A fancy new Waterford crystal-encrusted ball will drop in Times Square tonight, but we love this New York Times photo of the 1978 version. New Year's Eve has put us in a reflective mood, and while we're more than ready to see 2008 come to an end, we can't deny the amazing trips we've taken. From Caribbean escapes to sweet roadtrips and exploring the country from Seattle to Washington, D.C., plus trips abroad to the City of Lights and the City of Canals, it's been an incredible year of travel. We at cookiemag.com wish you and your family more travel adventures in 2009!

We're loving ShermansTravel's list of the top 29 places to visit in 2009. The list is a great place to start getting some ideas for our next family vacation. Some of the places are already Cookie favorites.

Austin, which makes the Shermans list, was one our all time greatest trips with the kids. If their suggestion of the Catskills and Hudson Valley strikes your fancy, be sure to check out our Hudson Valley road tip guide.

Other locations they suggest are Atlanta, Washington, D.C., and the incredible Curacao. We may not be quite ready to take our three boys to the United Arab Emirates, but we've always wanted to take them to Iceland (and now that it's super affordable, why not?).

Check out more of our favorite family vacation ideas!

With the holidays over, we're finally ready to begin planning our next family getaway. Like we mentioned last week when we were dreaming of a trip to the Ahwahnee in Yosemite Valley,  we love any destination where the kids can really let go.

This year we're planning a  late-February trip to one of the incredible national parks, but we can't decide which.  Luckily, Forbes Traveler has a great piece on which national parks offer winter fun without the insane crowds. We're thinking we may do something a bit off the beaten path and head to central Kentucky's  Mammoth Cave National Park.

Now that the kids are out of school for the holiday break, we're facing the age-old-problem of what to do with them. Fear not! Budget Travel came up with a great list of festive family outings.

Since we're New York-based, we've already checked out the Brox Zoo's Wild Winterland. We're flying out to San Francisco this evening for the holidays, and are definitely going to take the family skating at the Holiday Rink at the Embarcadero Center.

Budget Travel has tons of other ideas no matter where you are. Plus, check out our list of the best children's museums for more indoor fun!

Our friends over at Ciao Bambino just posted their interview with Cookie's Travel and Lifestyle and, of course, Going Places contributor, Yolanda Edwards. Check it out!

With Christmas only three days away, we're scrambling to pick-up our last-minute gifts. We've got the big gifts out of the way, but now we need those little presents and stocking-stuffers.  Fortunately, Cookie travel and lifestyle editor (and Going Places regular) shared her favorite spots for picking up knick-knacks with us (and USA Today).

We picked up an adorable push car from NYC's Sons + Daughters, but Yolanda also mentions great stores from around the country!

Check out more of our favorite stocking stuffers.

Just because you may be spending this holiday season at home doesn't mean you can't bring an international flare to your celebration. We love the idea of serving traditional Mexican tamales⿿tiny presents of sweet masa and meat wrapped in corn husks⿿or adding a festive British Christmas Cracker, filled with little toys, to a holiday table setting. Our family even bakes up a Belgium Cougnolle, a sweet yeast bread punctuated with raisins and shaped to look like a swaddled baby Jesus.

But one of our favorite holiday traditions comes from right here in New York. In the late 1800s a pig  came to symbolize luck and prosperity. Victorian candy makers began to make pig-shaped statues our of hard pink peppermint candy. When Christmas came around families would take a small hammer to the sweet treat and share it with one another in hopes of having a happy year. It's a hit with our kids (literally) each year.

Pick up your own peppermint pig and get more holiday baking ideas!

Erin Renzas | Web Editorial Assistant

Growing up in Southern California, my family never traveled for the holidays as my parents preferred to spend Christmas  sans wind, snow, and ice. Still, the holidays  never lacked international flair because my mother took the holiday season as an opportunity to remind us of our cultural heritage.

Merging Slovak and San Diego cuisine made for a unique holiday meal. Spicy Mexican tamales, filled with pork and smoky cumin, would butt up against a deep bowl of ushka, a sour soup of mushrooms and sauerkraut. But the thing I looked forward to the most were the kolac -- tender, yeasty pockets of airy bread filled with apricots, or sweetened cheese with tart shavings of lemon zest or earthy poppy seeds, rich with honey and condensed milk.

Every year I'd wait in anticipation for Christmas Eve morning when my mother would prepare the traditional sweet. She'd stand on the balls of her feet, bracing a yellow, blue-striped clay bowl with her left forearm. It was the bowl from the old country, she'd say. She'd pull the stocky wooden spoon through the stiff dough with her right hand, straining to work in three cups of flour into a mixture of warm milk and yeast and sugar. The recipe was a traditional Slovak recipe, passed down from my great grandmother, whom we call Baba.

When I look back now, two decades, five continents, and dozen destinations later, I realize that much of my love for travel and my need to understand other cultures and places stems from those of the winter mornings spent curled up at our kitchen table, watching my mother make kolac.

Get the recipe after the jump.

We loved Sheila's post at FamilyTravelLogue  on her recent family trip spent randomly in Waco, Texas, at the Dr Pepper Museum. We don't know about you, but our family loves to check out silly or odd attractions wherever we go. The kid's always seem to enjoy the absurd. Go figure.

Sheila's post got us thinking: What other bizarre museums could we visit with the kids? Perhaps one of the following will fit the bill.

Hartford, Connecticut, is home to the Trash Museum, featuring the Temple of Trash. Trash not your style? How about the SPAM Museum in Austin, Minnesota? Or head 200 miles northwest to to Marshall, home to the Red Baron Pizza Museum. Atlanta is home to the World of Coca-Cola.

Have you taken a trip to any of these museums? Leave a comment and let us know how they were!

We've been kind of obsessed with Darren Cronian's Travel Rants blog lately. We have to admit, while we try to remain positive and excited about all of our upcoming travel plans (those with and without the kids), sometimes it is nice to read this blog and lament about the things about travel that really do stink.

Darren doesn't just rant though. He also thinks up some really helpful and thoughtful travel tips. Case in point? His recent post on quick tips for a greener Christmas are great ideas for staying eco-friendly throughout this mass consumption season. We particularly enjoyed his tip on using web sites like ClimateCare.org or The Carbon Neutral Company to help off set your holiday travel-generated carbon emissions.   

Check out more of our favorite holiday ideas!