More about Playfair Toys closing

The owner of Playfair Toys left a comment below and since I want you all to see it I'm reposting it up here!

"Dear Longmont Moms: We tried hard to stay open, but ever since Penneys left our sales have declined to the point where they do not give us enough support to remain open. I wish things were different, but they are not. Meanwhile, we are really beefing things up in Boulder so that it's well worth the trip! I know it's not the same as a walking the mall with your stroller, but with only one location we will be a much stronger store. To thank our valued Longmont customers for making the trip to Boulder, we are giving out coupons (at Twin Peaks) for free book bags or $5 Professor PlayFair t-shirts to everyone who visits as we wind down after a fun 3 years in Longmont. Thanks so much for your support!
Marilyn Walker
Owner and Mom"

Thanks, Marilyn! The Boulder location of Playfair Toys is located at 1690 28th Street (which is on the west side of the 29th Street shopping district). Their website is http://www.playfairtoys.com.

Once Upon a Child grab bag event

So much to post about today! :) Once Upon a Child is having a grab bag event on Saturday, February 2nd, from 10 am to 6 pm. Apparently you can put as many clearance items as you want in one bag and pay only $10! And who doesn't love a deal on kids clothes?!?

Once Upon a Child is a kid's consignment store located at 700 Ken Pratt Blvd, Suite 207, which is in the shopping center in the northwest corner of Ken Pratt and Main St. Their website is www.ouac.com. Happy shopping!

After school science classes at the Longmont Museum

From the Longmont Museum's e-Buzz e-mail newsletter:

After School Science classes at the Longmont Museum
For Ages 4 through 11

Dolphin Joy Playshop – 5-part series
For ages 4 to 5
Through games, art, puppets, stories, and play we’ll explore the joyful world of dolphins. Discover what dolphins eat, where they live, and many more interesting facts. This class is interactive, experiential, and open ended.
Tuesdays, April 1, 8, 15, 22, 29, 4:00 – 5:30 pm
$100/$90 members (for all five classes)

Fur, Feathers and Fins
For ages 4 to 7
What is a mammal? Can all birds fly? How can fish breathe? With creative costumes and fun hands-on activities students explore these special creatures and their habitats.
Wednesday, March 26, 4 – 5 pm
$12/$10 members

Marine Biology
For ages 5 to 7
Kids will discover the watery world of jellyfish, sea horses, sharks, and other ocean creatures as they touch and explore museum specimens.
Wednesday, April 2, 4 – 5 pm
$12/$10 members

Electronics Lab
For ages 8 to 11
In this popular hands-on-lab, kids will learn how modern solid state electronics work by building live circuits with transistors, resistors, and capacitors. Funding for the electronic board components provided by Lucent Technologies.
Wednesday, March 19, 4 – 5 pm
$12/$10 members

Cool and Creative Chemistry
For ages 8 to 11
Students will become energized as they explore how chemical reactions fuel living systems that are important in metabolism, respiration, photosynthesis, and bioluminescence.
Wednesday, April 9, 4 – 5 pm
$12/$10 members

Preregistration is required for all classes. Register online, call 303-651-8374, or come by during Museum hours. Financial aid is available; call 303-651-8374 for information.

Playfair Toys closing

I've heard that the Playfair Toys store in the Twin Peaks Mall is closing and is therefore having a huge sale - 50% off everything! It's sad to see our mall wasting away! Get over there and get some deals while you can :)

Added an email feed

A reader asked that I provide a link for you to subscribe to this blog without having to use a feed reader so I've done that! Simply enter your email address in the box in the column on the right and you'll receive an e-mail whenever I post something new! Exciting stuff, huh? :)

Closing the poll

The poll about your kids' ages has been on the right side of this blog for almost two months now and it's closing today! The final numbers came in at 6 kids under 1, 21 ages 1 to 2, 22 ages 3 to 4, 23 ages 5 to 7, 13 ages 8 to 10 and 4 votes for What kids? I realized later, of course, that there should have been an option for kids over 10 but since I have little ones and I began this site with their age group in mind, the older ones slipped my mind! :) Anyway, thanks for participating in the poll! I'll try to come up with another question to put up there soon!

Shop at Borders?

