Longmont Mom

Facebook killed the Longmont Mom blog

2010-08-25T21:44:00.000-06:00

Here's a little piece of useless trivia for ya - the first video played on MTV was "Video Killed the Radio Star" by The Buggles. Did you know that? Well, now you do! I think it should be redone with the words "Facebook killed the Longmont Mom blog". :) Yep, pretty much as soon as I got sucked in to Facebook on a daily basis my posting to this blog dropped off significantly. So, I'm thinking of a solution to meld the two. It seems like everyone is on Facebook these days (and if you're not, what the heck is stopping you?!) so I was considering setting up some sort of Longmont events page there. Yes, there are a couple of these pages already like this and this and this, but not a central place for events from more than one source. Would you "like" a page like that to have events show up in your news feed? People still read this blog (for some unknown reason! haha) so apparently someone finds something useful on it still. Leave a comment or send me an email if you have an opinion. I'll let you know what this blog's fate is soon...

FREE movies at Twin Peaks

2010-06-05T16:53:00.003-06:00

Each year the movie theater at Twin Peaks offers free family movies on Tuesdays and Wednesdays during the summer. The movies seem pretty good this year - Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Monsters vs Aliens, Planet 51, Where the Wild Things Are and Kung Fu Panda, just to name a few. See http://www.longmontmoviefun.com for more details!

Storytime at the Fire Station!

2010-06-05T16:39:00.000-06:00

From Longmont's Community Programs and Events -

"The Longmont Fire Department will host four free story times where children will hear a variety of youth safety stories. Children must be 3 to 7 years old and accompanied by an adult. Story times are on Wednesdays from 10:30 to 11 am in the community room of Longmont Fire Station 3 at 1000 Pace Street. The dates are June 16, July 21, August 4 and August 18. For additional information please call (303) 651-8432."

Sounds fun!

First ArtWalk of 2010

2010-05-20T21:44:00.002-06:00

The first ArtWalk of 2010 takes place Friday, May 21st, from 6 to 9 pm. Stroll along Main Street betwee 3rd and 6th Avenues to enjoy all sortts of art exhibitions, face painting, balloon artists, dance, live theater and music from bands like Mojomama. It's a fun, FREE community event and a great way to expose yourself and your kids to various art forms! For more information including a map of all the activities and a list of all the artists see http://www.artwalklongmont.org!

YMCA Healthy Kids Day - April 17th

2010-04-04T12:21:00.000-06:00

From the YMCA:

"Join us for Healthy Kids Day Saturday April 17th from 10am - 1pm!
Free to the Community!
Activities Include:

* Active Family Games
* Bounce House
* Healthy Snacks
* Adventure Fit Course
* Face Painting
* Family Health Information
* 10 - 10:30am: World Dance for 4-6 yr olds
* 11 - 11:30am: World Dance for ages 6 and up
* Open Swim from 12 - 3pm

AND MORE!

PLUS: Join the YMCA on April 17 and we will waive the $50 joiners fee!"

Mud Hen 5K Run

2010-04-03T11:42:00.001-06:00

From the March 2010 CityLine:

"Join Longmont’s Recreation Services and Parks and Open Space on Saturday, April 24, for this family-friendly, timed 5K run/walk around beautiful McIntosh Lake. Register now to take advantage of early-bird fees: $15 for adults, $12 for youth 14 and younger and adults 55 and older. After April 16, the registration fee will increase $5. Day-of registration and packet pickup is from 9 to 9:45 am at the shelter on the west end of Dawson Park on Lakeshore Drive. For more information, call 303-651-8404 or visit http://www.ci.longmont.co.us/rec."

Arbor Day/Earth Day Celebration

2010-04-03T11:25:00.002-06:00

From the Longmont Parks page:

"April 17th between 11:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. at Thompson Park, 4th & Bross. Arbor Day is a growing experience, Earth Day is about environmental awareness. Come and join in the combined celebration to enjoy and learn more about both. Festivities include obstacle course, games, balloons, live music, an "edible forest" lunch and, of course, the annual tree and rosebush sale. Last year was tree-mendously fun, so if you missed it last year, plan on attending this year. Need more info. call Ken Wicklund, City Forester at 303-651-8449 or email me at ken.wicklund@ci.longmont.co.us. Rain date is April 24th."

