Super Healthy Kids - 2010 Olympian JR Celski

by: Elizabeth Sedway, Famplosion.com

Happy, healthy families that enjoy time together is our passion at Famplosion.com. At Super Heathy Kids, Amy writes about healthy family eating. A Utah mother of three children herself, Amy recently interviewed Los Angeles-based short track skater 2010 Olympian JR Celski about how he prepared his body for olympic competition. Through interview questions prepared by Amy's children, readers learn about JR's training schedule and the importance he places upon healthy eating.

JR, which is short for John Robert, recently earned an Olympic bronze metal in the 1500 meter short track skate. His official website chronicles how his entire family dedicated themselves to JR's skating throughout his lifetime. In fact, his family referred to JR's skating as 'The Family Project.' Congratulations to JR and his wonderful family.

For Super Healthy Kids tips, visit Amy's blog daily for new ideas on getting your kids to eat fruits and vegetables, more whole grains, more protein, or just getting active as a family.

For specific active and healthy events in your neighborhood, check Famplosion.com daily.

The Brees Family and Big Daddy Paul

by: Elizabeth Sedway, Famplosion.com

By now, most everyone has witnessed the joy of New Orleans Saints Quarterback, Drew Brees, as he enjoyed his superbowl victory with his wife and baby boy. The tears on his face, touched the more than one hundred million people that witnessed their moment together.

It is these momoments in life that Famplosion is all about. The joy of sharing good times together is something all families can do; Famplosion gives you thousands of events to choose from right in your neighborhood.

Visit Famplosion when you're looking for an event to enjoy that day. A quick search by age, price range and location, will provide you with a list of fun activities to choose from. You'll even find a map that will help you find the activity. Search. Choose and off you go to enjoy family time together.

Our weekly newsletter, delivered directly to you email box, is completely customizable by you. Choose venues your family especially enjoys and we'll let you know about new events that come up there. Your newsletter will also offer spotlighted events for activities or venues you may never have heard of, allowing your family to explore just outside your own front door.

Dad Blogger, Big Daddy Paul, of Oakland, California provides an entertaining description of the Superbowl Sunday before, and then with, kids. Paul provides a dad's take on the change when he points out:

'Seeing [his son] Malcolm actually watching the game, though, was pretty cool. Answering his questions about what was going on made the game fun in a brand new way. I guess I’m actually glad we had kids there and I was able to share some experiences with Malcolm.'

To find fun family activities in Oakland, or in your own neighborhood, visit Famplosion.com. Don't forget to add events to Famplosion! It's free and other families will be glad you did.

Southwest Airlines Mommy Blogger - Flying with Baby

by: Elizabeth Sedway, Famplosion.com

Who knew...even Southwest Airlines has their own mommy blogger. Jessica Turner is the resident Mommy Blogger for the airlines. Her guest blog posts and video blogs focus on traveling with her baby, tips she discovers and family-friendly activities to experience around the country. When she isn't traveling, she enjoys spending time with her family, working, blogging and scrapbooking. She and her husband, Matthew, live in Nashville, Tenn., with their 10-month-old peanut, Elias, who is currently into everything!

Among Jessica's posts is, 'How Not to Go Nuts When Flying with a Peanut'. 'Peanut' is Jessica's Southwest-friendly term for kids. Get it? In this article, and the accompanying video below, Jessica outlines truly helpful hints for parents flying with babies. Every parent has struggled with this process; most of us learned how to do it 'the hard way'. Thanks to Jessica, moms today don't need to muddle their way through.

Famplosion offers thousands of current family activities for families. Many of the cities serviced by Southwest are included among the cities covered by Famplosion. Here are some examples: Austin, TX, Chicago, IL, Columbus, OH, Dallas, TX, Detroit, MI, Houston, TX, Indianapolis, IN, Jacksonville, FL, Los Angeles, CA, Nashville, TN, New York City, NY, Oakland, CA, Philadelphia, PA, Phoenix, AZ, Sacramento, CA, Salt Lake City, UT, San Antonio, TX, San Diego, CA, San Francisco, CA, San Jose, CA, Seattle, WA, Reno/Tahoe.

GladDads Blogger - "Being Involved'

by: Elizabeth Sedway, Famplosion.com

At Famplosion.com, our passion is to make it easy for families to find fun, diverse and economical things to do together. Today Famplosion found a truly inspirational blog, 'GladDads'. This dad-oriented parenting blog is the brain-child of Danny Grubb, proud Seattle dad to twin girls. As we read through his blog, the following quote from his article, '5 Things Parents Must Get Right' touched us:

Being Involved: This concept is the easiest to understand and the hardest to implement. These days every household is a two income household with both parents working. It can be very difficult to feel like you are involved in your children’s lives. The term “quality time” was invented for just this reason. When you are home and with your children, make sure you are awake and engaged. If this requires another cup of coffee on the way home then so be it. Spending time with your children is rewarding to all of you, so if you completely ignore everything else I’ve written in this post, please heed this point.

