The Richard Petty Driving Experience

Have you ever wanted to know what it feels like to whip around a NASCAR speedway at speeds of 160 miles-per-hour.  Whether you’ve got the need for speed or just a lead foot, now you’ve got the perfect opportunity to make the most of it.  The Richard Petty Driving Experience is just the thing you’ve been hankering.  You can either hop behind the wheel or sit on the passenger side and enjoy the white knuckle ride of your life.  Florida gives you three options.  You can head down to Homestead, go for a spin at the Walt Disney World Speedway, or scoot over to the world famous Daytona International Speedway.  The choice is yours.

Here’s a link to a cool video from Trevor Green and Sarah Elder on visitflorida.com documenting the experience.  I’ve got to try this!  Enjoy.

Drive a Stock Car Like The NASCAR ProsPush your limits at 160 miles-per-hour in the Richard Petty Driving Experience at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Watch this experience told through the eyes of Sarah Elder and produced by Trevor Green, and try it out for yourself in Florida at Homestead, Daytona International Speedway or Walt Disney World Speedway.

via Visitflorida

New Year’s Eve for teenagers

New Year’s Eve for teenagers can be fun too!  If you don’t try to be involved or guide New Year’s Eve for teenagers then you will be up all night worrying.  Even worse they will be up all night complaining.  As the adults we can encourage them to minimize all possible risk.  Here are a few idea that we believe can keep teenagers happy, maybe at home but most importantly safe!

Have a sleepover.

Sounds like this may only be for girls huh?  Well not necessarily.  All teenagers love to hangout with their friends.  Have them invite either sex friends and have a campout or sleepover.  The guys may have to camp outside while the girls sleep indoors and you put on the alarm to know if anyone tries to come in or out of the house but they can stay up all night and talk.  They can dance and ring in the New Year together.  They can play music, watch videos or movies and be in the safe confines of your home. 

Throw a party.

Take option number one and go one step further.  Throw a New Year’s Eve bash at your house.  Now we encourage you to make it just for the teens so you can supervise them (without being over protective).  When and adult party mixes with a teen party, either the kids are bored or the adults are frazzled or little supervision actually takes place.  Now it may be a painful evening for the adults, but it’s only a few hours of your life and it will do wonders for keeping your kids safe. The key is to absolutely prevent drinking and smoking. It should be stated clearly on the invitations and you should stay vigilant during the party that there will NOT be any liquor consumption or smoking of any kind. Take this seriously. Parents who are caught supplying alcohol, even inadvertently, to minors face serious liabilities. In some states, parents are subject to severe financial consequences, including fines and restitution to victims in the event of an accident. In addition, they may be charged in the criminal courts for, among other things, contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

Let your teenagers pick the music and make mixed discs to play all night.  If you can afford it you can get them a DJ.  Make sure your TV is tuned in to the popular “ball drop” shows with the volume down. Have lots of snacks and make drinks that look alcoholic in nature, taste great and look enticing.  Keep tasting the drinks all night to ensure it does not get spiked.  You must have noisemakers for the teens to bring in midnight. If your teen wants confetti for the ball drop, consider getting mini bottles of bubbles for them to blow instead so you aren’t faced with cleaning all of the confetti the next morning. Finally, make your decor simple and inexpensive.  String your Christmas lights all over the party room and turn out the lights.  Buy some balloons and scatter them around the floor.  Lastly, provide a safe place for storing purses, coats and other valuables. Remember to put a cap on the number of people that can be invited. If you can gather a list with parent phone numbers in case of emergency you are on to something.

Bowling

If your teenager just has to go out on New Year’s Eve and you feel compelled to give in then suggest that they go bowling.   Hanging out with their friends at a bowling alley can be lots of fun.  See if you know of one nearby that offers midnight bowling. Some allies even have black light bowling, where the lights are turned low, a DJ plays music, and the pins and bowling balls glow. You can speak with the bowling alley manager and ask them to keep an eye on them for you.  You can even leave your phone number to call if necessary. 

Regardless of where they go on New Year’s Eve, take the time to talk to them. Remind them of the dangers of alcohol and of drinking and driving.  They may seem like they are not paying attention to you but it does register.  They may even get into trouble by making a poor choice that they knew not to do but it is not because they didn’t hear you.  It is moreso because they wanted to try something and the lesson learned reinforced that you knew what you were talking about.  They love you.  Remond them that you love them.  Everything will probably be just fine.