Quad Cities, IA or Iowa City- anything fun to do with a toddler??

[daniele_ut]

We are stuck in a very rural town on the IL/IA border this summer for my job. We've been here 3 weeks and have 3 more to go. DH and DS have reached their boredom quotient!! We're within a reasonable driving distance of the Quad Cities and Iowa City for day trips. Is there anything fun in either place to do with a toddler?? We can't drive much farther than that since we need to be back in town by 7pm or so for me to work at the show each night.

[aa2mama]

There's a children's museum at the Coral Ridge Mall in Coralville, and there's also a carousel and play area in the mall. If the weather cools off a bit, there's a zoo near Rock Island, IL. Also, City Park in Iowa City has train rides and carnival rides from noon to 8pm daily, along with a playground. There's also the Coralville and North Liberty aquatic centers that have pools and water slides. I don't know as much about what there is to do in the Quad Cities. Let me know if you'd like more info.

[writermama]

Um, What she said. :) I was about to post all of the same things about the Coralville Mall (the soft play area is a favorite with our DD) and City Park.

There's also a really nice children's section in the library in Iowa City near the university with a nice playground outside.

The rural town of Kalona near Iowa City has a historical village and while that in itself isn't likely to be a hit with the toddler set, they do have a festival in the fall (near the end of september, I think) that can be fun for the kids -- working antique tractors and farm equipment, live music, and booths with regional specialties like roasted sweet corn, kettle corn, and apple fritters. Also craft and antique booths for the grownups. It's also in Amish country, so there may be some Amish-related tourism opportunities (dining with a family, buggy rides) if you contact the local tourist bureau.

I haven't been to the Amana Colonies near Cedar Rapids since DD was born other than to eat at restaurants, but there might be some activities there for a toddler, too.

ETA links:

Iowa City Public Library:
http://www.icpl.org/parents/

Amana Colonies:
http://www.amanacolonies.com/welcome/index.html

Kalona website:
http://www.kalonaiowa.org/

It also looks like there's a water park near the amanas:
http://www.wasserbahn.com/

[daniele_ut]

Thanks so much Heidi and Karen! Those are some great ideas!! DS loves the soft play area at the mall near our home so I bet he'd love the one at Coralville Mall as well. With the hot hot weather we've having, it would be nice to do something indoors. We were out for about 2-3 hours today walking around in Pella, and it was brutal.

I'd heard about Kalona from a local here and that sounds like it might be a fun trip too, as does the water park! There is a small one in Burlington near here, but it doesn't look nearly as cool as the one you suggested. I'll keep investigating the links.

Thanks again!!

[tarahsolazy]

Nothing to add, just representing as another Coralville mama. I like the museum a lot, we just recently joined. Its a great way to kill a couple of hours. We like the North Liberty community pool best, there is a great shaded todder area there.

Karen, are you around here? I had no idea! Met Heidi at Hy-Vee one time, though!

[writermama]

If you decide to go to Kalona, I'd skip the tour (I just looked at that part of the site) -- it says kids 7-12 anyway.

The Cheese factory is easy to find -- right off the main road from Iowa City. It would be fun for a toddler to see the big tanks outside full of milk, and to watch the cheese making process -- they have nice big windows as you walk in (but beware the smell). Nice shop where you can buy curds and cheese made fresh there, plus lots of cheese imported from around the country and world. Free samples of many cheeses offered. Unless, of course, your child can't or won't eat dairy.

The Amish grocery store mentioned on the tour site is almost certainly the Stringtown Grocery. It's open to the public, and it's the next big building down the road from the Cheese factory. It is Amish owned and run, with gas lamps for light and generator powered freezers. Lots of Amish made preserves are for sale, bulk foods, the occasional pie and baked good as well. Interesting to browse. A toddler would probably like to see the hitching post where the buggies tie up. Whenever I've been there, there are usually one or 2 buggies or carts tied up.

In town, there's also a public "buggy parking" area on a side street off of main street -- it's not far from the town library. (Sorry I can't give better directions, but my memory is a bit fuzzy).

[pittsburghgirl]

Just saw this thread, I grew up about 50 mi from Iowa City.

