If you or the corporation you work for would like to sponsor or purchase a horse, you can contact NAM at 281.885.4555.  You will work directly with the artist on the selection of the artwork for the house and the painted horse will be available for display at your home or business for several weeks prior to the Jeans & Jewels gala. What a great and fun way to support a local charity that does so much for the Northwest Houston area.

The Vintage Park shopping center is located at the corner of Louetta and Hwy 249.

The other day when I was driving from my house in Spring Texas down Louetta to the Prudential Gary Greene office, I saw the signs and without a calendar I knew the Fourth of July will soon be here.  What were the signs?  They were big and red and rectangular and located along Louetta on just about every corner from I-45 to Hwy 249.  They were fireworks stands.

The red fireworks stands show up twice a year.  As Texas State law permits the sale of consumer fireworks for 24 days each year from June 24 through July 1st and December 20th through January 1st. 

Spring Texas is located in unincorporated Harris County and fireworks are LEGAL in unincorporated areas of Harris County.  There are some restrictions on where the fireworks can be set off such as they can’t be ignited within 600 feet of churches, schools, hospitals, asylums, or licensed child care centers. 

If you are moving to Spring Texas, one thing you should know is Texans love fireworks and I do mean love fireworks.  So expect to hear a lot of noise and some great local fireworks displays around the Fourth of July holiday. If you don’t like fireworks, then maybe you will at least appreciate the $30 million in extra tax revenues that is generated each year from fireworks sales in Harris County. 

Enjoy your Fourth of July and if you decide to have your own fireworks display please be careful.

To have a Winter Olympics medal winner from Spring Texas is just a tad bit unusual because if you haven’t noticed we don’t get a lot of snow.  A lot of heat, yes.  But a lot of snow, no.  

Chad Hedrick grew up in Spring Texas on roller skates. By the age of two, Chad was skating at Champions Roller World.  The skating rink that was and still is owned by his parents.

Chad revolutionized inline speed skating with his technique known as the double push.  In 2002, Chad switched to the ice. In 2006, he competed in his first Winter Olympics in Turin. He won a medal of every color.  Chad won a gold medal in the 5,000 m, a silver medal in the 10,000 m, and a bronze medal in the 1,500 m speed skating events.

Come out and congratulate Chad and wish him well in his future endeavours off the ice.  Strack’s restaurant is located at 5707 Louetta Spring TX 77379. 

 Congratulations, Chad!  You have done us proud!

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If you are looking for a place to celebrate New Year’s Eve and enjoy a fireworks display, you should consider going to Sam Houston Race Park  for the evening.  They host a fireworks display that they state is ”the largest in town” and they are probably right as there are few organized fireworks displays for New Year’s Eve. 

If you want to stay home for New Year’s Eve and would prefer to watch a live fireworks display instead of one on your television set, just step outside your house and enjoy your neighbors fireworks display. Residents of Spring Texas LOVE shooting off  fireworks of all kinds.  

The difficult part is trying to plan your evening around your neighbors fireworks display because there is no set time for the fireworks displays to begin.  They just start some time after dark and end some time in the wee hours of the morning.  The exact wee hour of the morning the fireworks end I don’t know exactly know.  As I usually fall asleep before some of my neighbors are done celebrating.

However you decide to say farewell to 2009 and hello to 2010, don’t drink and drive, be careful when setting off fireworks, and have a good time!     Okay, now I officially sound like your mother but I just had to say it.

Local newspapers and television stations, Southern Living , FOX News, and the Travel Channel  have all written stories about or done programs on the Christmas lights adorning the homes in Prestonwood Forest.

Just about every home in the Prestonwood Forest subdivision of 750 homes gets involved in the Nite of Lites event. With almost every block in the subdivision choosing a different holiday theme. One of the themes is based on “The Night Before Christmas” in which each home on the block displays a page of the story.

The subdivision hands out awards for “Best House”, “Best Block”, “Runner-up Block”, “Best Mailbox”, “Best Door”, and “Best Lamp Post”

Estimations are around 15,000 people drive through Prestonwood Forest and view the Christmas decorations and lights display during the Nite of Lites event.

The 2009 Nite of Lites begins on December 12th and continues through January 3rd. The homes lights are on Monday – Friday 6 pm to 10 pm and Saturday – Sunday 6 pm to 11 pm.

The Prestonwood Forest subdivision is located South of Cypresswood about 2 miles East of HWY 249.  If you need better directions, just click on the map.

The residents of Prestonwood Forest take their Nite of Lites event serious. So serious ….. that included in the sale of their homes are the Christmas decorations.