This event has been fun for our family! Our boys especially enjoy the zip lines and rids up in a bucket truck!

2010 Summer Camps

2010-04-03T10:52:00.001-06:00

Here's a list of links for summer camps in and around Longmont. Make sure you know when registration starts for your favorite camp(s) so you won't miss out!

YMCA Summer Camps

Longmont Recreation Services and Longmont Rec Summer Camp Preview

Sunflower Farms

Bits, Bytes & Bots

Skyhawks Sports Camps

Crackpots

Boulder Dinner Theatre Drama Camp

CU Science Discovery Camps

Airborne Gym

Avid4 Adventure

Archery in the Wild

Longmont Theatre Company

In case you missed it there's a pull out section of the Times Call today all about Summer Camps. You can find it online here. It has ads for several of the camps I listed above and more!

There's also a huge list on KidsPages.org, a searchable list on ColoradoKids.com and of course the official Colorado Summer Camp Guide.

There is certainly no shortage of opportunities for fun this summer! Now the hard part - finding camps that your kids are interested in, are age appropriate, that you can afford, that work with your schedules and that don't require you to drive them all over the place! :) Happy hunting!

Free Shredding Day

2010-01-23T23:37:00.001-07:00

From last week's Longmont eNews: "Longmont residents are invited to bring up to three boxes or bags of paper documents for free shredding on Saturday, January 30 from 9 a.m. to noon at Golden Archives Records Management, 111 S. Pratt Pkwy. Donations will be accepted with the money going directly to the Police department for identity theft prevention and education."

YMCA 40th Anniversary Community Day

2010-01-23T23:17:00.003-07:00

On Saturday, February 6th, from 10 am to 2 pm the Longmont YMCA will celebrate their 40th anniversary with a community celebration. There will be bounce houses, open swim, prize drawings and, best of all, they'll waive the $50 sign up fee if you join that day! We joined at this event two years ago and have loved everything they offer - the facilities are nice, their Child Watch program has been great for our boys and they even have Parents Night Out events! Click here for more info!

Polar Express Pajama Party

2009-11-19T14:20:00.002-07:00

Borders is hosting a Polar Express Pajama Party this Saturday, November 21st, from 11 am to 1 pm. There will be storytime with the Polar Express story, holiday carols, a raffle and giveaways! Sounds like a fun event!

Miller Farms Gleaning

2009-11-18T00:08:00.001-07:00

Yeah so I haven't had as much time to tweak the blog layout as I would have liked but hope to get it all fixed up soon. In the meantime, check out this article from the Times Call about gleaning at Miller Farms this Saturday:

"Miller Farms will be open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday to visitors who want to dig and keep leftover produce from the Platteville farm.

Farm spokesman Dave Patterson said this year there aren’t as many leftover vegetables as there were during a similar event a year ago because of summertime hail damage, but items such as carrots and Brussels sprouts are still good.

Patterson said that in 2008, gleaners left with about 600,000 pounds of food.

Patterson said people should bring their own shovels, bags and boxes.

Miller Farms is located east of Longmont on Colo. Highway 66."

Under Construction

2009-11-05T10:42:00.000-07:00

As you can see, I'm playing around with the blog today :) Bear with me as I tear it up!

Sunflower Farms Winter Program

2009-10-30T12:41:00.001-06:00

From an email from Bren Frisch of Sunflower Farms:

"We are moving onto winter quarter at the Sunflower Farm SproutHouse

Classes are almost full! Don’t hesitate.

