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.

Winter Break Special at Woodland Park Zoo, Seattle

The kids are all out of school for winter break. Now what to do?

Well, you're in luck. The Woodland Park Zoo is offering free admission to kids ages 12 with each paying adult every day until January 3 (except December 25). Just mention "Winter Fun" to get a child in free!

The Zoo has lots of fun events for the holiday season. Enjoy the Zoo's Winter Celebration, where each of the animals receive holiday-themed treats and toys, a program designed to enrich each animal's lives and keep them mentally stimulated.

While the forecast looks sunny for Seattle, the temperatures might require some inside time as well. Check out the Zoo's Zoomazium, a year-round, indoor play space designed for kids. Check out Famplosion.com to find times of specific activities held at the Zoomazium, such as the Nature Exchange.

Find more fun ideas of things to do with the kids during Winter Break at Famplosion.com!

Christmas Events for Families in Seattle

Looking for some great things to do with your family in the Seattle area? Well, here are some of the great activities that we found.

Remember Where the Wild Things Are? Well, the renowned author Maurice Sendak helped create Seattle's one-of-a-kind Nutcracker performed by the Pacific Northwest Ballet at the Seattle Center's Marion Oliver McCaw Hall until December 30. Tchaikovsky's classic score will come to life in this wonderful Christmas tradition.

Join one of the thousands of people each year who participates in the annual Christmas Ship Festival. Be on shore with a bonfire and hot chocolate and listen to the concert broadcasted live from the flotilla of lit boats. Or splurge and join the crowd on the boats in the largest holiday floating parade in the world.

Take your family to see one of the many light displays, such as Bellevue Botanical Garden's Garden d'Lights, where thousands of light creations are "planted" every year and lit from 5:00 to 10:00. Or Renton's quirky Clam Lights at the Gene Coulon Memorial Beach Park.
Light displays are also held at the Seattle Waterfront and Point Defiance Zoo.

Check out Famplosion.com to find more great Christmas Activities!

Free Family Events in Seattle

by: Elizabeth Sedway, Famplosion.com

In and around Seattle there is an assortment of free family fun. Check back with Famplosion.com often; new and exciting events appear everyday. These free events are surprisely fun and undeniably budget-friendly.

For example, on October 24th, there is a free Star Party hosted by the Seattle Astronomical Society. If your family enjoys art, or would simply love to learn more about it, there are free admission dates at the following museums: Frye Art Museum, University of Washington - Henry Art Gallery, KidsQuest Children's Museum, Nordic Heritage Museum, University of Washington - Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, Wing Luke Asian Museum, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Seattle Art Museum Downtown, Kids Discovery Museum, Northwest African American Museum, Museum of Flight, Children's Museum of Tacoma, Bellevue Arts Museum, Hands on Children's Museum, Tacoma Art Museum, and Museum of Glass.

During the month of October, there are pumpkin patches, cornmazes and delightful fall fun, and most of it offers free admission. Families will find there are items and activities for sale at these events. The 'Bonfires, Beaver Pelts & Bogeyman' event caught this parent's eye.

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