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Tag: Crosswinds community

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Family Fun Kyle Kyle Texas Lifestyle

Get Outside in Kyle, TX

Image from The City of Kyle - Local Government Facebook

Although winter has technically just begun, many parts of Texas are already feeling like spring with crisp mornings and warm afternoons. Whether you are looking for more ways to spend days outside or you have more free time on your schedule this time of year, whatever the case may be, here are just a few ways to get outside and discover (or rediscover) all that Kyle has going on.

 

County Line Polo Club – Did you know that Kyle has its polo club? That’s right, you can try your hand at the sport of British aristocrats without having to jump aboard a flight to England. The County Line Polo Club is a local polo club open to the public that specializes in teaching aspiring and skilled equestrians the sport of polo. The club’s instructors offer both individual classes as well as team training to individuals of all ages. The club even has matches for riders to show off their mallet-swinging skills. 

 

If you’re looking to try a new sport this year, you just found it. Giddy up!

 

Sports and Rec Leagues – Perhaps you prefer sports that don’t require you to climb aboard another animal… we get it. The Kyle Parks and Rec Department has options aimed at more traditional sports with winter and spring leagues. 

 

Adult sports leagues include roller hockey as well as kickball, which kicks off at the end of this month. If you’re looking for something a little more low-key, there’s also the adult spring fishing tournament happening in April – with a cash jackpot!

 

Kids aren’t left out of the fun as they have their youth fishing tournament, as well as leagues for basketball, swimming, and hockey in the winter and spring months. 

 

City Parks – Sometimes making the most of the great outdoors can be as simple as going for a walk. Two of our favorite places to take in some natural beauty are Lake Kyle and Mary Kyle Hartson City Park. 

 

Lake Kyle is a wonderful spot for a morning or evening walk and is a popular destination for fishing. Birding enthusiasts will also enjoy visiting this park, with herons, ducks, egrets, and other species of waterfowl calling the lake home. Starting in early spring, Lake Kyle is a great place to enjoy some beautiful wildflowers, including a large population of Bluebonnets, the Texas state flower. 

 

Mary Kyle Hartson City Park is a small but charming park and has been part of the city since the early 1900s. It’s a great place for enjoying your lunch break outside or killing some time with the kiddos. In 2020, the city made several improvements including a playground, picnic tables, a rain garden, and a 20-foot-wide promenade. 

 

Plum Creek Golf Course – Kyle is in close proximity to some of the best golfing in Texas and if you’re looking to hit the links in the new year, then you’ll want to check out Plum Creek Golf Course. The 18-hole public course is surrounded by the “natural beauty of Texas live oaks, limestone, rolling hills, and Texas wildflowers,” making each drive down the fairway all the more impressive. 

 

The course also offers private lessons, a pro shop, and bar and grill for guests to enjoy a meal or cocktail before tee time. 

 

There’s plenty more Kyle has to offer when it comes to outdoor recreation. If you’d like to learn more about finding a home in this wonderful city, contact the Crosswinds team today. 

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Uncategorized

Ways to Give Back this Holiday Season

While the holidays are a time of cheerful winter decorations, festive traditions, and shopping for that perfect gift for the ones we love, it’s also a time of great need for those who don’t have access to basic necessities and resources.

 

Whether offering your time, donating food, toys, and necessities, or making a financial contribution, there are many ways to give to the less fortunate in Hays County and make a difference in your community. 

 

SAFE Holidays 

 

SAFE is dedicated to “serving the survivors of child abuse, sexual assault and exploitation, and domestic violence” in the greater Austin area. Many of the people served by the organization are women and children with nowhere else to turn. With programs ranging from counseling to emergency shelter and housing assistance, SAFE has been the beginning of a better future for countless individuals. 

 

Ways to give this season: 

 

  • Sponsor a SAFE wishlist to purchase gifts for adults and children in the program.
  • Stock the shelves and provide much-needed items for SAFE’s shelters. 
  • Volunteer your time with the organization.
  • Make a monetary donation that will help SAFE to continue fulfilling its mission. 

 

Toys for Tots

 

Toys for Tots is a program that’s dear to the U.S. Marine Corps and has been brightening the Christmas season for millions of children since 1947. Right here in the Austin area, the program provides over 40,000 toys for more than 34,000 children! Every fall, Marines, organizations, businesses, and other volunteers gather new, unwrapped toys to distribute throughout Burnet, LLano, Blanco, Hays, Travis, Williamson, Bastrop, and Caldwell Counties.

 

How to help:

 

  • Buy a toy online or drop one off at a recognized Toys for Tots location.
  • Volunteer your business to be a drop site.
  • Volunteer to help wrap and distribute the toys to those 34,000 children.

 

Operation Turkey

 

Operation Turkey is a 3-day series of events aimed to ensure everyone in the Austin area has a warm meal to enjoy on Thanksgiving. The program started on 6th street in Austin and has now spread to six more states, pulling in around 30,000 volunteers along the way. This year the three events include a Gumbo Cookoff Fundraiser (Nov 20), Turkey Tailgate (Nov 23), and Operation Turkey distribution (Nov 24).

Get involved:

 

  • Volunteer your time at one of the three events.
  • Get your organization or business involved in fundraising for the program.
  • Make a financial donation to help Operation Turkey provide Thanksgiving meals.

 

Central Texas Food Bank

 

The Central Texas Food Bank provides free groceries for thousands of families and individuals throughout the year, but the holiday season is often one where it sees the highest demand. Accomplishing the food bank’s goal of providing healthy and nutritious food to those in need wouldn’t be possible without volunteer and financial community support. 

 

Make an impact:

 

  • Volunteer at one of their mobile pantries.
  • Volunteer in the food warehouse, community kitchen, or garden.
  • Donate food or offer a monetary gift.

