Things to Do in Mission Bend

The Katy Home & Garden Show—where expert contractor John DeSilvia, a familiar face on various DIY Network programs, will speak—inspires homeowners with access to dozens of home-improvement businesses. From fundamental services such as homebuilding and landscaping to design details including lighting, blinds, and curtains for garden-gnome homes, attendees can seek out the advice of a diverse panel of area professionals. Additional attractions include design seminars with Susan Fruit as well as a gift market and gourmet-food samples.

At Tilt Studio, black lights shine down on mini golfers playing 18 holes, the glow of neon green, pink, and orange fixtures lighting up their faces. Paintings of grinning roller-coaster riders look down on them as they shoot for hole-in-ones, sending balls flying beneath a bright blue replica of the Eiffel Tower. In the jungle-themed laser-tag arena, players duck behind mock rocks and hide in the shadows beneath luminescent images of twisting pythons and laser-toting apes. This jungle theme extends into the arcade, where players will see a snarling King Kong picking a helicopter out of the air. By filling their space with neon and larger-than-life decor, Tilt Studio transports patrons to another world, much like the elevator that connects Earth and Mars.

Merlot 2 Masterpiece's encouraging art instructors guide fledgling van Goghs in reproducing images on canvas with a flurry of colorful brushstrokes. Each of their painting classes escorts up to 30 students though the creation of a preselected composition, which ranges from landscapes and holiday themes to still lifes and blurry moving lifes. The studio provides all attendees with canvases, brushes, and paints, and welcomes students to bring their snacks and bottles of wine. Artistic expression chugs along to the beat of up-tempo music, easily muted to accommodate student solos. Merlot 2 Masterpiece regularly updates its locations' schedules with listings of dates, times, and featured paintings for each class.

Paintball warriors can prepare for their next big adventure at Pro Edge Paintball, which houses an extensive selection of paintball guns, ammunition, protective gear, and other game accessories. Lonely trigger fingers can find suitable mates in the form of paintball markers from top brands including Spyder, Tippmann, and Luxe. Protective gear such as masks and goggles, pads, and combat-ready pants help clients run fearlessly into enemy fire, and new air-tank systems ensure paintballs fly fast and true. Pro Edge Paintball complements its exhaustive inventory with a repertoire of maintenance services to repair common deficiencies such as a crooked barrel or a pacifistic trigger.

Messages such as Are You Game? and Bang are scrawled in glow-in-the-dark graffiti on the black-lit walls of one of Indoor Tactical Sports' paintball and airsoft fields. The two-story facility, which declares itself the only indoor paintball arena in Houston, is air-conditioned to a crisp 65 degrees and houses a total of four fields where players can shoot at their friends with no-cleanup Reball paintball pellets or BBs from Airsoft guns. To ensure fair play, one referee for every 10 players patrols the fields and prevents participants from shooting their opponents in vulnerable spots, such as the working screenplay they carry around. In the gear shop, players can rent all the gear necessary to play, including guns, masks, ammunition, and air canisters. Visitors can also buy equipment or bring in personal guns and gear for repairs.