Grapes, cherries, and apple slices or maybe a banana make for guilt-free goodies. Keep a pocket knife in the glove box for trimming fruit. (You'll be surprised how handy that pocket knife is on an extended trip.) Except for the banana, keep the fruit chilled in cooler.

Cherry tomatoes make another great snack -- wholesome and refreshing. They don't need to be kept in the cooler.

Consider individual fruit servings from your grocer's shelves: applesauce, canned fruit, or mixed fruit.

For adults, put together a fruit salad and keep it chilled in the cooler.

Carrots and celery sticks make great snacks. Prepare them before leaving home.

The kids will be happier with a dip for their veggies or fruit. For the apple slices, mix a little honey and cinnamon into low fat cream cheese. A low fat ranch or thousand island dressing will work for the celery and carrot sticks.

As kids, we snacked on celery with that neat little trough in the center filled with peanut butter or cream cheese. We still like those snack sticks as adults. For the kids, stick raisins in the peanut butter

to make Ants on a Log.

Granola is a favorite travel snack. We much prefer the homemade variety; it's better and you can make it just as you like. We indulge ourselves with lots of dried fruit and nuts in our granola. Sure it has some calories but with all that fiber, it makes a great, lower glycemic snack.

Make your own granola with this easy recipe.

Pairing nuts and dried fruit is like eating candy that is good for you. Try pecans and pears or our favorite, cranberries paired with whole almonds.

Your kids won't go for fruit and nuts alone? Try trail mix with additional chocolate pieces. Yes, it's calorie rich but the fiber tempers those calories to make it a better snack. Pick up or make your own granola and add chocolate candies for your own trail mix.

Pick a cookie with oatmeal, fruit, or nuts for road trips. The fiber makes them filling and satisfying. Choose cookies that are tough and will stand up to the handling and jostling of travel. There are lots of great cookie recipes with fiber to choose from.

The ultimate travel cookie may well be ANZAC biscuits. Learn about and make ANZAC biscuits here.

We created these for high energy snacking on the trail, but they work just fine in the car. Take a whole grain tortilla and spread it with reduced fat cream cheese. Sprinkle the cream cheese with nuts and dried fruit (dried pineapple bits are a favorite), and then roll it up like an enchilada. These are surprisingly good, and we've tested them on a lot of Boy Scouts and have had very few turn downs.

I want to thank all of the wonderful service men and women we have in this country who have served to protect our freedoms in the past and present.

Thank you for all of your sacrifices and God Bless you and your families.

Here is a video about the guard that stands out side of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

• Don't forget the drugs. It's always a good idea to travel with some children's Tylenol (or whatever you prefer) so that you don't have to worry about tracking down a drug store in a strange neighborhood at 11 P.M. Depending on how much space you have, you might want to bring small containers of cough syrup or Claritin as well.

• And definitely don't forget the baby wipes. Even if your kid was out of diapers during the Clinton administration, baby wipes are invaluable when traveling. As one reader wrote, "You can clean hands, faces, toilet seats, almost anything with them. On a hot day you can even wipe your face & neck with them to cool down a bit."

• Other useful items. Kids get dirty, especially when they're traveling. Bring a small container of special travel detergent (the Tide from your garage won't work) so you can use your hotel sink to remove the damage from your child's meatball mishap. Ziplock bags have thousands of uses and take up hardly any space. Bring a variety of sizes if you can. Finally, a small, sturdy nightlight can help turn a scary hotel room into a cozy den.

• Do a little pre-planning. I always start with SeatGuru.com to check out the layout of my flight and try to pick good seats. Map out aisles, windows and think about where to place your family. Do you want everyone in the same row or would you really rather spread them out a little because Johnnie is always getting under Janie's skin? You can get creative here.
• Special meals. For the airlines that still serve food, most have Children's meals. They tend to include more kid friendly options and often come with toys or stickers.
• Board separately. Lots of airlines have dropped special boarding for families with small children. If that's an option for you, consider using it, especially if there is only one grown-up. But for me, I like to split up the parents to minimize the amount of time you spend on the plane. Send Sherpa Daddy onto the plane first with as much stuff as he can carry. Keep Mom or Grandpa or whoever in the boarding area until the gate agents physically force you onto the plane. This way your kids can run around and burn energy in the much roomier boarding area than in the 672 square inches they will attempt to occupy for the next four hours.

