Summer Activities for Kids 2021 Longview

Longview Families enjoy being active year-round but especially during the summer. Here is a growing list of activities for kids of all ages. Enjoy! - Cintia Listenbee

* Want to be added to the list? Contact me!

* Need a website to make registration easier? Contact me!

(Updated 3/25 at 11:49 a.m.) 

 VBS (coming soon!) 

Arts 

June 7-12  • ArtsView Children's Theater 

DANCE

June 12 - August 5 • Tina Grider Dance 

DAY CAMP

June 14 - 18 • First Christian Church Daycamp

STEM 

June 14- 25 • LeTourneau Summer Camps 
Our camps are designed for children of all ages and feature a wide variety of fun and educational topics. 

SPORTS

Bowling
TBA • Kids Bowl Free

Golf 
June 8 - July 29 • First Tee 
June 6 - July 27 • First Tee 

Gymnastics
June 14 - July 22 • Gymnastic World 

Basketball 
April 27 - June 1 • EDH Real Basketball
June 28 - July 1  • JumpForward (LeTourneau University) 

Swim
All summer - Longview Metro Aquatics (Leviathans) 

Tennis
May 25 - August 4 • East Texas Tennis Clinic (if you need the PDF, just contact me and I'll send it to you).

TBA • LeTourneau University Tennis Camp

Music 

Coming soon

Other 

Coming soon

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Getting to know you: Fort Bend Children's Discovery Center

Today, the kids and I attended the opening of the Fort Bend Children's Discovery Center (FBCDC). It was a great opportunity to take a peek at the newest children's museum in Sugar Land. The location of the museum is at the old sugar factory, the Imperial Market. The museum is housed inside a 12,500 square foot repurposed historical building.

The atmosphere was festive and I enjoyed all the effort the FBCDC put into this event. While we waited to get in, we enjoyed an acrobat show, a photo booth and a quick look at the Sugar Land Heritage Museum. I was fascinated with the photos of Sugar Land from the past. The kids also enjoyed seeing the train from so close - the tracks are really close to the museum.

Our tickets would have costed $48 but today it was free (they had a donor). We also got t-shirts and other freebies while waiting. I was a smart mamãe (mom) and I took water and a few snacks for the kids. They do sell snacks inside but I didn't notice a restaurant inside. Another great news: parking is free. I know, it can't get better than that folks!

If you are familiar with the Children's Museum of Houston, you will recognize several of the exhibitions in the FBCDC. The place really is set up for children to learn as they have fun. I saw that super cute spot for kids 35 months and under so if you have tiny humans, you may want to take them there for a fun playdate. Oh, kids 1 and under get in free.

The FBCDC is a great place for families and groups to enjoy. Our family is planning on returning again.

For more information, please visit their website.

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Gyms: the Lure of the New and Old

Me after a workout in the old gym.

Our family sees our gym membership as health investment. How much money you put into this investment is a matter of consumer savvy. Meet SouthWest Houston, a place that houses around 650 gyms. Our family decided to join a family friendly location. I was expecting our third child when we joined that facility and we have been frequent users. We were quite happy but every now and then we heard about the new, "jumping" gym in town. They had awesome facilities, great classes, the childcare was impecable and the rates, really low. We thought about switching but our contract didn't make it easy. Also, I was expecting and breaking a contract was the last thing in our minds. 

After we had a little over 1 year on our pocket and a baby who's crawling and doing her best to become a toddler (smile), we decided to give the competition a try. It was the perfect day: their last day of their Zero Down promotion which meant $550 dollars in savings. I signed the contract, my husband congratulated me. 

Reality set when I went to the new gym for the first time: the parking was awful. To make matters worse, there is road construction all around it, which will make the commute even worse. The new gym is 10 times larger than our old gym. I must confess, I was overwhelmed with the amount of people. I hid in the 'women's only' workout room but found out that if I wanted to do my usual resistance training (the least amount of weights I lift start at 15 lbs) I needed to take a 2 minute walk to the weights region of the gym. I was excited about the diversity of people who were working out. The next day I went to the old gym to break the news. It turns out they had some great news for me: I qualified for 40% off our current membership fee. I thought about the great parking. I remembered their childcare is awesome and people have grown to love our kids there. I thought about how inspiring my gym buddies are: they're at least double my age, healthy and very consistent with their fitness plans. The old gym also has some amenities that the other location does not offer such as a pool, free wifi and the occasional free 5-minute free back massage in the lobby.  I talked to my husband and we decided to stay. 

I thank God for giving us favor and helping us save on our membership while staying in the gym we  really enjoy. I learned that the location is not as important as what you do while you're there. I am personally inspired by my early morning workout buddies who have lived a full life and are practicing healthy living methods which leads them to abundant longevity. We decided to stay in the old gym. By the way, that individual TV screen in the cardio machines didn't hurt my decision at all. 