Found this in the St. Vrain Valley School District's monthly newsletter, The Clarion:

Borders Books in Longmont, located at 1101 Hover, will donate 10 percent of sales on Saturday and Sunday, February 2-3, to St. Vrain school libraries. Coupons for the sale can be obtained from school librarians. Shoppers with the special coupons will also receive 10 percent off on their purchases.

By the way, if you're interested in reading the rest of this month's newsletter or having it emailed to each month, visit this page on the District's website!

2008-2009 school year

It’s that time of year when we have to start thinking about where our children will be attending school next year! In our house that means trying to decide which preschool will set our child on the path to excellence (haha) but for others of you it might be finding out more about kindergarten and trying to decide whether your neighborhood school is best or if you should open enroll somewhere else. School choice is great but it requires a lot of work for the parents! :)

Here’s a preliminary list of Longmont preschools, some of which are more daycare-like, others that are more traditional preschools, and some offer kindergarten too. If I missed one, please leave me a comment or send me an email and I’ll update the list ASAP!

Bright Horizons East Longmont – http://centers.brighthorizons.com/elongmont/index.cfm
Bright Horizons West Longmont – http://centers.brighthorizons.com/wlongmont/index.cfm
Early Learning Center - http://www.elckids.com/
Gateway Montessori School - http://www.gatewaymontessorischool.net/
Goddard School - http://www.goddardschool.com//Schools/Longmont-CO/Schools.gspx
Junior Jets – (no website?) 303-682-2543
KinderCare - http://www.kindercare.com/our-centers/center-details/000432/
Longmont Children’s Council (Head Start) - http://www.longmontchildrenscouncil.org/
Longmont Christian School - http://www.longmontchristian.org/
Longmont YMCA Preschool - http://www.longmontymca.org/preschool.asp#cc
Messiah Lutheran Preschool – https://messiahlc.ctsmemberconnect.net/home-ctrl.do
Morningside Montessori – (no website?) 303-651-9786
Mountain Peak Private School – http://mountainpeakschool.com/
Neighborhood Learning Center – (no website?) 303-652-0190
Primrose School - http://www.primroseschools.com/Schools/Default.aspx?schoolID=228
Rocky Mountain Christian Academy – http://www.rmcaonline.org/
Scribbles Academy - (no website?) 303-485-9313
Shepherd Valley Waldorf School - http://www.shepherdvalley.org/
Small Wonders Preschool (City of Longmont) - http://www.ci.longmont.co.us/rec/childrens/preschool.htm
Sonshine Preschool and Daycare - http://www.sonshinedaycare.com/
St. John the Baptist Catholic School - http://johnthebaptist.org/HTML/School/index.htm
St. Stephen’s Preschool - http://www.ststephenslongmont.com/courses.asp?id=49229&page=6&shopperid=&showsite=true
Sunset Academy - http://www.sunsetacademy.com/
Tiny Tim Developmental Preschool - http://www.tinytimcenter.org/

The St. Vrain Valley School District offers preschool in some of its elementary schools and the school board will decide tonight whether to expand its preschool offerings to more elementary schools next year. There will also be announcements soon about which schools will offer full-time, tuition based kindergartens. Here’s a link to a Times Call article about the school district board meeting tonight: http://www.timescall.com/news_story.asp?ID=5957. If your child will be going to kindergarten in the St. Vrain Valley School District this year, be sure to contact your neighborhood school or the district (http://www.stvrain.k12.co.us/) for more information about kindergarten registration as that typically happens early in the year! Also, it might be helpful to visit the Colorado School Accountability Reports website (http://reportcard.cde.state.co.us/reportcard/CommandHandler.jsp) to compare test scores and such. Best of luck!

Great site for local kid activity coupons

I visit this family of websites often but I don't think I've ever linked to them here! ColoradoKids.com and BoulderKids.com each have great info on area restaurants, schools, events and, best of all in my opinion, coupons! The offers are updated often but right now they include $2 off at Silly Scissors, $10 off a Family Paint Pass at Crackpots, and Buy one, get one 1/2 off at BounceTown. Check them out!

Crackpots Summer Camp Info

Crackpots has posted the registration form for their summer camps on their website. Here is the info:

Princess and Pirate Camp
Age: best for kids 6 and up (completed kindergarten)
Cost: $90 (+tax on materials) per 5 day session
Dates: 6/9 - 6/13 from 9 to 10:30 or 7/14 - 7/18 from 9 to 10:30
Kids will paint a bank, box, plate, plaque and figurine.

