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.

Christmas Carol Sing-Along in Salt Lake City

by: Elizabeth Sedway, Famplosion.com

On December 21st, at The Energy Solutions Arena, families are invited to the 25th Annual Larry H. Miller Christmas Carol Sing-Along.  This event, quickly becoming a Salt Lake City tradition, is free and open to the public.  This event, sponsored entirely by the Larry H. Miller Family and composer/conductor Robert C. Bowden, will feature a 30 piece orchestra with music specially arranged for the concert.

'Christmas is a very special time for family and friends to be together and enjoy the holiday spirit. This event was one of the highlights of the Holiday Season for Larry each year and his dream was to fill the EnergySolutions Arena so that everyone could participate. We are excited to be able to continue this tradition in his name and look forward to sharing it with the community,' said Gail Miller.

Admission is free of charge and the public is welcome. No tickets are necessary and seating is general admission. Audience members are encouraged to sing, and printed programs with song lyrics will be provided. Doors will open at 6 p.m.


Each guest who attends the event will receive a free hot dog and Coca-Cola soft drink, a free Utah Jazz game ticket, a complimentary ticket to a 2010 Salt Lake Bees game, free popcorn at any Megaplex Theatre and a buy one, get one free coupon for super go-karts at Miller Motorsports Park.
 
This event, along with many other Christmas and holiday events are available to families this season.  Happy Holidays and all the best in the coming new year from our family to yours.

Utah Ski Resorts - Snow Reports

by: Elizabeth Sedway, Famplosion.com
The Utah ski season is officially underway.  Resorts are opening and celebrating all their fresh powder.  Famplosion makes it easy to check the snow conditions at all resorts, all in one place.  Skiers and boarders can also keep up with the latest Utah ski resort events and activities by checking these continously updated links:

• Solitude Mountain Resort, Salt Lake City
• Snowbird Ski & Summer Resort, Sandy
• The Canyons Resort, Park City
• Park City Mountain Resort, Park City
• Deer Valley Resort, Park City
• Brighton Ski Resort, Brighton
• Alta Ski Resort, Alta

Check back with Famplosion, throughout the Winter season for snow reports and all the best Winter family fun in Utah.

 

To add your own activity or event to Famplosion.com, click here.

Best Ghost Tours in America

by: Elizabeth Sedway, Famplosion.com

Do you believe in ghosts? Even those that don't, admit to loving a good ghost story. Here at Famplosion.com, we've searched behind countless creaky doors to find the 'Best Ghost Tours in America'. Featured here, are just a few of the chilling ghost tours listed on Famplosion. To see a list of ghost tours by city, click on the city names in this article.

In Nashville, there are a number of ghost tours to enjoy with your family. Nashville Ghost Tours, an event suitable for all ages, is a comfortably paced ninety minute walking tour of 'the shadow-filled streets of downtown Nashville'. At Hermitage, the one-time and maybe present home of Andrew Jackson, guests of all ages are invited to have a frightfully good time. Tour former President Jackson's plantation at night, and enjoy Tennessee ghost tales

Like Nashville, San Francisco offers countless grim, grinning ghosts of their own. Families with children 8 years and older, can go on a real guided ghost hunt. The one mile walking tour 'in a safe quiet neighborhood on tree lined streets with fine Victorian architecture' is lead by an experience story-teller.

Also for families with older children, the Winchester Mystery House, offers the 'Flashlight 'Ghost' Tours. Each Friday the 13th, and around Halloween, guests roam the rambling halls of this unique home, aided by nothing more than a souvenir flashlight.

The 'Not-Too-Spooky Halloween', at the Habitot Children's Museum in Berkeley, California, is likely to be more to the liking of families with children 6 years old and younger. While paranormal encounters are unlikely at this event, kids are invited to arrive in costume to play miniature golf in the infant-toddler garden graveyard and to conduct experiments with slime in the Art Studio. Paper ghost will fly in the wind tunnel and Halloween stories will be recounted in the 'Witch's Tent'.

The RMS Queen Mary, docked in Long Beach, California, offers a number of chilling potentially paranormal experiences. Beginning in the dark of night on October 16th, guest can brave the perils of the '15th Annual Halloween Terrorfest'. Families with kids 12 years and older can, if they dare, experience the 'Shipwreck: 15 Days of Terror', described by previous survivors as 'terrifying mazes located both on and off the haunted vessel'.

At Lake Tahoe, visit the former haunt of the charismatic 'Rat Pack', the Cal Neva Resort. Take a private guided tour of the Secret Tunnels below the resort:

Learn about Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Junior, Dean Martin and Al Capone's more private moments as the Cal Neva staff takes you on an historical tour of time gone by. See where Marilyn Monroe slipped away with political favorites and spent some of her last hours overlooking this Lake Tahoe resort from its rustic cabin decks. Don't forget to ask about the paranormal activity that still exists
today!

In Salt Lake City, guided ghost tours take a two hour guided tour by a professional storyteller, as you travel by bus to the great "haunts" of the City. Learn about the ghosts who reputedly dwell in these historic buildings and cemeteries.

Seattle also has some great ghost tours--including one at the world-famous Pike's Place Market.

To add your own activity or event to Famplosion.com, free of charge, click here