Great post and a family activity of the highest order.
I also found that planting corn is a waste of time and resources.
I also love the idea of starting out with seeds rather than buying the established plant. The germination process is exciting to watch as the seeds sprout from the ground.
Tomatoes are one of my favorite vegetables, and growing different kinds is always a good idea. It is always a treat to go to the garden and eat a handful of those little cherry tomatoes.
The deeper the boxes are for the carrots the better the carrot.
Carrots are one of the vegetable that preserves the best. If you happen to grow an excess of vegetables , the easiest way to preserve is to blanch, vacumn pack and freeze. Here is a site that explains the blanching instructions for every fruit and vegetable you can imagine.
http://www.pickyourown.org/index.htm

There is nothing like going to the freezer in the middle of the winter and grabbing some vegetables that were grown during the summer. Preserving by blanching and freezing will keep the vegetables as fresh as the day you harvested them. We are still pulling veggies from our frig and they taste as fresh as ever.

Good luck with this year's garden.