Destination: OBX

We were all over the board this year when figuring out where to go on vacation. First we were going to do a bunch of little weekend trips, then we were going to Atlanta, that changed to Disney, then to Naples, Florida. We could agree on one thing, we wanted to go to the beach and then we decided we wanted to go somewhere we had never been before.

We decided on the Outer Banks in North Carolina! We have friends and family who have vacationed there before and love it. It looks pretty enticing doesn't it?

The Outer Banks is a 200 mile-long island with beach towns up and down it. It's one of those places where you can do nothing but go to the beach or fill your day with a bunch of activities as well. 

The hardest part was finding somewhere to stay less than 60 days in advance. Most families book beach houses a year in advance and a lot of them go to the same house every year. We really lucked out though and found an awesome beach house. It is ridiculously too big but because it was last minute and it's off season, we got a great deal. We really wanted to be on the beach and have our own pool so I'm super excited that the beach is literally our backyard. 

Ethan is so excited and I know he is going to love it. He remembers the beach and the ocean from our Florida trip last year and asks about going to the beach often. I've been showing him pictures of the Outer Banks and some of the fun things that we are going to do there. According to him, he is most looking forward to playing in the sand with a shovel and seeing dolphins!

They have boat tours that take you out to see dolphins swimming and playing in the water. I know Ethan will love it since he loves dolphins and whales so much!

The Outer Banks is home to the largest sand dunes on the East coast and I think Ethan is going to have fun climbing them!

There is also an aquarium, children's museum, lots of fun downtown areas with restaurants, shopping and cool places to go shelling. You can supposedly find a lot of sea glass and shark teeth that wash up too!

Most of all, I'm just excited to get away and relax and have an adventure in a new place with my little family. I'm excited for Sofia to go to the beach for the first time and wiggle her little toes in the sand. I can't wait!

Ethan has been asking every day since we told him about our trip, "We go to the beach today?" or "We see dolphins today?" He is very excited so I made a countdown calendar so he could get a better idea of how many days were left.

"That's a lot of days Mama!"