Photo of me after a run in the park.

QUESTION: What are the things you really enjoy about the place where you exercise?

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Getting to Know You: Houston Ballet

My bucket list is getting shorter: I had my first Houston date at the Houston Ballet. We got the most frugal of the ticket selections and sat all the way up top. I must confess that the height made me a little dizzy but it did not diminish the awe of the this great experience. Here's what to expect as you walk in to enjoy the Houston Ballet's performance: 

Wortham Theather entrance

Parking • We got there right at the nick of time, the performance was starting soon. Valet parking for $10 outside of the theater was a great investment, specially because of all the construction in that area of town. The advantage of having your car practically waiting for you as the performance ended was also a plus.

The theater is gorgeous inside

Performance • Return of the Masters was a gorgeous performance. Unlike some of the more traditional productions it included two singers, which added a lot to the performance. It was also amazing to hear the orchestra playing. It was my first time hearing a live orchestra playing for a ballet. My husband and I both loved the production.

In the elevator

Length • I could not find any easy way to find out how long the performance was going to be, but we were there for close to 3 hours. I had a paid sitter, which was the reason why I needed to know what to expect. 

View from the Balcony

Media • The Houston Ballet allows you to get photos and videos only before the performance or at the green room after the performance. They follow up with you by mail (we got 50% discount for the next performance) and they call you as well but I haven't been able to talk to them by phone. It would be more helpful if you had the option to choose between phone calls or e-mails. For this mother with young children, an e-mail will be a more effective way of communication. 

I really enjoyed my experience at the Houston Ballet. I could tell they are really organized and they make sure you have an amazing experience all the way through. All the volunteers were very friendly and helpful. 

I really appreciate everyone who worked or volunteered to make my experience a great one at the Houston Ballet. I'm looking forward to the holiday performances.

For more information on the Houston Ballet, go to their website.
• Other post in this series:
Houston Zoo [VIDEO] 

Houston Social Media Breakfast [PHOTOS]

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A Parent’s Guide to Haywood County, NC

Lake Junaluska, NC

If you are new to Haywood County, North Carolina, you are living in an amazing place. I have compiled my own list of a few places and connections that will help you get connected and find community much quicker.

 Parenting Groups (online and offline)
 • Mother’s Connection • I joined this group when my son was 2-weeks-old. Most of the moms in the group took the Childbirth prep classes together, which was a plus. This class offered a lot of support, coaching and peer fellowship. Lactation support was provided as well as a lot of advice o child development and advice on issues all new moms face. More information
• Parents as Teachers - This free resources helps to provide the information, support and encouragement parents need to help their children develop optimally during the crucial early years of life. The home visits and resources were priceless. My children and I really enjoyed learning from these amazing educators! Website
Mommy and Me
 • Story Time at the Haywood County Public Library - Awesome opportunity for children to increase their exposure to reading and for moms to connect. The Public Library is an amazing resource for new parents in the area and it should be on your priority list. Website
• Kindermusik • The kids and I absolutely loved this class. Music is such an important part of life for children and The Music Village was one of our favorite places to be. Lori Richards offers a free trial class for parents who want to try this amazing class. More information
• Mom’s of Haywood County - a must Like group for parents in Haywood county. This is the hub of information on all things from playdates to cosignment sales to advice from other parents. Like this group today

Church
My family attended New Covenant Church in Clyde. Services are at 9 & 11 a.m. New Covenant is a “community church.” They believe in being a blessing beyond the walls, which is very exciting. They have an amazing children’s ministy. My kids went to the nursery when they were as young as 6-weeks-old. They were loved on, prayed for and they had a lot of fun. New Covenant has many life groups available during the week, from a Photography group to all kinds of Bible Studies. They are a jewel and a blessing in the community. Website

Recreation
Canton Park • a free resource for family fun and exercise. They baby pool is perfect for kids 2 and under. The track around the park is 1.3 miles. I did a lot of running and walking there. Website 
Lake Junaluska • an awesome resource for the community. Be a part of holiday celebrations or just take a walk around the Lake. Website

Health Care
Haywood Women’s • all the doctors of Haywood Women’s gave me amazing care during my stay in Haywood County. They got to know my family well and we felt like they were part of our family. More information
Haywood Peds • they took amazing care of my kids. The hours are fantastic and the fact that they have a Canton office really helped me. I appreciate all the love and care my children received at Haywood Peds! Website
Life Counseling Center • I received awesome counseling services from their staff. I can say that the quality of my life truly improved. I recently interview Susan Marks, one of the counselors. Hear the Podcast here | Website
Waynesville Family Practice • this practice literally saved my life. I received amazing health care and education. My doctor not only treated me but she educated me on how to stay well. I am forever grateful. Website

Business Small Business Center • a great resource for business owners. No matter if you are starting or want continuing education, this is a place you need to visit. I taught several Social Media for Business classes there. Website

Amanhã

Wednesday • Memória (Português)

Thursday • The 1-2-3 Guide to Hiring Moving Companies

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Novas Descobertas

Como muitas/os de vocês já sabem, eu ganhei minha neném a 4 semanas atrás. Minha mãezinha querida veio do Brasil pra me ajudar, além de vir pra ver o resto da família que mora aqui nos EUA. Tem sido uma felicidade imensa. Em 12 anos nunca passei tanto tempo quanto tenho passado com minha mãe - obrigada Jesus. Minha mãe é uma mulher de muitos talentos. Ela é nutricionista, então temos aprendido muito sobre como ter ótima saúde através da nutrição.