Ages: 2-6+
Choose one class per week or several.
M, W, F 9-1 pm —— $52
M, W, F 1:30 to 4:00 —— $25
T/TH 9-2:30 —— $68

This is an early childhood outdoor nature program. We connect children to nature and animals through synergy while cultivating creativity and risk taking in a small group setting. Even on cold days we bundle up and walk the farm, feed animals, build snowmen, collect eggs, climb the giant tree house, catch toads or follow bugs. Inside activities include books, puzzles, blocks and our large recycled creative art building where children choose from painting, woodworking, sculpting, fabric art, sensory materials and more! Parents are welcome to stay or drop-off.

Sunflower Farm
11150 Prospect Rd.
Longmont, CO 80504
303-774-8001

www.sunflowerfarminfo.com"

We love this program and highly recommend it!

November Rope World

2009-10-30T12:27:00.001-06:00

Rope World is part of the PE program at Rocky Mountain Elementary and several times throughout the year they open it up to the public. There are lots of ropes to climb, swing from, and crawl over and kids love it! Here's the schedule for November - http://ropeworldfun.wordpress.com/calendar/. This is such a fun and relatively cheap way to spend an hour!

They also host birthday parties, this time on Saturday November 7th, which you can schedule by calling 303-772-8402 between 8 am and 7 pm.
Birthday Party Fee: $4.00 each child (minimum $60, $30 non-refundable deposit required)

Rocky Mountain Elementary is located at 800 East 5th Ave. which is just West of Pace on 5th Ave. See you there!

BOO it's Halloween!

2009-10-29T23:53:00.003-06:00

Oh poor neglected LongmontMom blog. Anyone know where I can find a few more hours in the day? :)

Anyway...

Halloween is Saturday! Looking for fun stuff to do in and around Longmont? Great! Here's what I know:

Longmont Halloween Parade - Line up at 9:30 at Roosevelt Park and then parade your adorable costumes down Main Street. Follow that up with Trick or Treating at the shops along Main and it's a perfect way to spend Halloween morning! Here's a link to the parade route in case you feel like watching instead of walking!

Dia de los Muertos - The Longmont Museum and Cultural Center hosts it's annual Day of the Dead Celebration on Saturday from 10 am to 5 pm. From their website: "Music, dancing, singing, sugar skull decorating, traditional food, community altars, paper flower making, Día de los Muertos tattoos, and more. Free Admission.

Courtyard Entertainment
11:30 am –12:30 pm......Kalpulli Mitotilitztli Aztec Dance Group
1 – 1:45 pm....................Canciones de Mi Tierra and Coro San Juan
2 – 2:45 pm....................Alternatives for Youth Folklorico Dancers"

Halloween Events at Twin Peaks Mall - We've Trick or Treated in the mall in the past, but that was back when there were stores there! Ok, there are still a few left but I'm not sure how well attended this one will be! There will be a kiddie carnival for kids under 12 in the North Court by Pretzelmaker from 4 to 6 pm including games, music and activities. Then there's mall wide Trick or Treating from 6 to 8 pm. Also a costume contest near Pretzelmaker at 7 pm (registration for this starts at 5, full face masks not permitted). For the bigger kids (over 10), there's also an "Edgar Allan Poe Haunted House" from 5 to 11 pm on both Friday and Saturday nights. It's located next to the movie theater!

Safe Halloween Night at the Longmont Recreation Center - Visit the Rec Center from 6 to 8:30 pm Saturday for carnival games and boat rides in the pool. This one is best for kids 10 and under.

And an outside of Longmont event? The Munchkin Masquerade, Trick or Treating down Pearl Street in Boulder, has been postponed to Sunday, November 1st, from 1 to 4 pm. More than 60 stores will have candy and activities! Get a map at the Daily Camera parking lot (10th and Pearl) before heading out.

Have a safe and happy Halloween!

Longmont Fire Muster on Saturday

2009-08-14T10:01:00.001-06:00

Just found out about this fun event happening tomorrow and you can bet our family will be there!

Longmont Fire Dept turns 100 years old and is 'mustering' up a parade and party this weekend!

The City of Longmont's Fire Dept is celebrating by throwing a "muster" this weekend to celebrate the 100th anniversary of it's great fire department and lots of fire trucks (old and new) will be on display. A parade and open house will be held.

