Today I am dreaming of the Type-A Mom Conference, a blogging conference where men and women join together to learn more about the business of blogging and all that goes into it.  This will be my first conference and I am very excited to attend.  It is a smaller conference than some of the others available so I think it will be a good place to start.  I am hoping to expand this blog a bit and even more so with my Pensacola with Kids blog.  I am excited about all of the things that I will learn.  I am most looking forward to meeting some of the amazing men and women who I look up to in the blogging world. 

I am also thrilled that this conference is held in Asheville, North Carolina.  We spent a long weekend in Asheville about 6 years ago.  It was the last glorious weekend that my husband and I spent together on our very own.  About a month later we discovered that we were going to be parents!    We have fond memories of hiking Whiteside Mountain, exploring the many waterfalls, and sampling the wine at the Biltmore. 

For now, Type-A Mom will be the blogging conference I am dreaming of.  I had hoped to attend TBEX and Blogher as well, but they are off the table due to the timing and the fact that we have had a transmission blow up in a less than 3yo car, a water heater die a slow painful death, and a significant shortage in our escrow account all in the same month.  YUCK!  I am also looking into attending the The Travel Bloggers Show and The Trade Show in Orlando two weeks before Type-A Mom if it works out.  The registration is cheap (only $25!) and it is less than a day to drive to Orlando from my house. 

Are you attending a conference in the near future?  Which one?  Why did you pick it? 

This post is part of Monday Dreaming with Mara at Mother of all Trips.  Stop by to see what others are dreaming of today!

Besides writing for this blog, my Pensacola with Kids blog, and my new family craft blog, I have decided to add to my writing plate to help improve myself as a blogger and hopefully a writer so that I can get those darn book notes dusted off and get back to work.  I recently joined the Traveling Mom Blogger Network where I will be blogging as Southern TravelingMom at least once a week.  When you get a chance, I would love a visit from you over at TravelingMom.  Leave me a comment at one of my first two posts:

Take Your ASTC Membership With You When You Travel

Panama City With Your Family During Spring Break

I look forward to seeing you there!

Here are quick links to the wonderful recommendations from Trekaroo families and those of local Floridian bloggers and Orlando aficionados. They’ve been there, done that, and now they’re giving you their inside scoop by jumping on board the Trekaroo KidsMobile Blog Carnival when it stopped in Orlando.

• Top Activities for Kids in Orlando, Florida – voted by Trekaroo parents
• Top Kid-friendly Hotels in Orlando, Florida – voted by Trekaroo parents
• 5 Tot-friendly Restaurants Favorites at Disney by Two Kids and A Map.
• Disney Hotels for Tweens and Teens by Travel with Teens
• Top 5 “Must Do” Walt Disney World Attractions with Teens by Disney Everyday.
• Free and Low-Cost Activities in Orlando for Preschoolers by modernmami
•  Water Parks in Florida – Cheerio Family
• More Disney, Less Waiting – A review of RideMax – Li Er Hanson

Other Resources for Walt Disney World and Orlando, Florida

• All 71 Activities for Kids in and around Orlando, Florida
• Kid-friendly hotels in and around Orlando, Florida

Next stop, Memphis, Tennessee – Jump on board the KidsMobile!

The Trekaroo KidsMobile is a blog carnival with a twist. It’s designed to provide a unique opportunity for mom and dad bloggers to be featured on Trekaroo while 1) expressing their unique point of view 2) getting a web of link exchanges. Join us for one of our next stopovers.

“The aim of this game is to unite travel bloggers in a joint endeavor – to create an amazing list of top travel recommendations across the globe to share with the entire online travel community.”

 How fun!  I have had so much fun reading everyone’s best kept travel secrets so far only, when I got tagged, I couldn’t think of anything to write about.  Then, the holidays came and left and I still was not coming up with any brilliant ideas.  I decided to talk about something I love:  the Florida’s Panhandle.

When you think of taking the kids to Florida, the first city that usually pops into your head is Orlando for Disney and all other wonderful things Mouse.  However, just a mere 5 or 6 hours north and to the west you will find a treasure trove of amazing spots to take the family!

1.  St. George Island, Florida - St. George is a 22 mile barrier island with beaches as white and pristine as you imagine the Gulf Coast to be.  Ride into Apalachicola for some of the most amazing seafood, namely oysters, that you have ever had.  Even though it gets chilly in the fall and winter, St. George Island is a fantastic place to take the kids year round.  Let them run up and down the beach and hike through the miles of wetlands and forests that surround the area.

2.  Marianna and Chipley, Florida – Even people from this area will laugh when they read this.  Why do you have Chipley and Marianna on this list?  What is there?!?!  Many people don’t realize that off of I-10 are two real gems.  These two cities (about 25 minutes from each other) are homes to our two favorite NWFL state parks:  Florida State Caverns and Falling Waters State Park.  Grab your tent and air mattress and take the kids camping.  They will love wandering through the nature trails and cooking dinner under the stars.  Spend time in Marianna exploring the small caverns and then head to Falling Waters to camp (camping at Marianna will be closed through April for renovations) and to see Florida’s tallest waterfall (usually a just a trickle!) and some of the coolest sinkholes around.  My kids were fascinated with the fact that the ground just disappeared!  Make sure you grab the Florida Passport and get it stamped while you are there.