Passamos a maioria do nosso tempo cuidando dos pequenos e da casa, mas ultimamente temos tido um tempinho de sair. Estou tirando bastante fotos pra guardar as memórias.

No final-de-semana passado nós fomos num mercadinho que vende frutas, verduras e legumas que vem de uma fazenda local (aqui é roça, então tem muita fazenda). Conheci o 'tear drop' tomate (lágrima caída) que dá pra vocês me verem segurando na foto. Em baixo dá pra ver as batatas doces. Eu enrolo em papel alumínio e asso. Fica ela já é doce, então você só precisa desenrolar e comer. Fica uma delícia. Eu faço pro meu filho e também faço assim pra eu comer. Minha mãe achou o milho doce e com muita água (concordo). 
O bom de estarmos no verão é a quantidade e a variedade de frutas, legumes e verduras disponíveis. Compramos bastante coisa. Comprei também uma geléiazinha de uma fruta que não conheço (boysenberry) mas que é gostosa demais:

Tudo em moderação né? Estou participando do Desafio Desistir Jamais. Pra ser sincera ainda não entrei no ritmo da redução como tinha antes. Com dois filhos novinhos e só um mês pós-parto, acho que estou fazendo o melhor que posso. Antes tinha 2 horas pra poder malhar. Hoje em dia a prioridade é o marido e os filhos, o resto fica pra depois. Hoje por exemplo só lembrei que não almocei as 4 da tarde. Comi um filé fininho de frango, tomei um gole de suco de laranja e continuei trabalhando antes das crianças acordarem. A maioria dos meus dias não são assim (e nem podem ser) voltei a malhar e fazer musculação, então preciso de ter calorias (energia) pra queimar calorias (energia) sabe? O Desafio tem sido bom porque semana passada fiquei motivada a malhar 3 vezes. Se não fosse pelo desafio (e pela influência do meu esposo) eu não teria feito muita coisa. Com a ajuda de Deus vou alcançar os meus objetivos. Minha meta é ser saudável, ter um condicionamento físico bom pra poder participar de corridas e brincar com meus filhos. Quero comer bem, aproveitar dessas coisas boas que Deus criou em vez de comer produtos cujos ingredientes nem sei pronunciar. Uma semana de saúde a todos vocês!

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Cheap Formula

Hello friends! How's everyone doing? We're doing very well! I am feeling peace like I haven't had in a while. My scale is out of battery and I gave up on trying to lose weight by any means necessary. What this means is that I finally gave up and decided to trust God. Trusting God doesn't mean you pig out everywhere you go. It means you become God focused and not food focused. I feel awesome, the thoughts of going on a liquid diet are gone away - yep, I was that desperate. It's Thursday and I haven't been on a walk but I plan on getting out there and walking for sure, even if it's down to the neighbors and back.

The Little Prince had his first major spit up this afternoon. I'm watching him to make sure that was a one time deal, not something that will happen often. I pray we are not having problems with Symilac because we bought enough for the next 4 monts or so. The Lord blessed us with a good sale, instead of the usual $24 we bought it for $7!!! We went ahead and bought it in bulk because there's nothing wrong with the formula (I checked the expiration date and all). As I was buying all of that, I thought that in case the formula no longer works for the Little Prince, some blessed kid in my community will get the hook up. This is the result of the first trip I made to our local discount grocery store:

The vegetable garden has given us cucumbers (which I ate with peanut butter this afternoon. Not a craving, just ran out of celery) and there's melon growing. That's exciting.

I believe we're still not missing anything major on cable tv. Every time I watch it I rejoice for saving the money for a subscription. Hulu.com as well as everyone who has videos online do it for now. The LP is crying so I gotta go.

Here's me a two weekends ago in an out with the king and little prince :)

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More Zucchini!!

Just pick these up from the garden. These things grow and grow fast! I'll be looking for recipes for zucchini. I like zucchini bread and will fry zucchinis to see if the king (Zeke) will like that. The little prince and I had a great walk this morning. No one knows how long the track is in our city's park but I think I'll go with 1.5 miles cause that's what the website does. Every time I go measure it the pedometer runs out of battery... I'll be more prepared next time.