Schedule for the Longmont Fire Muster this weekend, Saturday August 15th:

PARADE - 9am - Main Street south from Longs Peak to 3rd Avenue.

TERRY STREET STATION OPEN HOUSE - 1:00pm - 3:00pm - Longmont's newest fire station. While preserving many pieces of Longmont history, the use of alternative energy and resource conservation features were a priority in constructing this building. The new station is home to a three-person engine crew, a four-person ladder crew, a two-person ambulance, and the on-duty chief officer.

FIRE BLOCK - 10am-2pm - Fire safety education on 4th between Main and Coffman. Vehicles from parade set up on Coffman between 4th and 6th. Fire department demonstrations at 4th/Coffman:

10:00am - Repelling Demonstration

10:30am - Steam Engine Display

11:00am - Fire Sprinkler System Demonstration

11:30am - Bomb Trailer Demo

12:00pm - Vehicle Extrication Demonstration

12:30pm - Steam Engine Display

1:00 pm - Bucket Brigade

For more info, go to:
http://www.ci.longmont.co.us/fire/

2009 Boulder County Fair

2009-07-31T17:40:00.002-06:00

The Boulder County Fair started today and runs through Saturday, August 8th! There are far too many events to list them here so head on over to their website and check out the Events listing. You'll also definitely want to check out the Kids Schedule which is chock full of free activities for the kids including scavenger hunts, story times, make n takes and more! You can even download an Excel format master schedule with every possible fair related event on it!

A few of our can't miss events:

Longmont Rotary Club Pancake Breakfast
Saturday, August 1st
6:30-9:30 am
4th and Kimbark
$7 for adults and $3 for children 12 and younger

Boulder County Fair Parade
Saturday, August 1st
10 am
Can't seem to find the exact route online but they line up at Roosevelt Park and then make their way down Main Street (perhaps to 3rd?) and then back up Coffman. Full of bands, color guards, floats, horses, tractors, you name it! Great fun for the kids :)

We'll also go to the Carnival (probably Wednesday when it's a little cheaper!), see all the animals, hopefully do some mutton bustin (eek!), and watch some auctions. No, we're not buying livestock any time soon but our oldest thinks being an auctioneer is one of the coolest jobs on the planet :)

There's really no excuse not to go with free parking and free admission! See you there :)

School Supply Lists

2009-07-20T14:25:00.000-06:00

It's that time of year again, time to stock up on crayons and pencils and backpacks and such! FYI, you can find the school supply lists for St. Vrain Valley schools on their website so you can start shopping those fun sales :) This is our first official year doing back to school shopping (eek I'll have a kindergartner!) and I'm looking forward to it!

Summer 2009 Rope World

2009-07-19T14:05:00.003-06:00

Rope World is part of the PE program at Rocky Mountain Elementary and several times throughout the year they open it up to the public. There are lots of ropes to climb, swing from, and crawl over and kids love it! Here's the schedule for July and August:

Weekdays: Monday, July 27th through Friday, August 7th

TIMES:
9:30 -10:25 2 yrs – 3rd Grade
10:30 -11:25 2 yrs – 3rd Grade
2:10 – 3:05 2 yrs – 3rd Grade
3:15 – 4:10 2 yrs – 3rd Grade
Fee: $4.00 / visit

They also host birthday parties, which you can schedule by calling 303-772-8402 between 8 am and 6 pm.
Fee: $4.00 Each (minimum $60)
Monday, July 27th through Friday, August 7th from 11:30 to 12:30

Rocky Mountain Elementary is located at 800 East 5th Ave. which is just West of Pace on 5th Ave.

Oops! Outdoor Movies

2009-07-19T13:25:00.002-06:00

I put these on the calendar (scroll to the bottom of the blog) but forgot to post about them! Last night was the first of three outdoor movies this summer in Thompson Park. Next Saturday they'll be showing Goonies and the following Saturday, August 1st, they'll show The Princess Bride. Movies start around 8 or when it's dark enough to see the movie on the screen. It's FREE and a wonderful way to spend a Saturday evening hanging out with friends on the shady grass of Thompson Park! Don't forget the bug spray :) See here for more info.