3.  Panama City, Florida - Not Panama City Beach, just Panama City.  We have been traveling to Panama City every 6-8 weeks to visit family for ten years.  The beach is fine but if you are coming to the Gulf Coast for the beach, there are other beaches that we love.  To be honest, I went to the beach for Spring Break when I was in college (so cliched, I know!) and maybe one time after I got married?!  In Panama City, stop by the Bay County Junior Museum to learn more about the area.  Take a walk through St. Andrew’s and while you are there watch the sunset and look for horseshoe crabs.  Stop by Cahall’s for some of the best chicken salad I have ever had.  Ever. 

Thanks so much Tripbase for allowing me to participate and share three things I love about the Florida Panhandle!

To continue this fabulous TripBase Blog Tag, I would like to tag Amy at Atlanta With Kid, Dim Sum, Bagels, and Crawfish, and Victoria at It’s a Small World after All. 

And if it isn’t against the rules, I am going to write about my three best kept travel secrets about Pensacola over at my Pensacola with Kids blog! 

Thanks for letting me participate!  I look forward to reading many more travel secrets!

Trekaroo’s growing community of families from all across the country have pitched in with their votes for the most kid-friendly stops in Washington D.C. Here’s the line up for 2009!

Best Kid-friendly Hotels in Washington, D.C. – voted by parents

Best Activities for Kids in Washington, D.C. – voted by parents

Some of DC’s top blogging moms and dads have jumped on board the KidsMobile, playing the role of local tour guide.  They are taking us into their fold by sharing with us their inside scoop about what’s fun for kids in their hometown.

Jennifer, a mom who loves the outdoors shares a fabulous list of The Best Kid-friendly Hiking Trails in DC.  Jennifer’s passion as an environmental educator led her to start Hiking Along – a super cool educational program where she leads groups of children, preschool to high school, on hikes and allows them to participate in hands-on science activities to learn about their natural surroundings. She also keeps a blog about hiking with kids.

Dave, better known as SuburbanDaddy, knows that cold weather is just around the corner and any parent of a young child will be eager for his list of The Best Indoor Places for Toddlers Around Washington DC.  He is the creator of Kidburst, an activities guide written by local parents about the Washington DC area with in-depth coverage of kids activities from summer camps to sporting facilities and classes.

Jennifers, tell us about 8 Things (Under $5) to Do in Washington DC with Toddlers. She is an adventurous mom of a 2 and 4 year old who has not allowed having kids to slow her down.  Although she’s based in Florida, Washington DC is one of her favorite vacation spots. She writes in depth about their family’s exciting adventures on Two Kids and A Map

Sujatha is mom to a 9 year old (boy) and 3 year old (girl) and brings us Fun Washington, D.C. Activities that get Kids Fired Up.  This list has some great ideas of places beyond the usual tour of Capitol Hill that will really get kids to perk up.  She writes candidly and casually about their travels as a family and about her adventures in parenting on her blog:  Blogpourri

Amy is a mom who sees everything as a teaching moment and traveling is no exception.  As a local DC mom, she’s got some her favorite Day Trips with Kids From Washington DC.  As a literacy consultant and former high school teacher her blog – teachmama – is full of wonderful ideas about how to weave education into holiday traditions, travel, games and more.

Jill, brings us her list of Must See Attractions in DC with Preteens and Teens.  She is the mom behind her prolific blog Musings From Me that covers a wide range of topics including parenting, travel and reviews of cool products.  Jill has been on the go all her life, living in England, Italy, and America but currently calls Maryland home.

Ms Twixt, brings us a list of What to do with Tweens in Washington D.C. As a mom to 3 tweens girls and a toddler boy, she is an expert on everything Tween.  Her Blog Twixt and Between provides helpful insights on topics that are current for tween girls and their parents. She even has a store in Georgetown Park with adorable age-appropriate clothing, shoes, gifts and accessories for Tween Girls.

Other Resources for Washington DC:

• All 100 Activities for kids in the Washington DC Metro Area
• Kid-friendly hotels in and around Washington DC

Next stop, Sunny  San Diego, CA

The Trekaroo KidsMobile is a blog carnival with a twist.  It’s designed to provide a unique opportunity for mom and dad bloggers to be featured on Trekaroo while

1) expressing their unique point of view

2) getting a web of link exchanges.

Join us for one of our next stopovers.

After we saw the goats, we got our first job as farmhands.  While Ida came through the area, the pecan trees were stripped of many of their pecans.  We got to help pick up as many as we could find (and we even got to take a few home!).

 Then we went to visit the turkeys.  When we got to the turkey pen, we went inside and got into a big circle and sat as quiet as we could.  Those turkeys sure are curious fellows!  Once we settled down and got quiet, they came right up to us.  The kids loved it when they made the gobble-gobble sound all together all at once!

Next, we went to check out how the chickens live.  We also got a job here!  We helped move the chicken coops to another area on the field.  These little guys are too young to run free right now, but soon they will have free reign of the area!  These are the chickens raised for meat.

I think this little guy might lay a scrambled egg!

After a little hayride, the kids got to collect eggs and paint the chicken coop! 

She said she painted me a whale!  I think she did a great job!  What do you think?

These are the chickens raised for eggs.

And of course, I am always looking for a great photo opportunity!

Are you interested in visiting a farm?  I found a few of these resources on the web to help you locate a farm near you or an area you are visiting!

Farm Visit - Plug in your county and find farms for specific fruits, veggies, and more.

Local Harvest - Search by farm, grocery or co-op or more

Open Farm Sunday – A day in June when you can visit and support your local farmers

Stop by DeliciousBaby to visit other Photo Friday participants!  Thanks for hosting Debbie!

 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!!!