Archive | October, 2009
Not that kind of photo session, folks! This is a family website! We went to Washington DC this weekend to visit family. My dad and stepmom were in town from Germany for work so we flew up to see them for a long weekend. My sister and her family just recently moved to Virginia Beach so they drove the three hours up to visit as well. The four cousins hadn’t seen each other since June and it has been much longer since the grandparents had seen all four cousins together. Before the visit, we had planned to do a photo session to update our very out of date pictures of everyone together. We had planned on doing the photo session somewhere on the grounds of the Homestead Farm, but unfortunately Mother Nature had other ideas. We didn’t want to wait to take the pictures because we would run out of days and soon it would be time to go back home. We thought about the hotel lobby, a covered area in a park, and many other options. We settled on taking the pictures in the hotel room and we are so glad that we did. A picture of my family sitting on the hotel bed will hang in my living room and will not only remind me of this particular trip but will also be symbolic of the many trips we have taken as a family and the many more hotel rooms we will be staying in!
Beautiful hotel rooms are perfect for impromptu pictures! This particular hotel room has a beautiful head board and a big fluffy white down comforter that made for a gorgeous background. The lighting was soft and the windows were plentiful.
My dad, stepmom and the four grandkid cousins:
My sister and her husband (they are still newlyweds!):
My sister and her family:
Me and my sister:
A few things we learned during our photo session:
- Snap the “everybody look at me and smile” picture first. Then let the kids goof off!
- Utilize the natural lighting coming into the hotel room through the windows. Place your subjects near the windows.
- If the sun isn’t shining, most hotels have soft lighting. Turn on the bedside or table lamp.
- Don’t worry about rearranging furniture to suit your purposes. Just be sure to put it back in its proper place.
- Take a look at your background. Make sure that you are not going to have to edit out cords, lamps, luggage or half a picture that was hanging on the wall. Some editing is good, especially if you know what you are doing. We took a few pictures that were beautiful but we just couldn’t edit some of the stuff out of the shots so they are not fireplace mantle worthy.
- Some of the best pictures we got were when the kids were having fun just being kids!
Be sure to stop by DeliciousBaby to check out other great travel photos at Photo Friday.
I know that most people have posted their pumpkin, apple and various other fall-esque pictures weeks ago. I have not because I live in Florida where fall is a mythical creature to us. It is hot, hot, hot and then it gets biting cold. Then it gets hot and humid again. Halloween is a crap shoot–it is either super hot or freezing cold. Never in between! This is what we were doing two days ago:
I was so excited when I saw that the You Capture theme was Autumn because have I got some serious Autumn pictures for you this year! This weekend we had the opportunity to fly to Washington DC to see my dad and stepmom who were in town from Garmisch, Germany. My sister and her family, who moved to Virginia Beach this summer, were able to drive up for the weekend as well. While we were there, all I wanted to do was see a real live pumpkin patch and apple orchard! Well, we found the most beautiful farm set in some of the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen!
Homestead Farm is in Poolesville, Maryland. The drive to the farm is unbelievable-beautiful trees in brilliant reds, yellows, and oranges; homes that look like castles; and windy roads that take you quickly away from the city and into quaint little towns. We knew we were chancing it when we decided to go to the farm because the weather man was predicting 80% chance of rain and rain it did. That did not stop our fun though!
In the pouring rain, we took the hayride down to the pumpkin patch where we picked out a pumpkin for my sister and her family to take home with them.
My two Florida grown children could not believe the number of pumpkins “just laying on the ground” and they thought it was hilarious!
We had the most amazingly beautiful and delicious caramel apple, but unfortunately no one thought to snap a picture before we scarfed them down! The farm has animals scattered throughout for you to say hi to.
There are also some great photo opps.
