annual date night

it's the 8th year for them...our second one.
last year was fun and this year was, too!

jason and bridget plan the night and it's always BIG and over the top in a super fun way!

this year, we went to a brewing company and made our own beer.
{most of the girls don't even drink beer...but it was like following a recipe and it was pretty interesting!}

you measure out the grain...

a few different kinds depending on the kind of beer you've chosen to make.

then you grind it up {one of the women makes her own bread and she kept saying how similar it was to making bread!}

then you move over to the HUGE vats of hot water.
and you add your grains...
{henry with our big spoon that we used to stir}

leighann pushing on our bag of grain...like you would a tea bag!

then we added 2 different kinds of syrup...i can't remember what and why...i was not paying SUPER close attention...

we actually had to leave before we finished the whole process to get to our dinner reservation.
they finished it for us.
and then we go back in a month to bottle it!
we get 5 cases - 1 case for each couple.
pretty cool!

our group - bridget ended up having to stay home because 1 of her 6 kids (i KNOW!) was sick...that was very sad...

dinner was delicious.
they just kept bringing food...like 5 times!
it was yummy.
but the best part was talking to friends...about every topic under the sun.
being serious. and being silly.

leighann and i

we were in old town, alexandria and the streets were lined with trees with white lights in them as far as your eye could see. it was so so beautiful. i couldn't really take a picture to do them justice...

it was good to get out with friends and with pat.

a BIG thanks goes to pat's parents for watching our kids late into the night for us!