Clients often ask if I slow down in the Summer and the answer is always something along the lines of “well, sort of”. During the Summer months I still have as many sessions as I do throughout the rest of the year: July is one of the busiest months for newborns and because so many of my clients take vacation time and have more flexible schedules during the warmer months, I also have a lot of family sessions. The only difference for me is that, unlike the rest of the year, my boys are home with me all day.
I run what I affectionately refer to as “Mom Camp”, which still allows me to get my work done while also giving me the chance to spend time doing fun activities and outings with the boys. Every day we do something together for a few hours or half the day and then for the rest of the day I work. Sometimes it means my workday starts at 3 pm and ends at 10 pm and other times it means I work a split shift but the pieces of the work / Summer fun puzzle somehow come together. The boys usually go to camp for two weeks, which gives me time to get caught up on my editing and administrative work, but now that they’re older I’m able to work during the day without 637 interruptions.
Our latest Mom Camp adventure brought us to the Canadian Museum of Nature to re-visit the Butterfly exhibit and to check out the new Pterosaur exhibit, which is only at the museum until September 2nd. As members of the Museum, both exhibits were free however if you don’t have a membership there is an additional cost to visit both of the special exhibitions.
We arrived as soon as the doors opened at 9 am, which is our favourite time to visit in order to avoid the crowds. You need to pre-book a time to visit the Butterflies because the exhibit is small and there are a limited number of visitors allowed in at a time. While you are waiting there is an area to create origami butterflies as well as exhibits about the butterflies and the life cycle of the butterfly.
It’s warm in the butterfly exhibit so make sure to wear layers and if you love the idea of butterflies landing on you, wear brightly coloured clothes. And much like cats butterflies, seem to be drawn to those least interested in interacting with them, as my oldest son can attest too 😉 Walking amongst flying insects isn’t on his top ten list of ways to spend a morning.
After spending time with the butterflies we headed upstairs to the new Pterosaur exhibit, which is on the fourth floor. There are several interactive components to the exhibit including a giant magnetic puzzle, costume area for little ones, as well as flight simulator games, and an activity station where a staff member can explain how the giant dinosaurs flew and their similarities with modern birds and bats. I would recommend visiting the exhibit first thing as I could see how the interactive components of the exhibit may become crowded later in the day and they were definitely the highlight for my boys.
Make sure to check out the giant moon sculpture in the atrium of the museum as well as the Visions of our Solar Systems Exhibit.