Do the Dishes Camp
Age: best for kids 6 and up (completed kindergarten)
Cost: $90 (+tax on materials) per 5 day session
Dates: 7/7 - 7/11 from 9 to 10:30 or 7/28 - 8/1 from 9 to 10:30
Kids will paint a dinner plate, salad plate, soup/cereal bowl, mug and ice cream bowl.

Animal Kingdom Camp
Age: best for kids 6 and up (completed kindergarten)
Cost: $90 (+tax on materials) per 5 day session
Dates: 6/16 - 6/20 from 9 to 10:30 or 8/11 - 8/15 from 9 to 10:30
Kids will paint animal figures as well as a box, plate and message board with an animal motif.

Multimedia Art Camp
Age: best for kids 7 and up (mainly because of the glass work)
Cost: $110 (+tax on materials) per 5 day session
Dates: 6/23 - 6/27 from 9 to 10:30, 7/21 - 7/25 from 9 to 10:30 or 8/4 - 8/8 from 9 to 10:30
Kids will experiment with a different medium each day - clay, mosaics, painting, glass fusing and more!

You can find the registration form here: http://www.ecrackpots.com/camp_pdfs/Brochure_Summer%20Camp08_Side1_Outlines.pdf.

Sunflower Farms Summer Camp Info

Sunflower Farms has published its summer camp schedule on its website! Here's the info:

Time: 9:30 to 1:00; three consecutive days.
$125 total for three days.
Age: 3-10 yr.

Each summer camp session begins promptly at 9:30 and ends at 1:00. (Wed, Thurs and Friday; June 4 - Aug 15). Camps are designed to inspire curiosity and creativity and give children a sense of rural lifestyle. Sign up for several sessions—these camp mornings are never the same. Wildly Creative! Each morning we break into groups based on ages: 3-4, 5-6, 7-8. and 9-10 Wednesdays and Thursdays provide a loosely structured general overview of the farm which includes activities such as animals, art, work with nature, gardening, old fashioned play, and water fun. On Fridays we allow plenty of ample time for kids to concentrate on special areas of interest, such as horses, treehouse fun, group games, etc. Five to one ratio guarantees each child is accounted for every second! Swimsuits (for sprinkler play) under clothes please. Sunscreen must be applied by parent. Please pack a sack lunch.

Session Dates
Session 1 June 4, 5, 6
Session 2 June 11, 12, 13
Session 3 June 18, 19, 20
Session 4 June 25, 26, 27
Session 5 July 9, 10, 11
Session 6 July 16, 17, 18
Session 7 July 23, 24, 25
Session 8 July 30, 31, 1
Session 9 Aug. 6, 7, 8
Session 10 Aug. 13, 14, 15

You can download the registration form here: http://www.sunflowerfarminfo.com/IMAGES/Summer_camp_registration.pdf.

Mud Hen Run

From the Spring 2008 Longmont Recreation brochure:

3rd Annual Mud Hen Run
5K Run/Walk at Lake MacIntosh
Saturday, April 26th at 10 am

Youth/Senior registration fee: $10 early bird / $15 after 4/18
Adult registration fee: $13 early bird / $18 after 4/18
Early bird deadline ends Friday, April 18th

Registration forms are available March 3rd at the St. Vrain Memorial Building, Longmont Rec Center and Centennial Pool.

Underwater Easter Egg Hunt

From the Spring 2008 Longmont Recreation brochure:

Underwater Easter Egg Hunt
Saturday, March 15th, 1 pm to 3 pm
If you think the Easter Bunny's eggs are hard to find, wait until you have to retrieve them from the bottom of Centennial pool! Geared for 3 to 12 year olds, cost is $2 per swimmers, $1 per on-deck spectator.

Sounds fun :)

Colorado's Presidential Caucuses

Colorado's Presidential Caucuses will be held on Super Tuesday, February 5th! If you are a registered voter and had declared your party affiliation prior to December 5th, 2007 you can participate in the caucus to help determine the next President! To read more about how caucuses work, check out this page on the Boulder County Clerk's website. To check your voter registration status (such as which party you're affiliated with), click here. To find your caucus location, check here if you're a registered Democrat and here if you're a registered Republican. And of course before you go there you should have an idea who you'd like to caucus for or at least which issues are most important to you. I found this quiz from Minnesota Public Radio helpful in determining which candidates match up the best with my most important issues. The results page also has links to all the candidates' websites so you can visit the ones you're interested in and read more about what they would do as President! So, get out there and participate in our representative democracy, k? :)

Edited 2/2/08: I love seeing that stats on how many people are getting to this post by searching for "Longmont Super Tuesday locations" or "How do Colorado Caucuses Work?" I think it's cool that you all are doing your research! 9News' Decision '08 pages are also really helpful in understanding the process and gathering information about the candidates. Have fun!