This is a working farm and they are open about half the year for you pick your own fruits and veggies. Cherries, strawberries, blackberries, peaches and nectarines as well as apples, pumpkins and Christmas trees. Everybody at the farm was very friendly despite the rain and the fact that the day we were there their electricity was out too! There were a lot of people at the farm, but it didn’t seem overly crowded or touristy. If we lived nearby, we would surely make it out to the farm with the changes of each available fruit or vegetable. Homestead Farm also has a little store where they sell fruits, vegetables, jams and breads just in case you don’t want to do the work yourself.
Head over to I Should Be Folding Laundry to see other Autumn pictures.
Trying to keep Little S entertained on the plane!
When choosing our seats for our flight on the Delta MD-88 to Washington DC this past weekend, we just wanted to make sure that my family of four was sitting next to each other. Sitting next to each other eliminates the “I want to sit with daddy not mommy” or vice versa. We usually try to put the four of us in the same row, one right after the other, or two in front of two depending on the type of plane and number of seats in the rows. For this flight, we were sitting four in the same row.
Or so we thought.
When you look at SeatGuru.com, the rows look like they line up with each other. Row 28 A, B, and C are on the right and row 28 D and E are next to it on the left. My daughter and I sat in row 28 B and C and my husband and son were in 28 D and E. Unfortunately the seats are not next to each other! The picture at SeatExpert.com is a more accurate picture of what the plane seating looks like. It looks like there is more room in row 26 D and E, which is an exit row. This throws the seating off in rows 26 through 30. The entire plane trip was spent trying to keep my daughter from driving everyone nuts because she kept looking for daddy, who was sitting in the same row number as us but was in fact a row behind us!
If you are going to be flying in a Delta MD-88 with your family, I recommend sitting in the rows closer to First Class so that you can all be in the same row!
Thanks to all who participated in the My Busy Kit giveaway. This was my first giveaway and I appreciate the participation! The winner, selected randomly via random number generator, was Suzanne S. (comment #3) who said:
“I would love a girls my busy kit! We just moved to the area and will be traveling back to Ga for the holidays! this would help my 2 girls stay entertained in the car without ust sitting and watchi movie after movie!!!”
Well, Suzanne, you are in luck! It will definitely keep your kids entertained in the car. We took our busy kits with us to Washington DC this past weekend and my little ones, who love the TV, made it the entire four hour plane ride without cracking open the portable DVD players!
Suzanne-Email me asap and I will forward your contact information to Lorraine over at My Busy Kit so she can get your kit out to you!
Thanks again to Lorraine at My Busy Kit. Be sure to check out My Busy Kit before you take your next trip!
In 2005, we traveled with my 10mo son to Europe. We had a whirlwind vacation and got to do so many different things. You can read the other posts here: Berlin in Photos, The London Eye, Trier, Germany; Kelty Convertible Backpack; American Cemetery and Memorial; Amsterdam, Netherlands; Zermatt, Switzerland and the Matterhorn, Brussels, Belgium, and Stuck in Bed.
We took a long leisurely drive down the Rhine River with our family. My dad and stepmom told us to pack a bag just in case we went further than we had originally planned and decided to stay the night. Little did we know what was in store!
We drove up and down the Rhine spotting and visiting many of the castles. When we reached the Schonberg Castle Hotel, we stopped for hot chocolate and to give my son a break from the car. We had our hot chocolate and suddenly one of the employees appeared with several keys. He told my stepmom that the rooms were available to view. My husband and I thought that she just wanted to take a look at the rooms. We walked up to a beautiful room, the Tower Room, and when we got inside the employee handed us the keys and told us to enjoy our stay!!
Imagine our surprise! My dad and stepmom whisked our son away and told us that they would be back in the morning and to enjoy our time. We had a wonderful time in the hotel. The many course meal was amazing and the room was absolutely beautiful.
This is the Schonberg. See that balcony? That is our room:
And this was the beautiful view from our room:
Be sure to stop by DeliciousBaby to see the other great travel photos!