For those who have never been to Old Town Spring , it is considered the birth place of Spring TX back in the 1800s.  Today, Old Town Spring is a quaint town of 150 speciality shops and restaurants. 

During their ”Home for the Holidays” celebration the town is decked out with lights, ornaments, garlands, and bows.  Santa is in his house ready to hear little girls and boys wish lists, a smaller scale train takes the kids for a ride around the square, strolling musicians entertain, and the shops have their holidays goods out ready to tempt you.

If you get hungry after all that shopping, I recommend you order the fried pickles at Puffabelly’s.  They are delicious!

With numerous things to do and see in and around the Spring Texas area, a staycation may be just the answer.  The good news is there are loads of things to do that don’t require you to empty your wallet to enjoy them.

To help you answer the question of  “What’s there to do?”,  I have put together a list of ideas: 

1. Enjoy a night at the movies at the Silverado IMAX or double your fun by watching a movie and eating dinner at the same time at the Movie Tavern.
2. Take in a concert at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion or the Sam Houston Race Park.
3. Spend a day visiting the numerous museums located in the Houston Museum District or stay even closer to home by visiting the Pearl museum or the Children’s museum in the Woodlands.
4. Get wet and cool off at your neighborhood’s swimming pool or take a plunge at Splashtown.
5. Try your luck fishing at Meyer Park or Burrough’s Park
6. Travel to some far away land and time by becoming absorbed in the book you borrowed from the Barbara Bush Library.
7. Enjoy a new release movie on the cheap by renting from RedBox for $1.08 a night.  RedBox is becoming more popular and available at many Walgreens, Walmart, and McDonalds.
8. Run away and watch the circus.  The Ringling Bros. Barnum and Bailey Circus is performing at Reliant Stadium from July 19th – 26th.
9. Explore the Woodlands waterway with a ride on one of its water taxis.
10. Go out to Minute Maid ball park and root, root, root for the home team and buy some peanuts and Cracker Jack.
11. Be a tourist and spend the day browsing through the 150+ shops and restaurants at Old Town Spring.
12. Break routine and try out a new pizza joint or tex / mex restaurant.
13. Play games at the Main Event.
14. Watch water dance to music and lights at the Woodlands water fountains.
15. Visit the Houston Zoo and see if you can talk to the animals.
16. Explore the hiking trails at Mercer Arboretum and appreciate nature’s beauty at Mercer’s Botanical Gardens
17. Pick blueberries at Neal’s blueberry farm.
18. Spend the day pursuing the aisles of IKEA.
19. Practice your ice skating at the Galleria’s ice skating rink.
20. Enjoy an ice cone at Brusters.

With so many ways to have fun in and around the Spring Texas area, get out and enjoy yourself.  Don’t let a lighter wallet be the reason you stay inside all summer because there’s lots of things to do on the cheap. Enjoy your staycation!!!

Photo taken of the Splashpad at Gleannloch Farms

The majority of our Spring Texas Neighborhoods have their own private community parks, playgrounds, swimming pools, and some even have lakes for catch and release fishing.  If the kids are looking to venture out a little further beyond their own subdivision a great way to enjoy a Summer day is at the SplashTown Water Park located at I45 and Louetta in Spring.

Don’t forget about our wonderful public park system including Collins Park and its extensive playground equipment, basketball courts, and skate park and Meyer Park with its paved and non-paved trails, playground equipment, soccer fields, 3 acre lake for catch and release fishing, and duck pond.

A great way to end a Summer day is with a Sno-Cone from one of the many Sno-Cone stands located on Louetta or an Ice Cream Cone at Oscar’s Creamery or Brusters.  No matter what you do get out and enjoy the Summer because it will leave just as quickly as it arrived.

Photo is of the Splash pad in the WindRose subdivision.

Read also:  Average Temperatures in Spring Texas

The neighborhood kids came out for the event with their Easter baskets in hand and wearing their Easter finery.  The kids had a great time hunting eggs and getting their pictures taken with the Easter Bunny.

For the last five years I have been donning the Easter Bunny costume for the event.  I felt a little awkward the first year I was the Easter Bunny but the awkwardness immediately went away as soon as the kids came running to give me (A.K.A… the Easter Bunny) a big hug. The Easter Bunny Event has become one of my favorite days of the year as I receive more hugs on this day than any other day of the year.

Usually I take the majority of the photos for our Spring Texas Real Estate Blog but not on this occasion as I was in the bunny suit. Instead the photo credit goes to Rick Ratchford, my husband and fellow Spring Texas Real Estate Agent, who found time to snap a few shots in between handing out candy to the neighborhood kids and eating a few pieces of candy himself.