Stuff to Do in Cedar Rapids

Hi, again! I think I just responded to your other question about pediatricians. :-)

My son is the same age as yours and is also a huge fan of escalators and elevators - especially the see-through one at Lindale! It's a little harder for us to get out now that it's winter and I have a 2-month-old daughter also, but there are plenty of things to do around here. We like the Playstation, which is a big indoor series of tunnels, slides, ladders, and even a huge ball pit. They have toddler-friendly stuff that isn't as hard towards the front and that's great because the older kids aren't running over the little guys!

We also go to the malls or Menard's in Marion - it's actually a home improvement/hardware store, but they have a fun Christmas display right now that keeps my son enthralled for a good 20 minutes and also have an indoor play area that is meant to showcase what you can purchase for in your yard. You need a coat on while playing there in the winter because it is enclosed, but not heated well, but after several days of being cooped up inside it's worth it to let my son RUN and climb for a little bit! :-)

There is a store called Birth, Baby, and Beyond that not only sells hard-to-find retail items like cloth diapering supplies, slings, pump accessories, etc., but they also offer a ton of classes and play groups. I believe it's the Thursday morning one that is for toddlers, but you can check the schedule on their website.

I direct a children's choir on the weekend at the Cedar Rapids Symphony School and they offer preschool-age programs such as Music Together classes and Pied Piper concerts that talk about the different instrument families in the orchestra. The classes are a bit pricey, but the concerts are free! Birth, Baby and Beyond offers similar music classes that are much more affordable.

The Cedar Rapids public library offers Toddler Time and Story Time activities a few times a month, generally on Friday mornings. So far the "Toddler Time" ones are better for my son's attention span, but we're looking forward to when he's a little older and can do the other ones, too!

If you're up for a little Saturday morning trip, you can go 30 minutes down I-380 to Coralridge Mall. They have a carousel, a nice play area, an ice-skating rink, and they are also the home to the Iowa Children's Museum which is, in a word, awesome! Even for toddlers - there is more to do than you could possibly cover in one trip and the price isn't bad for a once-in-a-while special thing to do.

We do parent-baby swimming at the YMCA on Saturday mornings and there is also a kids-type gym in Marion that my friend takes her boys to. I don't know the info on that but I'll find out and e-mail you since your son is used to that type of activity.

When I'm really desperate for something to do, I check KCRG TV9's website. They are a local news station and they have a "Local Events" tab along the top of the page that lists area activities by date and time. It's a great way to find out about random "kids days" at various businesses and churches. Some of our best adventures have come from browsing through this site!

Another thing that keeps me sane is belonging to a MOPS group. It stands for Moms of Pre-Schoolers and there are several groups around town that meet at various times, usually twice a month. The children go to "Moppettes" rooms with awesome child-care volunteers that play with them and sing songs and do crafts while us mommies get to chat with other mommies, have goodies, drink our coffee/hot cocoa while it's still hot (how often does that happen?!) and listen to a small presentation from either a guest speaker about various woman/motherhood issues or from the mentor moms who have been where we are and have wisdom to share! I attend the one at New Covenant Bible Church but I know there are others.

Other than that, we are really involved with activities at our church. We attend Central Church of Christ on 1st Ave. and 15th street and love it because there's Sunday school even for little ones, a fun nursery for during service, we go to a Bible study Tuesday nights that is known as "the one with all the kids" (we take turns watching them so everyone else can actually pay attention to the lesson!) and they do Mom's Day Out once a month where you get a couple hours to go shop by yourself without someone asking for snacks or a toy! The women in our Bible study are starting up a Friday morning play group for Jan.-April to help get us through the boring winter and we also get together for girls' nights and our husbands get together for gaming nights. It's nice to have several other 20- and 30-something families with similarly-aged kids!

I hope you are no longer lonely or bored in Cedar Rapids! Here are links to several places and websites that I mentioned. If you'd like more information on any of them or a play-date buddy, feel free to e-mail me on here!

http://www.theplaystation.com/

http://www.birthbabyandbeyond.org/

http://www.orchestraiowa.org/Content/Symphony-School/Earl...

http://www.crlibrary.org/programs/

http://www.theicm.org/

http://calendar.kcrg.com/events/

http://www.central-church-of-christ.com/

http://www.mops.org/

My 2.5 year old daughter and I love to go to The Iowa Children's Museum (truly worth the membership fee), the play areas at all the local malls, and music classes and play groups at Birth, Baby, and Beyond. We also go to some of the CR Library programs, especially the summer storytime programs at Bever Park. Oh, and speaking of summer, there are some great splash pads scattered about town that are a toddler-friendly alternative to the huge (but crowded) city pools. There are 2 moms clubs, too, on the north and south side of town. If you need any contact info, please let me know. Welcome to the area! And don't worry - the winter will eventually end, I promise!

Welcome to CR! Good luck adjusting to the ice this week! :) We REALLY like to go out to Indian Creek Nature Center and attend their preschool programs. Your son might be a little bit young for them, but Miss Margret does Toddler Tracks programs about once a season. Also, check out the Science station in Lindale - not as cool as ICM, but A LOT cheaper and they have story hour with CRPL once a month. Prepared to be inundated with activities during the summer...Hyvee usually has the CRPL's schedule on their book return at the beginning of the month.

When we moved here from AZ I found myself in the same situation. My kids did like to go to the playstation. Also the libraries in the area have good activites and you have three to choose from. Depending how you manage the cold out here there are good walking trails. Then there are several churches with groups for mom's with young kids. Welcome to CR.