Rhythm on the River this weekend

2009-07-09T22:07:00.003-06:00

One of our family's favorite Longmont events starts tomorrow - Rhythm on the River. This FREE festival with great food, music and entertainment runs Friday 5-8:30 pm and Saturday 7 am to 8:30 pm at Roger's Grove. There is free parking at the Boulder County Fairgrounds and stroller friendly shuttles to take you over to Roger's Grove.

There are so many fun things packed into that short time that I just have to direct you to the city's website about it. Our favorites include the music, climbing on city trucks, the pancake breakfast, and the many many kids events - rock climbing, bike course, jumpy castles, puppet shows, art projects, food from lots of local restaurants, etc, etc. It's a great way to spend a day in Longmont!

The 4th is on Saturday!

2009-06-30T18:52:00.002-06:00

This Saturday is the 4th of July which means you need the 411 on area 4th events, right? Here's some info on shows close to Longmont but if you'll be somewhere else in Colorado that day check out metromix.com for a good list.

Longmont - Boulder County Fairgrounds
The Longmont 4th of July Fireworks Display is free and begins at 9:30 pm at the Boulder County Fairgrounds (Hover & Boston). There is no parking at the fairgrounds so you'll need to join the herds of people in nearby parks or parking lots. Everyone has their favorite place but generally within one mile is best for viewing. Also, the Times-Call says this is supposed to be the best fireworks in years and, since they haven't been the greatest recently, I'm really looking forward to it! Here is the official Longmont fireworks page where you can read more about legal vs. illegal fireworks too!

Boulder - Folsom Field
The fireworks at Folsom Field are always a hit. See this page for info on parking, what you can and can't bring, etc.

Niwot
7:30-10:30 Pancake Breakfast in Cottonwood Square
11 am Parade from Cottonwood Square through downtown (kids and pets encouraged!)
11:30 - 3 Walking Tours, Kids Games, Live Music
More info one Niwot's Calendar of Events page

Elsewhere
I've heard the events and fireworks in Firestone are fun but we haven't checked them out yet.
Estes Park always has a great show over Lake Estes plus a pancake breakfast, music and classic car show if you want to make a day of it. There are also shows in Ward (who not surprisingly doesn't have a website! ha!) and Nederland that have a bit more small town feel.

Crackpots Preschool Stoytimes for Summer 2009

2009-06-11T23:57:00.001-06:00

Crackpots offers preschool storytimes over the summer where kids ages two to five can listen to a fun story and then paint a ceramic piece related to the story. These storytimes are offered on most Mondays and Thursdays over the summer from 11 am to about noon (or when you're done painting). Each one costs $12 plus tax per child and reservations are encouraged. The full summer schedule of books and accompanying ceramic pieces can be downloaded here. Call Crackpots at 303-776-2211 to reserve your child's spot today!

FREE movies at Twin Peaks 2009

2009-06-11T23:46:00.003-06:00

Sorry for the delay posting about this! Be sure to check out the Free Family Film Festival at the Twin Peaks Mall United Artists Theater at 10 am on Tuesdays and Wednesdays! Here is the schedule of remaining movies...

Twin Peaks 10

06/16/2009-06/17/2009
Mr. Bean's Holiday (G)
Journey To The Center Of The Earth (PG)

06/23/2009-06/24/2009
Charlotte's Web (G)
Igor (PG)

06/30/2009-07/01/2009
Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: Veggie Tale Movie (G)
Nim's Island (PG)

07/07/2009-07/08/2009
Horton Hears A Who (G)
City Of Ember (PG)

07/14/2009-07/15/2009
Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium (G)
Inkheart (PG)

07/21/2009-07/22/2009
Space Chimps (G)
Kung Fu Panda (PG)

07/28/2009-07/29/2009
The Tale Of Despereaux (G)
Hotel For Dogs (PG)

08/04/2009-08/05/2009
Doogal (G)
Spiderwick Chronicles (PG)