The Giving Tree
One of my favorite books as a child was The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. I am not really quite sure why that was? I probably just thought that the tree and the boy being friends was silly… little did I know…
Every time we read it now for bedtime, man…. it is a gut-punch of reality right into the feelz, just a dagger to the heart. Parenting is tough.
You give. You give again. You give and give some more. And then you give again.
Day after day.
Week after week.
Your apples, your branches, your trunk, all given because of love.
We wouldn’t have it any other way.
Have fun this week.
Adventures Ahead📅📅
Check out some below happenings in the CR area!
Have an event suggestion? Just click here and let us know what it is.
Wednesday, 7/15
Crafts for Kids: Bright Dot Fish Sign
Hiawatha Public Library, 10-10:30 am
Make it at the library or take it home! Limited to the first 74 kiddos.
Family Fun Nights
Bever, Cherry Hill, Jones, & Noelridge Pools, 6:30-8:30 pm
Bring a parent/guardian and enjoy family time at the pool.
$3/person admission
Thursday, 7/16
Barnyard Boogie
Hiawatha Library, 10-10:45am
This class encourages creativity, coordination, and listening skills while children sing, stomp, and imitate their favorite barnyard friends with Miss Carly from Orchestra Iowa.
Early Morning Story Time
Ladd Library, 10-10:00 am
A fun-filled story time for children ages 2-5. This high-energy story time features stories, songs, and bubbles!
Collins Aerospace Community STEM Day
Collins Aerospace C Avenue Complex, near Building 112 entrance, 9am-2pm
Hosted in partnership with Collins Aerospace, Community STEM Day features a STEM fair with more than 100 engaging activities guests can wander freely among, food trucks selling delicious bites, and live music.
Paper Plane Exploration
Cedar Rapids Downtown Library, Beems Auditorium, 6:30-7:30 pm
These are not your average paper planes! Explore a variety of paper plane styles and test them against each other to figure out which design works best. Materials will be provided.
All ages are welcome.
Five Seasons Water Ski Show
Ellis Blvd., Ski bleachers, 7 pm
Food truck will be Cancun Mexican Grill & Bar
Friday, 7/17
K-Pop Demon Huntress Storytime & Sing-along
Hiawatha Library, 10-11am
She's a pop star by day and demon huntress by night. Hear her story, sing along with a K-Pop Demon Huntress, and don’t forget the photo opportunity afterward!
Your Library at Daniels Park
Daniels Park, 11:30 am - 1 pm
Each stop will feature an all-ages story time at the start of the program, followed by a variety of activities and giveaways with our Mobile Technology Lab.
Participate in the Summer Reading Challenge and hang out with our friends at the Rollin' Recmobile while you're here!
All ages welcome!
Sarsaparilla Friday
Ushers Ferry, 12-1 pm
Step into the old-time saloon at Usher's Ferry and enjoy a classic treat! Every Friday from June through August, stop by for Sarsaparilla, old-fashioned soda pop, and cold drinks, while the village is open to explore.
Saturday, 7/18
Cedar Rapids Farmers Market
Downtown Cedar Rapids, 7:30 am - 12 pm
Mix and mingle in downtown CR! Whether you’re shopping for the week or simply enjoying the atmosphere, the market is the perfect place to gather, explore, and support local.
Breakfast Bingo
Chick-fil-a Blairs Ferry, 8:30-10am
Bring the family, grab your favorite breakfast entrée, and get ready to win some awesome prizes.
Amana Colonies Kinder Day
Amana, 10am-3pm
This summertime event invites families to spend the day enjoying kid-friendly activities, interactive games, and cheerful entertainment throughout the villages.
Music Under the Moon
Klopfenstein Amphitheater @ Lowe Park, 7 pm
Enjoy live music at the beautiful Lowe Park amphitheater. Bring a blanket, cooler and lawn chair. Concerts begin at 7 p.m.
Sunday, 7/19
Hiawatha Farmers Market
Guthridge Park, 10am-1pm
Whether you’re shopping for the week or simply enjoying the atmosphere, the market is the perfect place to gather, explore, and support local.
Family Nature Experience
Indian Creek Nature Center, 1-2pm
During this program your whole family will participate in a hands-on activity under the guidance of a summer naturalist, like pond dipping, sweep netting for insects, a fossil dig, or a nature hike.
$5/person, 2 and under are free
Buy tickets here
Your Grandpa and Grandma’s Farm
Center Point Historical Society Depot Museum, 2pm
“Your Grandpa and Grandma’s Farm,” by Dr. Richard Tyler, Iowa City, a slide show about farming in Iowa in the first half of the 20th Century.
Monday, 7/20
Goat Story Time
Hiawatha Library, 10am
Get ready for a fun and exciting visit from Tamra of Go-At It Land Stewardship! She’s bringing along her goat, Dash, who loves to make new friends!
Let’s Get Moving!
Marion Library, 10:30-11am
Join us for a morning of dance and movement! This program is hosted in partnership with Prestige Dance Studio.
Food Challenge - Make a Bat Snack
Fairfax Library, 2-4pm
Come join us to make a delicious bat shaped snack!
Monday Movies - Hercules
The Yard, 6pm
Bring your family, a blanket, and a lawn chair to the ImOn Stage and enjoy a FREE showing of Hercules, thanks to International Paper.
Tuesday, 7/21
Messy Art - Pony Bead Animals
Fairfax Library, 2-4pm
Join us and make your own pony bead animal to take home!
Incredible Bats
Hiawatha Library, 4-5pm
During the program, Kim White of Incredible Bats will introduce their Egyptian fruit bats and African straw-colored fruit bats, offering a rare opportunity to see these gentle animals in person and discover what makes them so unique.
Teen Maker Club: Zippered Pouches
Cedar Rapids Downtown Library, 4:30-6:30 pm
Teens will decorate a canvas zippered pouch using CriCut stencils and fabric paint. Experience with Cricut is helpful, but not required.
Registration will close on July 17, 2026 @ 11:00pm.
Grown-Up Getaway… 99 problems and a kid ain’t one.
Cypress Hill: Once Upon a Time in the Summer 2026 Tour
📍 McGrath Amphitheater, Cedar Rapids
📆 Tuesday, 7/21 @ 7 pm
Insane in da membrane
(Insane in the brain)
Insane in da membrane
(Crazy insane, got no brain)
How did they know that’s how we feel when the kid strips down naked and runs around in the front yard??
Pack it up, pack it in, let us begin!
Cypress Hill will be in CR, performing for you! They’ve debuted at #1 on Billboard’s Top 200, garnered three GRAMMY® Award nominations, and went triple platinum in the U.S. As a result, Cypress Hill became the first rap group to have two albums in the top 10 of the Billboard 200 charts at the same time and are the first Latino-American hip-hop group to achieve platinum and multi-platinum success.
Get your tickets here.
Gif by uofcalifornia on Giphy
Knee-Slappers😂🤣
Kid Tested & Approved
Knock knock…. who’s there?
Pecan…. Pecan who?
Pecan somebody your own size! 🙃
Why did the rabbit go to the barber? 🐰 💈
It needed a hare-cut!😅 💇
What do you call a shark that delivers toys? 🦈
Santa Jaws! 😆🎅
🥁ba-dumm, tsssst…. 🥁
Gif by cbc on Giphy
Bon appétit! It’s time to eat!
Cheesy Corn Casserole
Ingredients
1 can whole kernel sweet corn
1 can creamed corn
1/3 pound Velveeta
1 ½ cup elbow pasta (or your favorite variety!)
Seasonings to taste (salt, pepper, garlic powder, Ms. Dash, Cavender’s, etc.)
1) Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Dice up your Velveeta into ½ inch cubes for faster melting.
2) Combine all ingredients into a casserole dish. Do not drain the whole kernel corn. (You may want to add 1/3 cup of water or 2T of butter if you think it looks a bit dry.)
3) Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil, stir, bake another 10-15 minutes or until noodles look fully cooked.
4) Remove from oven and enjoy! This reheats well the next day, too.
Need to know Nuggets
Weather Report ⛅⛈
Wednesday, 7/15 | 92℉/70℉ | ⛅ |
Thursday, 7/16 | 93℉/72℉ | ⛅ |
Friday, 7/17 | 92℉/73℉ | ⛅ 🌦 |
Saturday, 7/18 | 92℉/69℉ | ⛅ |
Sunday, 7/19 | 89℉/69℉ | ⛅ |
Monday, 7/20 | 89℉/66℉ | ⛅ |
Tuesday, 7/21 | 84℉/62℉ | ⛅ |
Hot hot hot…
Weather courtesy of KCRG.com
News Worthy Nuggets
Some interesting local stories from the past week:
‘Playing for my family’: Cedar Rapids Kernels players respond to deadly earthquakes back home - from KCRG
Building permit issued for new Cedar Rapids data center - from Corridor Business Journal
Iowa corn silking jumps ahead following hot, dry week - from KCRG
After weeks of decline, gas prices jump up 19 cents in Iowa from IowaNewsNow
Some insight to our crazy minds
So why the tree for CR Family Weekly Logo?
Well, you might be thinking of the previously aforementioned The Giving Tree. If so, you are only partially right.
First, we wanted an image that tied to Cedar Rapids. We are the City of Five Seasons. Our city logo is a tree; there is a tree statue downtown (or was? The flood wall construction has been going on for years it seems, pretty sure the statue is still there). A tree made sense for a Cedar Rapids focused newsletter. 5 seasons? We’ll let the City explain that to you → the 5th season is the time to enjoy the others.
Life is the sum of all the seasons with which it is filled. And if we have time to enjoy the things most important to us, life is rich and full indeed.
In Cedar Rapids there is time enough... time to enjoy the seasons as they pass. Extra time. Precious time. A fifth season.
Life is rich and life is certainly full with kids. Time goes quick, you blink and the kids are older. We probably should all try to take some time to step back and enjoy what we got.
Secondly, The Giving Tree is a prime metaphor for parenthood. So, why not have a tree also be the symbol for a weekly newsletter that gets sent to parents! It almost made too much sense to go with a tree logo… If you haven’t read it yet, please go and read it. Amazon will ship it to you overnight.
And lastly, our household is five people. We awkwardly take up nearly a whole airplane aisle, can’t ever sit down quick at a restaurant, 2 shopping carts for every grocery run… Anyways, I digress, our logo has five branches.
That’s it for this week.
Thanks for putting up with some sappiness regarding parenthood. Since you made it to the end, congrats!
If you have any thoughts or ideas to spotlight, please don’t be a stranger.