 

The holiday season is a great time to be a resident of Kyle, with festive cheer, generosity, and fun throughout the end of the year. To learn more about all Kyle has to offer and how you can find a home here, contact the team at Crosswinds today. Crosswinds is a master-planned community that offers families beautiful homes and great amenities. Visit our website to learn more.

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Events Family Fun

Kyle Summer Camp & Field Trips

Kyle Texas Summer Camp and Field Trips

Ask your kid (or even better, your kid’s teacher) and they’ll probably be able to tell you down to the hour when summer vacation begins. Summer in Texas is so much fun. Yes, it’s hot, but there’s an endless array of things going on and it’s the ideal time for many families to take a vacation. What about those weeks before and after the big family vacay though? 

 

The kiddos are going to need something to keep them occupied and the city of Kyle offers a day camp program aimed at engaging kids in a “healthy and active lifestyle; rather than sitting on the couch and playing video games all summer.” Let’s face it, by the second week stuck at home, everyone is probably going to have a bit of cabin fever and the city’s day camp program not only offers daily activities but two field trips a week, all at an affordable price. 

 

Why Kyle Summer Camp is the Best Deal in Town

Overnight summer camps can be a lot of fun, but they also come with their fair share of drawbacks. For starters, they can be pretty expensive and they’re only becoming more costly with experts in the camp industry predicting the cost of a week at summer camp to be 15% more expensive this year. 

 

Not every kid does well at a week-long overnight summer camp. Younger children, in particular, can be more prone to homesickness, and if you’re having to drive a couple of hours by day 3 to pick up a child who’s not having a great time, well, consider yourself in for a dose of the summertime blues.  

 

With Kyle’s Summer Camp program, campers begin arriving each day at 7 A.M. and can stay at the camp as late as 6 P.M. This means mom and dad don’t have to worry about leaving the kids home during the week or packing a week’s worth of stuff for an overnight camp stay. Campers will have the opportunity to participate in daily arts and crafts, games, and sports such as archery, fishing, and swimming. One of the most fun aspects of Kyle’s Summer Camp program is that each week brings something different with two field trips a week to area attractions such as McKinney Falls State Park, Urban Air trampoline park, and Dart’em Up Austin. 

 

Summer Camp Details

Kyle’s camp program is spread out over eight weeks and runs from June 6th through July 29th. The camp program is designed for elementary through middle school-aged children and is broken up into two camps: 

 

Voyagers: children entering 2nd through 5th grade.

Adventurers: children entering 6th through 9th grade. 

 

The camp runs Monday through Friday from 7 in the morning until 6 in the evening at Wallace Middle School. The program does not supply breakfast or lunch, so children will need to eat before they arrive and pack a lunch with them each day as well as a water bottle. Camp is $150 each week per camper. This cost covers all daily activities including field trips as well as two daily snacks and two camp t-shirts. 

 

Parents can learn more about the summer camp program and sign up on the City of Kyle website. 

 

If you’re interested in finding a home in Kyle, reach out to learn more about available homes at Crosswinds. Crosswinds offers a variety of amenities, new homes from the area’s top builders, and an ideal location for families of all lifestyles. 

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Homeowner Tips Lifestyle

How to Get to Know your Neighbors

Neighbors in Kyle, TX

Becoming friends with your neighbors is one of the best things about living in a master-planned community. Great neighbors can keep an eye on your home and surroundings, they can lend a helping hand, and they can make community events so much more fun!

Whether you’ve never met the family next door, or you spend time with your neighbors daily, here are some tips to help you get connected to the people around your community!

  1. Connect with Your Neighborhood Online

It sounds like meeting neighbors online defeats the purpose, but it can be a powerful way to meet and cultivate your relationships with people in your community. Some neighborhoods meet on NextDoor or establish a private Facebook group where they can report problems, ask questions, notify items delivered to the wrong house, and lost pets. Many people also use it to ask for local vendor recommendations. 

Many master-planned communities also have a homeowner’s association (HOA). Sometimes they have a website, an email newsletter, or both. Depending on your community, a HOA often plans community resident events which is a great way to meet others in your community. Talk to your HOA to find out what resources they offer!

  1. Create a Social Committee

Some HOAs have a lifestyle director or a committee to oversee neighbor parties and gatherings. Neighborhoods may hold a variety of events that target different groups such as families, women only, kids, or adults only. If your neighborhood doesn’t have an organization that coordinates planning events, consider taking charge and creating one, or move to a community that already has lifestyle programming in place. Having resident events often leads to great friends, which would be a wonderful way to improve the quality of life for you and your family. 

  1. Provide a Neighborhood Directory

Before creating and distributing a neighborhood directory, send a survey to your residents. Give them the opportunity to share information for the direction and to give you permission for publishing their information. If you have a private Facebook page, you can upload the directory to the page for neighbors to access. Be sure to email it as not everyone may be active on Facebook or whatever social network you use.

As you collect information for the directory, add an item about babysitters, or similar services. Parents of young kids will appreciate having access to qualified babysitters right in their neighborhood. Add a question about pets’ names and descriptions as well as the names and ages of kids (if permitted to publish). If a pet without an ID tag ever gets lost, the neighbors can refer to the directory to see if they can identify the owner.

A good directory sorts the entries in two ways: alphabetically and by street address. This comes in handy because you may not know their name, but you know where they live. 

You may not be able to choose your neighbors, but you have many choices when it comes to where to live and what type of community you want to raise your family in. And you never know—your new neighbors could be your child’s best friends for life.

To stay on top of great resources from Kyle and nearby, connect with us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Looking to move to a community with year-round lifestyle events for residents? Meet the Kyle home builders or contact our Crosswinds team.

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