Drop-in spots available at Sunflower Farms

Drop-ins are available for the Sunflower Farms Sprouthouse program for the month of January. You can sign up for one spot or several. It's a great way to try out this program! For details visit their website: http://www.sunflowerfarminfo.com/ or call 303-661-0954.

Ages: 2-4

Drop-ins available: Tuesday mornings (2 spots): Jan 8, 15, 22 and 29 from 9:30 to 12:30
Tuesday afternoons (2 spots): Jan 15, 29 from 1-4

Cost: $30 per session

Check out my previous post about this program for a bit more info too!

Sledding hills?

The site meter service I use lets me see the search terms that got you to this site if you use one of the big search engines like Yahoo or Google and it's interesting to see what brings visitors here. One search term that's used frequently is something like "Longmont sledding hills" and since I haven't come up with a list I need your help! The hills I'm aware of are at Sunset Middle School (on the soccer fields I believe) and Skyline High School. We go to some small hills in our neighborhood but our kids are little and I'm sure there are better ones around town. Where do you go like to go sledding? Leave a comment by clicking on the comments link below this post or send me an email!

Rec Center and YMCA classes

There are new sessions starting at the Rec Center and YMCA in the next couple weeks. Check out the Rec Center's winter brochure here: http://www.ci.longmont.co.us/rec/activities/brochure.htm and the YMCA's schedule here: http://www.longmontymca.org/Downloads/Winter_07-PG_web.pdf. As always, each offers fun classes for kids like swimming, tumbling, art, dance, sign language, and many sports!

Think Local

I missed posting about the Buy Local week that was held December 1st through 9th. It was a time when we were supposed to be doing our Christmas shopping at locally owned retailers. Anyway, sorry I missed that but I thought you might want to see the list of businesses that are locally owned so you can shop or eat there first! I like supporting other Longmont residents, don't you? :) You can find the list here: http://www.longmontsba.org/thinklocalfirst/directory.html. It includes many businesses I already love (Abbondanza Pizzeria, Bead Lounge, Daily Times Call, Deli Cioso, Mike O'Shay's, and Ziggi's to name a few) and many other places I'll be checking out first when the need arises!

Hockey and Ice Skating Lessons!

Skating Lessons are offered on Thursdays at Longmont's outdoor ice rink in two five weeks sessions - January 10th to February 7th or February 14th to March 13th. Hockey is also offered for kindergarteners on up to adults starting on January 8th! Get all the info you need on the City's ice rink site: http://www.ci.longmont.co.us/rec/icerink/index.htm. Have fun!

Tumblebooks through the Library

Did you know that our local library subscribes to a service called Tumblebooks where you and your child can read books online, play games, and learn other languages? Check it out - http://www.tumblebooks.com/library/asp/home_tumblebooks.asp! Looks like a great way to occupy the kiddos for a while during school breaks :)

Storytime with dogs at the Longmont Library

Go to the Longmont Library this Thursday, January 3rd, for "Performing Palz" - a dog show for all ages. Times are 10:15 until 10:45 and 11:00 until 11:30. 125 people will be seated at each performance; tickets will be given out beginning 30 minutes before each show. A great way to spend some time inside on a January day!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year Longmont! I haven't posted in a while but I just wanted to say that I hope your holidays were great and that you were able to spend some quality time with your families while hopefully participating in some fun activities in Longmont! :) I know we enjoyed Longmont Lights, the Holiday Parade, fireworks, ice skating, Bouncetown, Santa and the Santa train at the mall, and several great Longmont restaurants.

I look forward to sharing more fun area events with you in 2008!

Also, thanks for participating in the poll about your kids' ages! I'll definitely include more classes and events for older kids when I come across them. As always, if you know of something I should include here please let me know! You can always leave a comment by clicking on the comments link below each post or send me an email. Thanks!