After all of the Black Friday shopping and Small Business Saturday, I know some of us are all shopped out! This year, I found some great deals on the stuff that all little girls want this year like LOL Dolls and Barbies but I really try to limit the amount of the same old toys that only bring them joy for a short period of time. Our kids love to be outside in the playhouse, finding a new adventure or playing pretend. They love to create art projects and they are practically p

Thanksgiving is tomorrow! This Fall has flown by and I am so excited to get into the kitchen with my family and put together our favorite meal. We love Thanksgiving and honestly, we don’t reserve this meal for once a year! We often make more than one turkey feast in November. Weird, right? But we love to cook and try new recipes so it’s always changing! But as much as we love to cook... Is there anything more daunting than cooking the night before Thanksgiving? With all the p

When it comes to teenagers holiday lists they either want everything or they are really difficult to shop for. Some years, Joey comes to us with a list of dozens of things. But the last few years he really hasn’t asked for much and I'll tell you one thing, I really don't like gift cards and cash as gifts! I know sometimes they are just trying to save for a larger item but cash and teenagers don't always mix. I always like to have meaningful gift ideas for grandparents and ext

I've put the skeletons back into the closet where they belong and the rest of our Halloween decorations have been put back into their storage bins, too. As I closed the door behind me I jokingly said, “its time to decorate for Christmas now!” My husband turned and gave me the same look the he has given me at this suggestion for the last 16 years. Truth is, I love Christmas and the beautiful season and if I prepare far ahead of the holiday rush, I find that I have more time to

Happy Halloween y'all! I'm not big on pumpkin spice lattes or pumpkin pie but if there's one thing I love, it's crafting and creating with our kids. We try to get a craft in each day because I've found that Penny (age 6) is actually happier and can control her emotions better when she has had a creative outlet. She's practically an exact copy of me so discovering this tidbit about her was easy for me to understand but the artsy kids are often misunderstood! Our little Eloise

There’s something about the Black Pelican Seafood Co. in Kitty Hawk that calls us through the heavy old door for our special occasions and as a meeting place for our family dinners. We’re quick to invite out of town family and friends to Black Pelican when we have Summertime visitors because it feels like a part of our family. But during the Summer we are so incredibly busy with work that even something as enjoyable as going out to dinner can feel stressful. During the Summer

It’s been a while since I shared a Spanish Immersion update. Some of you may know that our (almost 7 year old) daughter, Penny attends school in Spanish. Every time I blog about her school I get the same questions, so I’m going to clarify a few things here. Her school day is the same as a traditional 1st graders. She arrives to school and learns all of the traditional subjects, but her teachers are speaking Spanish. She started Kindergarten in this way and she absolutely love

If you’ve been following along since this time last year then you know that I am not much for New Years Resolutions. I resolve to make life changes in the Fall when I really feel like new routines are born. With the start of a fresh school year, new activities for our kids and getting back into the swing of routines after the Summer, I find it easier to create new goals and routines for myself. I still make New Years intentions but the true resolutions for me happen in the Fa

When it comes to giving back to our local community there are a few local restaurants that really lead the pack to help with fundraisers and community engagement. On the top of that list is the Outer Banks Brewing Station. When you take a look at their events calendar, you’re sure to see special events that benefit any number of community projects mixed in with their epic concert scene. This weekend you won't want to miss the Backyard Benefit at the Brewing Station. This bran

With over 20 direct messages on social media a week pertaining to seaglass, I figured it was time to work smarter and not harder! I try so hard to get to all of the direct messages with a real response and not just a generic reply but I get so excited about sharing my seaglass finding tips that I end up spending so much time replying to messages. Why? There is something so therapeutic to me about searching and finding seaglass. Sometimes it's a spiritual place for me. I st

You don’t need to be searching for signs of togetherness and community around here this week. It’s clear that the Outer Banks is tightly knit and neighbors are often more like family than anything else. For starters, I’ve seen amazing folks in Hatteras pitching in on relief efforts, running themselves ragged just to help a friend. I’ve witnessed dozens of folks helping one another with meal prep, pre-Hurricane shopping and even rides out of town. In Kitty Hawk, neighbors were

When you think of a brewery, you might not automatically think of a child friendly atmosphere. While brewery tours and innovative brewing may not interest your little ones, the wind turbine that powers the Outer Banks Brewing Station is going to fascinate them. We’re huge fans of the Outer Banks Brewing Station and time after time, we have had incredible dining experiences at the Brewing Station with our entire family. The Outer Banks Brewing Station is the first wind-powered

It’s been kind of quiet around the Outer Banks Mom blog lately. The quietness is partially because it’s “busy season” around here. As a business owner, I hit the ground running on Memorial Day and I haven’t taken a break since. Add in 3 kids who are all off of school for the summer and you’re basically looking at two full time jobs. One thing that my husband and I always promise each other at the beginning of each summer is that no matter how hectic the workload gets, we will

When you live on the Outer Banks, your home often looks like a small hotel during the summer months. Our door is constantly opening to visitors, overnight guests and week long family members who come to enjoy some time at the beach. While we love having company, it can sometimes feel a little bit daunting to cook and feed extra people during our busiest season. Earlier this month we had our sweet nephews and my sister and brother in law in town to celebrate the multiple Summe

When we started the Outer Banks Mom Approved program, the goal was to simply create a little black book of local restaurants that make dining out with children a little bit easier. The places on our list are our go-to’s when we’re taking the family out for a meal so when it came to Two Roads Tavern in Kill Devil Hills, we knew we needed to include them on the list! We love Two Roads for so many reasons! First of all, the local owners are great people with kids of their own an

Sand and saltwater are the two things that we don’t typically negotiate on. We head to the beach as soon as we have a free moment but sometimes, the weather just isn’t favorable for a beach day. Oftentimes, we use a gusty or chilly day to work on one of our many on-going home projects or we get caught up on work but we always have our mind on being outside adventuring. So, other than the beach, what is there to do on the Outer Banks? I’ve been asked this question a hundred ti

THE JUNE REPORT Check out our insider scoop on what's going on here on The Outer Banks in JUNE! You won't want to miss any of these hot NEW events, businesses and experiences! Go ahead and add them all to your OBX Bucket List! HEALTH The OBX Fitness Collective This new, innovative studio offers something for everyone. Finally an OBX gym that provides childcare while locals and vacationers break a sweat. This has been a long time need in our community. Located conveniently in

One of our family’s favorite breakfast spots is Barrier Island Bagels in the Southern Shores Marketplace. They were easily added to our Outer Banks Mom Approved list because of the way that they pay special attention to children, offer healthy and delicious options and because they are locally owned! Our kids always look forward to a special weekend trip to B.I.B! I could go on and on about their amazing bagels and smoothies. I could tell you that our kids crave the açaí bowl

My kids are probably going to look back someday and know that they were raised by a true worry-wart. I am always offering up unsolicited safety advice to my kiddos, but being at the beach requires a little extra information. I always remind them what color their beach umbrella is and make sure that I have a unique and bright beach blanket for them to run back to. But hopefully, aside from being a worrier, they will also look back someday and remember that I was always willing

I’m sure that I’m starting to sound like a broken record here, but there is a reason for that! Raising children here on this little sliver of sand is truly an amazing gift, much in part to the Children & Youth Partnership for Dare County and all that they do to educate and empower our youth. On Friday, my tiny Lulu and I headed down to Roanoke Island Festival Park for the 12th Annual KidsFest hosted by Children & Youth Partnership, or CYP. She continuously called it “Kid Part