Coral Ridge mall is great, the Children's museum is a lot of fun.

In the Quad Cities, if your DC is interested in tractors, the John Deere Museum in Moline is pretty neat -- you can climb up onto all kinds of different tractors. We haven't taken DS there yet, but would have this last trip (a few weeks ago) if we hadn't been booked up with a birthday party.

Marilee
mommy to James
http://lilypie.com/baby2/040120/1/1/1/-5/.png

[Momof3Labs]

How about Davenport and Galena for a day (or weekend) trip? I love both of those cities, though haven't been there for many years (pre-kids).

[daniele_ut]

Lori - We'd love to do a weekend trip, but the show we are working on runs Tuesday - Saturday evenings, and then we usually have a Monday evening rehearsal as well. The rehearsal got cancelled this week, though, because of an amazing thunderstorm! Too bad we didn't know in advance, though! Our only whole day off is Sunday.

What should we see in Davenport?

Again, thanks everyone for all the great suggestions! I should have done this last summer. It would have saved us a lot of boredom!

[JElaineB]

How did I miss this thread earlier? I live about halfway between Davenport and Iowa City. I work in Iowa City, but I used to work in Davenport.

You've got lots of good ideas for Iowa City, but for Davenport you might try the Family Museum (in Bettendorf, actually):
http://www.familymuseum.org/currentevents.htm

If you don't mind heading to Dubuque you can try the new aquarium:
http://www.mississippirivermuseum.com/main.cfm

Here's info on the Fejevary Park Children's Zoo in Davenport:
http://www.ci.davenport.ia.us/leisure/parks/fej.htm

Niabi Zoo in Coal Valley (adjacent to Moline):
http://www.niabizoo.com/

There are aquatic centers in Davenport, Bettendorf, Moline and Rock Island:

Bettendorf Splash Landing:
http://www.bettendorf.org/parks/aquatics.html

Davenport:
Fejevary Park Aquatic Center - http://www.weareqc.com/cdps/cditem.cfm?nid=10093
Annie Whittenmeyer Aquatic Center -
http://www.weareqc.com/cdps/cditem.cfm?nid=10100

Rock Island Whitewater Junction Family Aquatic Center: http://www.rigov.org/citydepartments/parks/whitewater.html

Moline Riverside Family Aquatic Center:
http://www.moline.il.us/departments/parks/family_aquatic_center.asp

There's a few other things on this "Best of the QC" kids' list:
http://www.weareqc.com/cdps/minorcat.cfm?cid=14&ckid=265

Also the Mississippi Valley Fair is Aug 1-6. It is a pretty big fair:
http://www.mvfair.com/

HTH! Anyone up for an Eastern Iowa meetup?

ETA: I'm not sure exactly where you are at, but Muscatine, IA has an aquatic center too:
http://ci.muscatine.ia.us/parks/pools.htm

Jennifer
mom to Jacob 9/27/02

[daniele_ut]

Jennifer - I don't know how familiar you are with the area, but I am in Nauvoo, IL. The closest crossing over the river to us is Fort Madison, Iowa. Judging by the drive we took to Pella on Monday, I think I'm about 2 hours from Iowa City, maybe 2.5. I'm not really sure if the Davenport area would be much farther or not. It seems like all of the map search engines have weird drive times. Mapquest, yahoo and Google Maps all said it would take 3-4 hours to get to Pella and it took barely 2.5.

I'm definitely thinking we'd like to try the Iowa Children's Museum next week. I'd love to try and meet up there or somewhere else! That would be fun!

[aa2mama]

Oh my goodness, I had never heard of the John Deere Museum. DS would be in heaven! I'll have to take him there.

[aa2mama]

If it's on a weekday, I would be up for a meetup.

[bcafe]

Marilee,
Where abouts in Iowa? I am from there too! NE corner though. Iowa City is a great town. My sister lives in Cedar Rapids.

[JElaineB]

I'm not too familiar with that area - you are out in the middle of nowhere, huh?!

Depending on the time of day (mornings would probably work), I would definitely be interested in a trip to the Children's museum/mall next week. PM or email me when you know you'll be coming.

Jennifer
mom to Jacob 9/27/02