thank you! How is your sweet girl doing? Hang in there daddio! You are in our thoughts and prayers. Wish we could give her a hug in person.

Don't want to take anything from you guys here. I'll update in her thread.

Thanks again!

Checkout Joss on Main St, good sushi. Ramshead on west St is a good spot for a beer, back to eastport and Davis' if you want to be a local. A friend is the piano man upstairs at Middletons most fri/sat if you are in the mood.... Lots of good places to eat/drink.

Really good Italian food at Carpaccio's on West Street (next to The Westin Hotel). For something truly different try Carlson's (also on West Street, across from the Hyundai dealer))....incredible donuts and pretty good Thai food....pretty low-brow place put the food is good (both away from the main street touristy section).

Mike

You gotta love those BCG's! (birth control goggles) Personally I think she wears them well.
The momma and I are still here in Annapolis until Monday. We want to get the lay of the land before we depart. Hard to think about the fact we will not see Emma until August. :(
Thanks for following. Will keep you up to date for those that do.

Update. We are flying back for PPW (Plebe Parent Weekend) this coming Weds. at "O" dark thirty. The time change kills me going back there! Hopefully I will be fully adjusted by Friday when we get to see her.

We get/got a total of three phone calls from her during her Plebe summer. Tomorrow is our last one before seeing her on 8/11. The calls are every other Sunday.

The first was full of tears. She was extremely homesick. She has only been away on her own once and that was for USNA summer seminar 2016.

The second phone call was much more positive. She has two great room mates. (both named Amanda) I call them The Amanda's. She loves her squad and her Detailers. She told us on that second phone call that they were going to be switching out their Detailers that very day. Apparently the Detailers volunteer their time.

We got another letter from her Friday and it was back to being homesick, depressed, and "WTH did I sign up for". I am really looking forward to hearing her voice tomorrow and getting a current status of her well being. I hope she is swinging back to the mood of the second phone call. (fingers crossed)

We have a surprise for her when we get to see her. My wife scheduled an hour and a half facial and full massage. I think Emma will be quite okay with that! Other then that, we have no expectations. We are going to do whatever Emma wants to do. Be it sleep the whole time or whatever. It will be her choice.

Some pictures we have borrowed off of the Plebe Parents FB page. The last is of the flag pole I installed in our yard today. Got to fly our colors.


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PPW is here. So glad to see our girl. I chanced upon seeing her yesterday for a brief moment on the yard. We got to see her room and meet her room mates. Ice Cream was a priority for sure. Catching up now in our Hotel.

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So so great - thanks for sharing!

ahhh, fond memories, enjoy and don't miss anything. The free college for your daughter is being offset by the constant travel by you, the parents back there but worth every penny.

I will bet that there is a parent taking pictures almost every day of your daughters class, find that person on the parent's forum and you will get great pics of her in action.

I hear you on the travel cost!
We have been on the parent's forums for quite some time and have developed some already great friendships with other parents. We find pictures of our Waldo often. The weird thing is that when we are out on the yard, we see her and her Platoon almost every time. Just lucky I guess because other parents have said they have not even found pictures of their Waldos.


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Such great pictures. I hope she is doing well and back to being positive about her decision. I'm sure seeing you both will be a great boost to her spirits!

That is great...and it is natural for her to have peaks and valleys. Key is to keep an even strain and try to smooth out the ebbs and flows of emotion.

Remember that many of her classmates grew up in a military environment so much of what is new to her is second nature to some there.

We are pulling for her!

Glad you like them. Miss Emma is doing great!

Thank you Paul. We are here for "her" and will do whatever it takes to keep her on an even keel. Both of her room mates are very regimented. One is a NAPS. Both have also hit their walls in one way or another. It all works out in the end as long as one looks at the big picture. Every Plebe we have met has been inspiring to talk to. Great respect for each and everyone of them. We have also met her Detailers. Great people and doing their job well.
Today and yesterday has/have been great so far. Our daughter is a big foodie. (my wife is a very accomplished cook) Emma has enjoyed all of the food outside of the Academy. Yesterday was Nano Sushi, last night was The Chart House. We took a water taxi home.
Today we treated her to a massage at Sedona. We figured she needed some spoiling muscle wise. Once again, now we are just chilling in our Hotel room doing what ever Emma wants to do. It is HER time. Not ours.
The bottom link is a short video of the Oscar company end of parade march. Sorry, I do not know how to embed a video from my Youtube account. :confused:



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https://youtu.be/DfC06KqunVg

You guys rule.

Emma will, on graduation, commissioning, never forget your support.

You guys need any little thing we stand ready.