Fun Facts:

• In 2008, they served 12,750,000 blueberry muffins.
• In 2008, they served 8,891,784 cornbread muffins.
• In 2008, they served 803,516 gallons of homemade chicken noodle
soup.
• In 2008, they used 137,176 cases of Romaine lettuce.
• They prepare over 4,578,713 fresh tossed salads ANNUALLY.
• Souplantation & Sweet Tomatoes’ famous original chicken noodle soup
recipe came from founder Ron Demery’s grandmother’s family recipe
and is still made the old fashioned way!

• Special built-in, high-density foam structure helps maintain the bag’s shape while minimizing weight.
• Molded foot allows duffel to stand upright and also acts as a handle for easy lifting.
• Large main compartment, with front-load access, expands 2.5" for additional packing capacity.
• Drop-bottom compartment, with hold-down straps, is perfect for shoes or bulky gear.
• Zippered divider panel, between upper and lower compartments, can be rolled up and secured to create one large compartment.
• Divider panel between top pocket and middle pocket has a zippered mesh pocket.
• Hidden padded backpack straps are stored behind the zippered padded bottom panel.
• Recessed, telescoping aircraft aluminum handle system with locking mechanism.
• Inline skate-style wheels, in protective corner-mounted housings with a unique integrated bridge that keep the bag rolling true.
• Kick plate between the wheel housings protects the bag from abrasion.
• SURE-GRIP handles tuck down flat when not in use.
• Reflective piping for added safety. 

Teach your kids about prayer, have fun and be entered to win 30+ kids books!

Teaching your kids about prayer is important, but it can also be enlightening to get a child's perspective on something that we as adults take for granted.

Here's your mission (should you choose to accept it):

• Video your child(ren) talking about prayer, praying, explaining what prayer is, etc. It can be creative, informational, enlightening, funny, or all of the above but it needs to be no more than one minute and thirty seconds long.
   
  
• The video doesn't need to be professional quality. You can shoot it using your phone's video recorder or use that "video" feature on your digital camera for the first time!
  
  
• Post your video on YouTube, Tangle or Vimeo.
   
• Go to our website and enter your information and include the link of your video (the full list of instruction on how to enter can be found here).
   
• The winning video will win a full library of WaterBrook Multnomah children's books, including the new release This Little Prayer of Mine by Anthony DeStefano. That's over 30 books!

Teaching your kids about prayer has never been so fun! See here for contest rules and more information.

HURRY! This contest ends on 6/7/2010 so time is limited.

ENTER NOW!

• Keep my important documents secure
• Access from anywhere, anytime
• Secure sharing with other parties
• Pro-active warnings on activity/expiry
• Reduce risk: sleep better at night

"Probiotics means for life and that is not an over statement! They help protect against illness and are essential for life. Probiotics boost the immune system! Approximately eighty percent of our immune system originates in the gut and without the trillions of beneficial bacteria in our guts we could not survive!"

1. Following Vidazorb Chewable Probiotics on Facebook or @bellytweet on Twitter and leave us a comment saying that you came from TicTacDough!
2. You can get an extra entry if you retweet the following:

• The soundtrack  features a brand-new duet "Love is Your Color" by Grammy and  Academy Award® winner Jennifer Hudson, along with global superstar, multi-platinum recording artist and three-time Grammy Award nominee Leona Lewis.
  
• Soundtrack includes a new song by platinum-selling  CeeLo and International superstar Dido also contributes an exclusive new track.
  
• Grammy, Emmy, Golden Globe, Tony and Academy Award® winner Liza Minnelli covers Beyonce’s chart-topper “Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)”
  
• 12-time Grammy Award winner Alicia Keys performs her own extraordinary new version of the Blondie classic “Rapture”. 

• The soundtrack also features the stars of Sex and the City 2, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon, performing the Helen Reddy classic “I Am Woman.”