Weekend Plans: Disney Jr. Live, kindergarten kickoff, car show, orchard tour, more

Here’s what’s happening in the weekend family fun department. As always, check WRAL.com’s Out & About calendar for more ideas.

Disney Jr. Live on Tour stops at the Durham Performing Arts Center for three shows Friday. The show features Disney Jr. favorites Sofia the First and Jake and the Never Land Pirates. Tickets range between $23 and $63 plus fees. Ten minutes before each show, there’s a Doc McStuffins preshow. Check the website for detail about all of the special effects during the show, including strobe and flashing lights, fog and confetti.

The Paperhand Puppet Intervention continues its run of its big annual summer show, a tradition for many Triangle folks. This year, it’s called “Invisible Earth.” The show, with live music and puppets of all sizes, shapes and forms, is described as a “paradoxical pageant of hope, impending doom and planetary possibilities,” on Paperhand’s website. The show begins at the Forest Theatre on the campus of UNC-Chapel Hill where it runs through Sept. 8. Shows are Friday, Saturday and Sunday and Labor Day. Tickets are a suggested donation of $12 for adults and $8 for kids at the door. Nobody is turned away for lack of funds. It moves over to the N.C. Museum of Art for shows Sept. 13, Sept. 14, and Sept. 15. Tickets at the art museum shows are $17 for adults, $8.50 for kids ages 7 to 12, and free for kids ages 6 and under.

For rising kindergartners, Marbles Kids Museum helps to kick off the start of the school year during its Kickoff to Kindergarten from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday. The event is free for rising kindergartners and their parents. It includes a pretend lunch line, opportunity to board a school bus, gym class and more. Read my earlier post for more information. Marbles will be open to the public on Saturday, but know that all of the activities will be geared toward rising kindergartners.

Just up Hargett Street from Marbles, Nuvonivo, a new children's apparel store, will celebrate its grand opening while also helping to sponsor Saturday's kindergarten kickoff. The store, which features high quality play clothes from Germany and Canada, will place all apparel in the store from 30 percent to 50 percent off. The first 250 customers also will get a back-to-school gift. From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., the store will have a steel drummer outside for some fun entertainment. I stopped by the store the other day and will have more about it on the site tomorrow. Really cute stuff in sizes 3 months to 12. The store is open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday.

Koka Booth Amphitheatre’s Movies by Moonlight series offers a couple of PG-13 movies that will appeal to the tween and teen set. The schedule features “Les Miserables” on Friday and “Pitch Perfect” on Saturday. Tickets are $3. Kids 12 and under are admitted for free. The gate opens at 7 p.m. The movie starts around 8:30 p.m.

The fourth annual Carolina Classics at the Capital returns to the Raleigh Convention Center and features more than 300 muscle cards, collectibles, street rods, show cars and more inside and outside the downtown center. Vendors also will be selling auto-related merchandise. Hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Sunday. Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for kids ages 7 to 12 and free for kids 6 and under. Military and senior citizens get a $2 discount on tickets.

Millstone Creek Orchards in Ramseur will host a Family Fun Day at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m., Saturday. Learn all about how fruit is grown and harvested while enjoying fruit tasting, picking, a hayride and a nature scavenger hunt. Tickets are $8 (free for kids 2 and under). The sessions last about 90 minutes. Reservations are required. Early apples are in season.

Snow Camp Outdoor Theatre, will present “Sleeping Beauty” this weekend. It’s one of several shows at the theater, about 30 minutes west of Chapel Hill, this summer. It’s set for 10 a.m., Saturday. Tickets are $5.

WakeMed Health & Hospitals will celebrate the grand opening of its WakeMed Garner Healthplex, 400 U.S. Highway 70 East, with an event and free pancake breakfast. It’s from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., Saturday. The morning includes a teddy bear clinic, tours of emergency vehicles, crafts, games and a visit from Twinkle, WakeMed Children’s mascot.

We have consignment sales in Raleigh, Apex, Morrisville, Fayetteville, Sanford this weekend. Check my earlier post for more.

Saturday is Melon Day at the Carrboro Farmers’ Market. Starting at 8:30 a.m. Saturday, the market will feature all kinds of samples of watermelon and cantaloupe, including Crimsom Sweet, Aphrodite, Jenny, Lamar and Tasty Bites. They’ll also have tastes of melonberry popsicles. Sampling continues while supplies last. Kidzu Children’s Museum will host some activities for younger shoppers, including a melon seed spitting contest and instructions about how to grown their own watermelon at home. While supplies last.

In Cary, the Western Wake Farmers’ Market will host a back-to-school health fair from 8 a.m. to noon, Saturday.

A Gluten and Allergen Free Awareness Expo is 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday, at the Durham Convention Center at Marriott Center City, 301 W. Morgan St. in Durham. Tickets are $10. Kids under 13 are free. College students get $3 off admission at the door with a student ID. The day includes talks and information about gluten free living, cooking demonstrations, live music and more.