We are celebrating the one year anniversary of Two Kids and a Map today and what better way to do it than to give something away to the readers!!! I have partnered up with Lorraine from My Busy Kit® to give away one busy kit of the winner’s choice! The kits are fantastic. They are designed with the child in mind and are full of great activities to take on the go with you. Usually when I prepare for a trip, I let my kids pack a little backpack full of their favorite toys. The backpacks include their favorite toys, but it also includes some new stuff I slip in. Sometimes they include nothing but hot wheels for my son and ponies for my daughter. On a three week tour around Europe, this can get old very quickly! Imagine my kids delight when I pulled the My Busy Kit® out of my bag! It captures their attention for a long time. Not only was it all new stuff to them, but I didn’t have to put any of it together myself. When we are at home, the My Busy Kits go into the closet so they are exciting and new on the next trip! We received two My Busy Kits® awhile back as a thank you. My daughter has the My Busy Kit for girls:
and my son has the My Busy Kit for Boys:
Little S loves the pony, scissors and sticky tape. Big S loves the knights and the measuring tape. Since we have taken the My Busy Kits on several trips, I have started to add my own little extras to the bags. We have almost exhausted the bags themselves and it is almost time to order new ones!
There are several My Busy Kit® options to meet the needs of any of your children: My Busy Kit for Girls, My Busy Kit for Boys, My Airport Busy Kit, My Busy Kit for Toddlers, and they even have an iPhone App, My Little Suitcase! My Busy Kits range from 15-25 dollars.
Soooooooooo…do you like what you see? Would you like a My Busy Kit of your very own?
How to Enter
We will be giving away ONE My Busy Kit to ONE lucky winner! If you would like a chance to win, leave a comment in this post before 9:59pm CST on Tuesday, October 27, 2009 and tell me which My Busy Kit you would like to win and why! Stop by the website if you need to! Don’t worry about being creative in your comment, the winner will be chosen by a random number generator. Please make sure that you fill out the required fields by putting your first name in the name field and your email address in the email address field. I do not share email addresses and you will not receive emails from Two Kids and a Map unless you win.
For one additional entry to increase your odds of winning, 
subscribe to Two Kids and a Map in a reader or receive the website updates via email by clicking this link and subscribing. Subscriptions are free and you will receive website updates via your email or you can read the posts in your reader (I prefer Google Reader!). If you subscribe to the website, be sure to come back here and leave an additional comment in this post stating that you are a subscriber.
Winners
We will choose ONE winner randomly and announce the results here on Two Kids and a Map on Wednesday, October 28, 2009. Thank you so much to the Lorraine at My Busy Kit for your generous donation! Be sure to stop by Lorraine’s blog, Keeps Me Smiling!
Rules
One comment per person per giveaway post. You may post one additional comment stating that you are a subscriber if you have subscribed to the site. Duplicate comments and anonymous comments will be discarded. Please make sure that the email address in your comment form is valid so that we can contact you (email addresses are never made public). Winners must claim their prize within three business days after the date of notification of such prize. We will disqualify any entries that we believe are generated by scripts and other automated technology. No substitutions including for cash are permitted, except that Two Kids and a Map reserves the right to substitute a prize of equal or greater monetary value for any prize. Winners shall be responsible and liable for all federal, state and local taxes on the value of their prize. Relatives of Two Kids and a Map are not eligible to win.
Because this is a family site and we get a lot of spam comments, all comments on this site are moderated. If your comment doesn’t show up right away, don’t worry!
Today marks the one year “blog-iversary” for Two Kids and a Map. We are celebrating big time by giving away a My Busy Kit to ONE lucky winner! Be sure to check back later today to find out how to enter!
When I started this blog I had never intended for it to become what it has! I was writing to keep family updated with our three week Christmas holiday Europe adventure. I enjoyed writing the blog and decided to keep it up. This is my travel journal. I used to scrapbook our family travels in a fancy book with pen and paper. Now, I write about them and post pictures here. Over the past year I have learned a lot about blogging and have met some amazing people, both online and in person. I still have a long way to go, but I am enjoying the journey!
A few fun facts about Two Kids and a Map:
- Posts Written: 171
- Comments from you: 593
- Funniest Keyword Searched: canned squeezy cheese in FL
- I often wonder what I will do if my husband and I choose to have another child – Three Kids and a Map? Change the domain name? Keep it and just change the header? I don’t know why I worry about these things!