We're listening, and we whole-heartedly agree. In honor of GladDads, Danny Grubb and his girls here are a few delightful activities, listed on Famplosion in Seattle, for parents to do with their kids in Seattle:

• Zoomazium: An indoor play space at the Woodland Park Zoo


• Free Friday Afternoons at KidsQuest Children's Museum


• Winter Wonderland at Camp Long

These and hundreds of other family activities throughout the United States await you at Famplosion.com.

Treasure Blogger - Sac Treasure Hunt

by: Elizabeth Sedway, Famplosion.com

In Sacramento, a fun group of marketers have found a new and super-interactive way to blog and engage families in a treasure hunt. January was the launch of the first Sac Treasure Hunt. March will mark the beginning of the second treasure hunt. Here's how the treasure hunt works:

1. Beginning on March 15, 2010 Sac Treasure Hunt will release daily treasure hunt clues, via their Twitter page.



2. As the treasure hunt progresses, updates will be posted on the groups blog.



3. There are two ways you can win and receive prizes: being one of the first 100 people to find the secret location of the treasure chest and or by retweeting the clues on a daily basis.



4. The Grand Prize Winner (the one who's key opens the treasure chest!) will receive the prizes. (See video below to see the January prizes.)



5. Retweeting the daily clues: Every night at 9 PM, Monday thru Friday of the STH week, someone will be randomly selected who has retweeted the daily morning clue that same day. Only 1 retweet is necessary to be eligible for the daily prize (note: numerous retweets will not help your chances of winning and may offend your followers!) Daily prizes for retweeting will be announced each day.

Happy Hunting

Discovering Mom Bloggers-Debbie Abrams Kaplan

by: Elizabeth Sedway, Famplosion.com

You've no doubt noticed the influx of blogs written by parents over the past few years. Famplosion feels a natural affinity for parents who write about family activities. For this reason, we will be highlighting truly unique parent bloggers here.

The first blogger we'd like to introduce you to is Debbie Abrams Kaplan. A mother of two children herself, Debbie describes her work:

I'm a journalist specializing in family travel. I write for Shape, Family Fun, AAA Traveler, the Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, San Jose Mercury News and others.

In addition to the above writing, Debbie hosts her own blog, 'Frisco Kids', a current fun and entertaining look at activities for kids and their families in the San Francisco Bay Area. Among the fun activities for kids Debbie mentions are Valentines Craft at Michael's.

Also in the San Francisco Bay Area, and featured on Famplosion, are a few Valentine activities for families to enjoy.

Love is in the air at the Habitot Childrens' Museum! Between February 6 and 14, the museum invites families to bring art supplies to make Valentines and receive a free adult admission during Habitot’s Week of Valentines. Young children can make heart-themed art for their loved ones at different interactive stations. Come during regular hours (Monday-Thursday 9:30-12:30; Friday-Sunday 9:30-4:30) to share the love. Free adult admission with art supply donation; otherwise, regular admission rates apply ($8.50 per person).

Snow Tubing at Heavenly Mountain Resort, Lake Tahoe

by: Elizabeth Sedway, Famplosion.com

The tubing venue at Heavenly Mountain Resort is not your ordinary sledding hill. More suited to thrill-seekers than little ones, this hill is akin to a five lane luge run; it's fast. Each of the five lanes is approximately 500 feet long. One lane is set aside for those preferring a more gentle ride. Tubing guests are delivered to the top of the hill by the deluxe covered magic carpet.

The ''high end' nature of this tubing venue explains the $30 price tag to ride for one hour. Add to the sledding hill price the price of the gondola ride. You can't reach the Adventure Peak, where the tubing venue is located, without taking the gondola first. The gondola ride is nothing short of spectacular. The views of the Lake Tahoe area unprecedented.

Here are some tips to make your sledding adventure at Heavenly Mountain Resort's Adventure Peak the best it can be:

1. Dress warmly.



2. While helmets are not required for tubing, you might choose to put a helmet on children. You can't rent a helmet at Adventure Peak, but you can rent them at most any sporting goods store at the base of the gondola.



3. Buy your gondola tickets at the base of the gondola. You'll buy your tubing hill tickets at Adventure peak.



4. On your way up the mountain on the gondola, make sure to jump off the gondala at the first stop: Malcolms deck. Don't save this stop for the way down, it can only be accessed going up. There you'll be able to grab a coffee and really take in the amazing views. At Gondola Sports, you can find fun Heavenly gifts and accessories. Reboard the gondola to get to Adventure Peak.



5. At the bottom and at the top of the gondola you can rent a locker for anything you don't want to wear on the sledding hill.



6. Arrive early in the day to make sure you get the chance to go tubing. If you arrive later in the day, the tubing venue may have sold out for the day. Before purchasing your gondola tickets, ask the folks selling the gondola tickets if the tubing venue is still available for the day. Hopefully, they'll be able to let you know if the tubing venue is sold out before you get on the gondola. The tubing venue is open from 11:30a to 4p on weekdays and from 11a to 4p on weekends. The gondola operates from 9a to 4p on weekday and 8:30a to 4p on weekends.



7. Use caution at the end of the tubing run. Listen to the Heavenly employee's there to help you cross the other tubing lanes.



8. Make sure you have the ribs at the Smokehouse Grill. Honestly, you just can't pass them up.