My wife has gone like 5 times but they were wife type trips. My kid has no clue. I use to tell her to watch the moon because I would be watching the same one and I'll be back when it looks like whatever.

If I had the option, I would trust people who knew both me and the place, like you and your sons for instance.

One year I came home and my wife asked what happened? She screwed up and thought I was coming home the following week. That's fine by me as long as it's after a nice hug. I'd even pad my expected return date by a couple before that. I've been windbound before. Now I just tell her the real date and leave some phone numbers to ask about recent weather, basically saying give it an extra two or three days before you send in SAR.