Things on this site that I am proud of:
- Finally figuring out how to link my feed to feedburner and actually getting subscribers.
- Travel Blogger Tuesday and staying fairly consistent with posting
- Joining Twitter and finding a happy medium between my tweets and living life!
- Launching Pensacola with Kids - After Pensacola posts kept popping up on Two Kids and a Map, I created Pensacola with Kids (a site to help you explore Pensacola with your family)
My goals for the future:
- To continue to explore new places and write about them here
- To be better at commenting back to you when you comment to me – I love reading comments back to me so I know you all probably do too!
- Get the blog makeover that I have been waiting for (I had hoped it would be done in time for the one year anniversary but unfortunately I am still in some queue out in cyberspace!)
- Finally create a blog roll of all the amazing sites I love now that I am on WordPress
Travels on the Agenda for the Next 12 Months (most trips are planned, some are just wishes and dreams we hope to come true!):
- Jacksonville, Florida (to visit friends)
- Panama City Beach, Florida (to visit family)
- Atlanta, Georgia (to get away for a weekend)
- Orlando, Florida (to visit Mickey!)
- Washington DC (to visit family)
- Norfolk, Virginia (to visit family)
- Asheville, North Carolina (for a wedding)
- Oahu (for our 10 year anniversary)
- New York City (for blogging conference and to visit the one spot I have always wanted to go but have yet to make it to!)
- Europe (Germany and Italy are on the agenda for this summertime trip)
Keep an eye out because later today we will post how to enter to win a My Busy Kit!!!
On our massive Virginia road trip, I drove the kids up to Hershey, Pennsylvania to meet up with an old friend. We visited Chocolate World (I have coined the trip Chocolate Disaster…that is for another post, another day!) and on the way home, we stopped for a potty break at Boyd’s Bear Country in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. When we stop for bathroom breaks, we try to avoid gas stations. With small children, there is no easy way to keep your little ones from touching all sorts of nasty things in the bathroom. By stopping at touristy places such as Boyd’s Bear Country, usually we can find a clean enough restroom that doesn’t make me cringe when I open the door.
After racing the little ones to the restroom (which was incredibly clean!), we wandered around a little bit. I chose to stop here because the potty break timed well as we were driving past. I wish that we had been able to spend a little bit more time here because the kids had a blast. Everywhere you turn there was a Boyd’s Bear, mouse, moose, etc.
There is a restaurant where you can get a country buffet meal. There were some great spots for the kids to wander as well. The kid’s activities include an Adopt-a-Bear program and a place where you can actually make your own Boyd’s Bear. Oh yeah…the fudge is divine!
Stop by Debbie’s at DeliciousBaby to check out other Photo Friday submissions!
See that beautiful beach??? That is Destin Beach, Florida and that is where I am headed this weekend.
See that beautiful little girl??? That is my daughter, and she is staying home.
This weekend is my Annual Girls’ Weekend and I am so very excited about the prospect of seeing a movie without worrying about what time I get home, going shopping without chasing two little ones in and out of the clothing racks, sleeping in, reading a book on the beach while I listen to the waves crash, eating fancy dinners and sampling new drinks at the wine bar.
Will I miss my family? Of course.
Do I feel guilty? Definitely not!
See what everyone else is dreaming about over at Mother of All Trips.
Yesterday, Little S and I drove around Downtown Pensacola on a little scavenger hunt to find red things. Here are some other pictures of our beautiful downtown!
The fountain in Seville Square
The birds that collect in Plaza de Luna (kinda freaky huh?)
The following photos were taken in the Historic Village in Downtown Pensacola
The following pictures were taken behind Joe Patti’s seafood
Love the boots and gloves sitting out in the boat
Be sure to check out all the other great Photo Friday travel photos at DeliciousBaby!
If you want to read more about my amazing little city, check out some of the following posts I have written in the past:
