You deserve a jammy day.
Everyone at some point deserves some time to just slow down, enjoy a cup of coffee and smell the roses. It’s tough though.
Life is busy. Kids. Work. In-laws. Chores. It is a never-ending list of obligations and responsibilities. Also, summer is about to hit, which will just amp up the difficulty.
Now, we’d like to say that we planned out our jammy day, blocked the calendar off and made it a priority to do absolutely freakin’ nothing on Sunday morning… but the reality is, thunderstorms woke the house up before 6 am, and well, we were just too tired to do anything. Sure, we got the coffee brewed, kids fed, and a diaper change completed, but out of our jammies? Nope. Thanks to the neighborhood gang ringing our doorbell, it was nearly lunch time before we got enough motivation to rid ourselves of morning breath.
Truthfully, it was exactly what was needed. The house might look a little worse for the wear and the lawn sits un-mowed, but... who cares?
Kids played a lot, maybe “snuck” some candy, and definitely watched too much TV. Mom and Dad veg’d a lot, maybe doomscrolled, and definitely fell back asleep on the couch.
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, 5/20
Dungeons & Dragons
Cedar Rapids Downtown Library, 4:30 pm - 6:30 pm
Bring your first-level character and your imagination, and be ready to dive in. Character creation and game tutorials are available for new players. All ages and experience levels welcome.
Brucemore: Explore the Landscape
Brucemore Mansion, 8 am - 4 pm
The 26-acre landscape highlights a variety of experiences to enjoy throughout the year! Free and open to the public seven days a week for a majority of the year, visiting the grounds offers the perfect way to immerse yourself in a historic country estate in the heart of Cedar Rapids.
Thursday, 5/21
Pizza & Games in the Park
Marion City Square Park, 4-6 pm
Tweens and teens are invited to celebrate the end of the school year with pizza and yard games, drop in anytime from 4–6 pm.
The library will provide pizza, soda, water and snacks, while Marion Parks and Recreation will supply a variety of yard games for participants to enjoy, as well as card games, a football and a soccer ball.
Touch-a-Truck
2nd St SW & Rose Ave in Swisher, IA, 5:30-7 pm
Come explore, climb, and play on a variety of vehicles including fire trucks, police cars, construction equipment, tractors, and more!
Read to Dogs
Ladd Library, 6:30 - 7:15 pm
Trained, certified therapy dogs provide companionship to emerging readers as they earn a free book and bookmark. Everyone is welcome to read to the dogs. Stay for a performance at 7 pm.
Friday, 5/22
Music on the Move
Unity Center of Cedar Rapids, 9:15 - 10 am
Join the Unity Center for 45 minutes of music and play while we explore songs, instruments, games, rhythms, chants, pitch, movement, sign language, and a variety of musical styles. Play and bond with your baby! Ages 6 months-6 years.
Reservation required, click here to register and pay.
Rock the Block
NewBo City Market, 6-8 pm
Rock the Block is NewBo City Market's free weekly concert series. Each summer a variety of local and national touring bands take the Bankers Trust Stage in the Market Yard and fill Friday nights with live music!
Saturday, 5/23
STEAM Saturday
NewBo City Market, 11 am - 2 pm
Cedar Rapids Water Treatment will be teaching our young audience about water systems and the importance of what they do for our community!
Bird Banding
Indian Creek Nature Center, 8 - 11 am
Join ornithologist Dr. Neil Bernstein for a special bird banding program. Be our guest and drop in at Penningroth Barn (6665 Otis Rd) anytime to watch Dr. Bernstein net, band, and release birds from Nature Center property.
Banding is a weather-dependent activity. Most birds are usually seen between 8:30 AM and 9:30 AM.
Sunday, 5/24
Hiawatha Farmer’s Market
Guthridge Park, 10 am - 1 pm
Explore a vibrant mix of vendors offering farm-fresh produce, homemade baked goods, handcrafted items, and ready-to-eat favorites.
Movie Marathon
The Yard (Kingston Yard), 4 pm
Enjoy 2 free movies featuring heroes big and small!!
4pm - Homeward Bound
6pm- Avengers
Bring your lawn chair and grab a spot on the lawn! Food and drink are available for purchase from Aroma Pizza, Big Grove Brewery, and Pickle Palace!
Monday, 5/25
MEMORIAL DAY
Tuesday, 5/26
Storytime @ Stillwater
Stillwater Coffee Co., 9:30 - 10 am
Perfect for little ones and their grown-ups, this free event features engaging books, lively songs, and joyful movement activities to get everyone giggling and grooving.
Doodlebugs - Channel Islands National Park
Marion Public Library, 10:30 am
There’s an underwater forest just off the coast of California that we’ll explore while we create undersea landscapes. Every Doodlebugs class starts with a story and ends with imagination and creation!
All ages are welcome, but book selection is ideal for ages 4-7.
Cedar Rapids Kernels vs. QC Bandits
Veterans Memorial Stadium, 6:35 pm
Bark in the Park/319 Night - $3 Burger & Hotdogs, $1 Stadium Popcorn, $9 Club Tickets
Purchase Tickets here
Grown-Up Getaway… 99 problems and a kid ain’t one.
Beer & Brass
Friday, May 22 and/or Saturday, May 23 at 7:30PM
Join Orchestra Iowa at Opus Concert Café for an evening of some music (dare I say some great throwbacks?) and craft beers. Concert starts at 7:30 each evening.
Orchestra Iowa Brass Quintet will be playing some classic hits through the decades. Pair your favorite tunes from Led Zeppelin, Queen, The Beatles, and more with great Iowa craft beers. PLUS, your first flight of beer is free with your ticket (you deserve it)! That’s So Cheesy will be on site serving up delicious grilled cheeses to pair with your Beer & Brass. We can guarantee you won’t get that damned Baby Shark earworm stuck in your head too!
Beer and Brass… dooo…doo… do.. dooo…doo.. dooo… Beer and Brass!
Knee-Slappers😂🤣
Kid Tested & Approved
Knock knock…. who’s there?
Pear…. Pear who? 🍐
Pear-haps you should open the door and find out!! 😉
Why did the cow go in the rocket ship? 🐮 🚀
To see the mooo-oon! 🌝 🤣
What did the one say to two? #⃣
Watch out for that three!!! 😆
🥁ba-dumm, tsssst…. 🥁
Memorial Day = Grillin’ Time
Greek Lemon Chicken Skewers
Ok, yes, you can throw some dogs, brats and patties on the grill… but we all know how to do that. Let’s step it up a notch.
The little ones might not be fans of tzatziki, but skewered and grilled chicken should be a hit! Worst case scenario? Just give ‘em some ketchup. (Ok, that probably is more like a best-case scenario).
Ingredients: 3 lbs chicken breasts (cut into bite-sized cubes), 1/4 cup olive oil, juice of 2 lemons, 4 cloves garlic (minced), 2 tbsp dried oregano, salt, pepper, pita bread.
Tzatziki: 1 cup Greek yogurt, 1/2 English cucumber (grated and squeezed dry), 1 clove garlic (minced), splash of lemon juice.
In a bowl, whisk olive oil, lemon juice, minced garlic, oregano, salt, and pepper. Add chicken cubes, toss to coat, and marinate in the fridge for at least 30 minutes (or up to 4 hours).
While marinating, make the tzatziki by mixing the yogurt, grated cucumber, garlic, and lemon juice. Season with a pinch of salt. Set aside in the fridge.
Thread chicken onto skewers (if using wooden skewers, soak them in water first, we don’t want them to burn away).
Grill over medium-high heat or pan-sear in a hot skillet for 5-7 minutes per side until fully cooked.
CRFW Pro Tip 👨🍳 : Remove chicken from skewers before serving. Cut pita into triangles and serve alongside tzatziki for dipping. We don’t want a skewer fight between siblings at dinners.
The plan for a side dish is to have some grilled, tin-foil potatoes. Create a tin foil boat with diced potatoes, some butter, good seasonings and a few tablespoons of water. Cover your boat with another sheet of tinfoil and plop that bad boy down on the grates. Cooking time is going to be longer than the meat, so start the potatoes 5-10 mins before you put the skewers on the grill.
Need to know Nuggets
Weather Report ⛅⛈
Wednesday, 5/20 | 63℉/43℉ | ⛅ |
Thursday, 5/21 | 65℉/48℉ | ⛅ |
Friday, 5/22 | 64℉/53℉ | 🌧 |
Saturday, 5/23 | 72℉/58℉ | ⛅ |
Sunday, 5/24 | 79℉/59℉ | ⛅ |
Monday, 5/25 | 83℉/60℉ | ⛅ |
Tuesday, 5/26 | 86℉/63℉ | 🌦 ⛈ |
We are going to be experiencing a noticeable cool down over the next few days, but then warming up into the long weekend, just in time for Memorial Day celebrations and the opening of pools and splash pads around the area.
Weather courtesy of KCRG.com
News Worthy Nuggets
Some interesting local stories from the past week:
Nate Kaeding plans 18-hole golf course near Iowa City, targeting 2029 opening - from Corridor Business Journal
Cedar Rapids airport lands $6M grant to modernize baggage handling under DOT program - from IowaNewsNow
Cedar Rapids NASCAR driver Joey Gase still living his dream - from Corridor Business Journal
Hills Bank buying part of former ACT campus in Iowa City - from Cedar Rapids Gazette
That’s it for this week.
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Enjoy the long upcoming weekend.
See you later! 👋