It’s Labor Day weekend, and that means the unofficial end of summer and wrapping up a few special things before they end for the season.

On Saturday afternoon, we took the kids down to the Durham Museum for a rare visit outside the Christmas season. They had a dinosaur exhibit that was wrapping up, so we wanted the kids to have the chance to check it out. They got to walk around with dinosaur feet, ride on a glider, and climb on a rock wall in a semi-education maze that had various bits of dinosaur trivia on the panels (as well as some plush triceratops to “ride” on).

Of course, we also had to check out the trains, walking through a few passenger cars and checking out a few new compartments that had previously been shut away, including an overnight car with a sink and some mirrors. Then we headed home for a family movie night watching Trolls 2 over a dinner of Aldi pizza.

Then on Sunday, after I finishing a bit of a painting project around the house, we took the kids for one last trip to a splash pad as a family before they closed down for the season. We hit the one at Seymour Smith Park, where we’d taken the kids nearly every year since they were little. It was a bit chilly in the mid 80s, but we all got a chance to get wet, getting dunked on by the tripping buckets, walking through the spray with the kids, and taking a few hits from a water cannon or two.

Then we dropped by Chester’s Chicken on the Run (formerly Krispy Krunchy Chicken) at 36th and Chandler for dinner on the way home.

Then on Labor Day, Nathan had us over for a cookout at his new house down in Lincoln. He grilled some burgers out in his backyard, and Cheryl brought some Korean-style sushi, kimchi (which I added to my burger) and some Filipino flan. Hannah had some fun with bubbles, picking a few apples growing in Nathan’s backyard and climbing on one of the trees while Aaron got some quality time with Uncle Jonny, watching a video game over his shoulder. Then we all got a workout playing a dance game on Nathan’s Nintendo Switch before we headed on home.

September is well underway now, which means our slew of fall activities will be right around the corner (including Vivian’s birthday). Stay tuned for all of that coming soon.