Army "Dining Out"

This last weekend, Chris and I attended his annual "Dining Out" for the army.
It's sad to say that we've been married 13 years this year and I've never attended this event.
Although, in the past years it hasn't been as big of a production as it was this year.
Chris is an officer now and so he really needed me to be there with him. 

So with that, I asked my parents if they would be able to watch our kids for us over night so I could attend the dinner, dance and military ceremony.
Happily, Nanny and Papa came to the rescue and the kids got to hang out at their house while Chris and I spent the night at the Norfork Inn.
Chris' battalion had rented the dining hall and a block of rooms so we could stay and enjoy the night there. 

So we drove over to Mountain Home on Friday night and got some quality snuggles and wrestling in with Nanny and Papa. 

The pictures crack me up because they perfectly depict some of my favorite childhood memories. We were constantly trying to wrestle with my Dad growing up and he always found a way to pin us all down at once so he could tickle everyone and we couldn't escape. 

We finally got our kids to bed, because you know they were completely wound up after all that wrestling and then we were able to chat and hang out for a while with just Nanny and Papa.
The next morning Chris left for drill and Papa and Nanny went to work so it was just me and the kids for a while. We played outside, hung out and enjoyed all the fun toys in the basement. 

Around 3 pm, Nanny came home and Chris and I left to go to the hotel. We got ready for the dinner there and then walked over to the dining hall. 

They immediately took pictures of everyone as you entered the dining hall. 

The first part of the evening was long and boring for me because it was a lot of military cermony. Standing and sitting and standing and sitting.
But the making of the "grog" was fun. This is a part of the program where different people add different things to this brew and each thing represents something about their battalion.
Chris added these bolts and then had to taste test. He basically choked on it and then spit it out. It was pretty comical.  The "grog" was frothing and it was quite the spectacle. 

Eventually we ate dinner and the food was actually really good. Chris said it was their best "Dining out" meal they've ever had. We chatted over dinner and I met a few more people in Chris' unit. It was nice and Chris was grateful to have me there. 

Before leaving for the night Chris had to take a few more pictures.
Here he is with the other officers. The photographer didn't really know how to position people for photos so its not great, but it is all we have. 

We had fun and really enjoyed our time together and a night away at a hotel without kids. 

I am sure proud of this guy. He gives his all to everything he does and I love him so much.