Best.

From todays SMU vs. Navy football game.
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Too funny. As I was posting the last photo, my kid shows up on TV.
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Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

too cool

2 Ospreys flew over the house ~3pm today, figured they were headed for the stadium.

Stand proud, Dan!!SmileWavy

So great to see - thanks for the update!

I can't remember if we talked about it, but I sure hope you get to go to at least a few Navy-beats-Army games!!

This Army/Navy game did not go as planned. :(
Our mid froze her hind quarters off. The Firsties were NOT kind. She made the best of it.
Some more pics of her journey...
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The last one is my favorite!



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Some threads just make me smile....:)

Well done....all of you!!!

Plebe year almost half done. Next up, youngster.

Congrats to all. It takes a tough cookie to survive that plebe year!SmileWavy

Don't know if those 4 yrs by the bay for my son were more enjoyable for him but it was a absolute treat for my wife and myself. It might be a free education in regards to tuition and room and board but it was the most expensive for the parents but well worth every cent. We got to get back there next yr, miss the yard and all its favor.

Good thing he is still working in the DC area.

Ask your daughter how is King Kong doing? He is the resident rat of Bancroft Hall.

Cool!

Keep the updates coming!

Sorry to hear the game was tough - at least there's 3 more in her future, when she'll no longer be a Plebe.

Tough loss for Navy too!

She was the last Plebe for seating for the 27th. The Upper classmates basically denied her seat. One of the youngsters gave up his seat. “Class” She ended up going underground the bleachers and huddled for warmth. All & all good. I seriously don’t think she will EVER be a football 🏈 fan after this.
Right now she is going through academic finals. Mixed bag. She is so used to straight “A” that she is not able to get a “B” on anything. (Driven!)
I cannot wait to see my girl on the 18th! Home sweet home for two weeks......but!, I am dreading going through the parting of ways yet again. Not so much for me, but for her.
Emma is our “only”. We spoiled her. We told her, get good grades. We will take care of the rest. Leslie and I have tried to do JUST THAT.

Thank you for following Miss Emma’s progress!
As a father, I could not be more proud!

I hate everyone and yet, this thread still almost brings a tear to my eye

Yeah, many who arrive at the Yard feel the same way about football, my daughter being one of them. And then you add in the blizzards they have to endure - oy veh!
That said, the tradition and the pageantry that is the Army Navy game does add to the overall flavor of the experience.


This, too, is a common factor. The ego deflation attendant with so many high-achieving "A" students competing for grades - who were the standouts in their respective high schools - is a tough cross to bare during Plebe year. And to that end they receive lectures about that very subject throughout Plebe Summer and the "Ack" year. I can assure you, however, that the Navy knows how to pick good Midshimen - every year their graduation rates are at the top of nation (nearly 90%) - and since Emma made the cut, rest assured Dad that she's gonna do great!

Its been awhile since I've updated this thread. Emma is now a 2nd class at the academy. One more year to go before going out into the fleet.
She has managed to get straight A's every semester. She has made the Daunts list and the Sup's list. She gets to wear a gold star on her uniform for that accomplishment. :)
My wife and I were just out there a couple weeks ago for her "Two for Seven signing."
She doesn't know it yet, but we are flying back again on Oct. 4th to surprise her for her 21st birthday. We will also be seeing the Navy/Air Force football game.

Some new pictures.

This one is from her Protromid training in San Diego this summer. Back seat flight time in a T-34 trainer. She had a blast.
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This one is from the same time in San Diego but doing some Marine training.
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This is her actually signing her Two for Seven service commitment.
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Emma and her room mate. She got lucky and got a four person room but only one room mate. Great room, but on the 7th floor. Lots of stairs!
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Last one is in her Civies. Now that she is 2nd class, she can come and go from the campus in civilian cloths.
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Great job Emma - and great job dad!

Any idea which way she is leaning for her service selection?

And wow - those pics sure bring back memories! Thanks for sharing.

Amazing job all around, so much to be proud of!!

She is strongly thinking of aviation. A lot of that will depend on her eyes.
We shall see.

Awesome! Thanks for the update Dan. Keep us posted.

Awesome.

And FWIW, it also depends a lot on their proportions. My daughter met every qualification - including height (5'4") - except something like the proportion of the distance from her waist to the top of her head vs. her overall height. IOW, I think she had stubby legs... ; )

Thanks for the update with pics, Dan.

All I can say is wow......you have every right to be the proudest daddy on the planet!

Please convey to Emma our highest respect and admiration for all her dedication and hard work!

This may be the best thread we've had on PPOT in quite a while! :)