I think that one of the best things about working from home (aside from having business meetings over Skype while wearing pajamas) is that my schedule is flexible. I still have to get certain things done each day but I don’t have to account for every single second of my day as long as I’m done when I go to bed. That meant that when Hayley’s teacher sent a letter home saying the grade one students were going to the Montreal Biodome as part of their current rain forest studies, I was able to sign on as a volunteer parent.

The Biodome is seriously one of my favorite places in all of Montreal. I’ve been there more than ten times now and I never get tired of it because there’s always something to see that I missed the time before. There are still countless animals that I have never even seen yet.

Anecdotally, the first time I went there was about 13 years ago. I worked at Second Cup as a Barista and I hated it because the boss was a sexist pig who screamed at the girls – even in front of customers – for the same mistakes that were overlooked if it was one of the guys. I was standing in the metro station, waiting to go to work and decked out in my black uniform shirt, a black skirt, and striped tights. I had absolutely no desire to subject myself to another day of crap, and I suddenly noticed an advertisement on the wall for the Biodome. I thought, “you know, I still haven’t been there. I bet that would be more fun than being screamed at for minimum wage.” And so, when the metro came, I got on and I didn’t get off at my stop. I went all the way there, spent – literally – eight hours at the Biodome, and then came home. While walking around and looking at animals and birds I decided life was too short to put up with that and I quit.

Anyway, there was no question that I was going to go and volunteer for Hayley’s field trip. I was thrilled when two other moms that I know pretty well also volunteered. It was a lot of fun. The kids enjoyed it a lot, and I think they learned quite a bit too. It will be so helpful for them as they keep studying this segment, having seen some of the rain forest with their own eyes.

It was also a bit stressful, just because it’s a huge responsibility to be keeping a bunch of kids safe. I had five kids in my group, Hayley and four classmates. I swear, I spent so much of the day counting heads over and over and over that by the time I crawled (exhausted) into bed, I was still saying “1, 2, 3, 4, 5… 1, 2, 3, 4… where’s?! Oh. 5. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5…” Still, I never lost anyone. Lost track of one from time to time, but always found them within ten seconds. Thank God, because no one wants to be that person who says, “uhhh, I lost your kid. My bad.” Also, for anyone who thinks that little boys are scary, they totally aren’t. I love having two girls, but there were two boys in my group that were just awesome and so cute. One insisted on holding my hand everywhere we went, and the other never stepped more than two feet from me. Awww!

Of course, there are other ecosystems, not just the rain forest, and as was to be expected, the penguins were a HUGE hit with the kids.

We spent about an hour or so at the Biodome, then we gathered to have lunch in the cafeteria. After that we had a majorly long walk to the Botanical Gardens so that we could go through their greenhouses. The kids were a little bored. I understand because I was too when I went in elementary school – at that age you just don’t care about plants and flowers. Now, as an adult? I would love to go back for several hours with my camera and just take a billion photos.

What they did love was the “Butterflies Go Free” exhibit. In one huge greenhouse there are hundreds of butterflies just fluttering around. Sometimes they land on people, sometimes they just hang out on plants. They have fruit platters out and there were always several butterflies getting their fill. They were just spectacular. I couldn’t get a shot of my favorite unfortunately, which was this beauty. When they flew up high, the light filtered right through their wings, making them glow a little.

This guy never even flinched when I closed in for a photo. So amazing.

We were also supposed to go to the Insectarium but by the time we got out of the butterfly exhibit and made the long walk over there we only had five minutes to check it out. I did get to show Hayley cockroaches though (the enormous ones from tropical areas, ewwwww!) and I told her that’s what we’ll have crawling around if she doesn’t stop leaving her food lying around. Mean, perhaps, but effective so far!

The kids were all exhausted by the time we piled onto the bus to come back to the school. I’m sure that they all slept like the dead that night. On top of all that walking, when we got to the school we saw that George and Breanna were waiting for us. We drove over to George’s parents’ house for a bit and we ended up playing in the back yard and going for a walk in the woods. By the time we got home and ate some supper, Hayley was totally wiped out. She was asking to go to bed by 6:15 that night and the only reason I said no was because I didn’t want her to wake up at 5 am. You can tell she was tired.

She was in bed a little before 8, after eating very little of her pre-bed snack, and I swear it took five minutes tops for her to pass out.

I had a great time, though let’s just say it wasn’t only the kids who were tired. My pillow was very wonderful last night. I would definitely do it again. I know this is a yearly trip in grade one so I look forward to round two when Breanna gets there!

You can check out the full set from the Biodome here. (And yes, I have all the proper names on the animal/bird/fish photos but that’s just because I’m a huge nerd and pored over the Biodome website to find which one went with which picture.)