I've been feeling great since I decided not to feel guilty and condemned because of not having dropped more weight after the little prince's birth. Good thing he's almost 3 months and not 3 years and I still have time. I thought about doing crazy stuff like the liquid diet but that would go against everything I believe. It would be selfish too because if I have bad side effects for doing something so radical with my body my little prince and the king have to fend for themselves. I decided to focus on God's love and acceptance for me and do this the right way. Yep, that's the plan. I just decided I needed peace. Without peace the pounds that leave quickly always return with a vengeance - I'd know about it, I've lost 7 pounds in one week before in the starvation diet, which is no fun at all.

On other news, I started to run again this morning. That felt awesome. I was more tired because I'm 40 pounds heavier than when I finished my first 5K in October but it was as if my body was feeling like its old self. I look forward to being able to run 5 miles and more as I was doing before. It just takes determination and getting out there.

The little prince has been sleeping for 10 whole hours a night. Glory be to God because it was nothing we did, he just started sleeping more and we just make sure he starts his 10 hours at a good time. God is soo good!

A great day everyone. Please remember that feeling guilt and condemnation for carrying extra pounds doesn't come from God because God is love and He loves you. He does want you to be healthy but not by making you feel miserable. Think about what you are thinking today.

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Our First Vegetable Garden | Nossa Primeira Horta

We planted a garden this year. There's room to plan a lot of veggies behind our home so we ventured out this summer in the midst of new baby and all. I bought the seeds, Zeke got out there and actually did the planting and our neighbor tilled the ground (twice) for us, which was really nice. You can see how amateurs we are compared to our neighbors:

Nos plantamos uma horta essa ano. Tem bastante espaco pra plantar verduras e legumes atras da nossa casa entao esse verao nos decidimos plantar com um bebe novo e tudo. Eu comprei as sementes, Zeke plantou e o nosso vizinho preparou a terra duas vezes pra nos, o que foi muito legal. Da pra ver como somos amadores comparados ao nosso vizinho:

So, I had no clue you actually could see some veggies popping up above the ground. For some reason I expected to have to dig up stuff. That's what happens when you become an expert of the produce section of the grocery store LOL. I asked my neighbor, who was nice enough to inform me some veggies pop up above the ground, and that's when i went back there and found these:

Eu nao tinha a menor ideia que alguns legumes nasciam a cima da terra. Por algum motivo eu pensei que tivesse que desenterrar tudo. Isso que acontece quando vc se torna especialista em supermercado rs. Eu perguntei pra minha vizinha que me informou que a abobrinha nasce em cima, e entao eu fui la na horta e achei isso:

This is what I actually did with it:

Isso e o que fiz com ela:

These are the proud 'farmers'. I thought we did pretty good for some city kids! It was good to eat some organic veggies. Our neighbors gave us some cucumbers from their garden, so we had an extra fresh meal: green salad with organic cucumbers, our own organic zucchini, rice, black beans, farofa with red onions and curried tofu. Can you feel the freshness?

Esses sao os 'fazendeiros' orgulhosos. Ate que nao foi mal prum pessoal da cidade grande ne? Foi bom comer legumes organicos. Meus vizinhos me deram pepino da horta deles entao nos tivemos uma refeicao vinda de tras da nossa casa: salada verde com pepinos organicos, nossa abobrinha organica, arroz, feijao, farofa com cebola vermelha e queijo de soja com molho curri.

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The Coffee Shop

I was listening to Talk of the Nation today. They were talking about Starbucks closing their under performing stores in the country. We just got a Starbucks in the town I work but I missed the opening and to be honest I’ve been there once. I look at several factors now: the price of the coffee and the calories on the pastries. I know what the light options for me are as well. I’m not Starbucks crazy, I used to treat myself when I went out of town. We have been blessed with several local coffee shops. I don’t have favorites, I go to the one that best fits my mood. There’s one that I go when I feel like having a fabulous cup of green tea or an awesome lunch. They have several vegetarian options, which I love. My husband goes for the love of me. He can always find something to eat but he likes coffee shop number two better. It’s close to his job, he can get an awesome omelets for breakfast for a great wrap for lunch. He’s been buying a lot of salads lately (large smile). Oh, my husband is not into coffee so he goes for the food, I go for the drink. Coffee shop number three is a little pricy but the people who work there are great as well. We go there when we have to go to the bank. It’s convenient, it’s across the street... why not?
I can stay busy with our local coffee shops before going to Starbucks. In a world of franchises, the local coffee shop may become a rarity. I like the local coffee shop atmosphere too. When you buy food or coffee you feel like you are helping someone to pay their light bill. These small business invest so much in the community and it feels good to give back. They also treat us like family and that’s a great feeling to have. I would still go to Starbucks but I’d wait til I’m out of town and there are no local coffee shops around.

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