One of these days, I'm going to work a later shift (or maybe I'll just use a vacation day) and take my daughter to the movies.
It's so tempting, especially with all of the free shows for kids playing at area cinemas.
The Great Escape Moline 14 is promoting its free summer shows, which play at 9:30 a.m. every Tuesday and Wednesday. Check out its ad in this newspaper to see which kids' movie is playing. (As I write this, they are showing "The Tale of Despereaux.")
Across the river, Showcase Cinemas 53 in Davenport is beginning its Bookworm Wednesdays - which allows kids to see a free movie in exchange for a book report - this week. At 10 a.m. each Wednesday, children 6 years and older with an accompanying adult can turn in a report and catch a kids' movie at no charge. Grownups and kids younger than 6 can get in free without a book report. (Thank goodness, right?)
A schedule of movies and book report forms are available online at showcasecinemas.com, where I found that this Wednesday's flick will be "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa." For more information, go online or call (563) 441-0200.
Also, various parks departments around the Quad-Cities are holding free outdoor family movie nights, including a recent one at Vander Veer Botanical Park in Davenport.
If you'd like a small town experience, check out the Cinema at Central Park summer series in Aledo, Ill., about 30 minutes south of the Quad-Cities. The next outdoor show - "Top Gun" - will play at dusk July 23, followed by "Kung Fu Panda" on Aug. 8 and "Remember the Titans" on Sept. 12, according to www.aledo-il.org.
And don't forget the 61 Drive-In in Maquoketa, Iowa. It's an easy drive north from Davenport, offering a back-in-time (and inexpensive) evening for the whole family. The Web site even offers coupons: www.maquoketa.com/ 61drivein. To get the show schedule by telephone, call (563) 674-4367.
Maybe some of you know about other family movie events in the Q-C region this summer. If so, fill us in.
Fitness for free, too
Always wanted to try yoga? A new business called Hot Yoga Quad-Cities in Davenport, is offering free hot yoga classes on Saturdays this month.