I signed up for the class that started about 2 weeks ago. It will be finished by the end of this week. It's been an extremely intense class plus there's been a ridiculous amount of homework to do over the past few weeks. But - it will pay off when I start my new part-time Physical Science teaching job at a nearby school in August!!
Also, at the beginning of June, I started some temporary part-time work at the nature center - working in the butterfly "encounter." The opening weekend ushered in butterfly festival. We had over 1300 people coming through our tent each day. Since then, when working on the weekends or during the week... we get, maybe, 300 +/- people through per day. It's been a lot of fun. Hot, but really interesting and fulfilling to see the kids (and many adults) really really enjoying themselves seeing the butterflies. Here are some pictures of Todd and Isabella on a recent visit. (She has a zebra longwing on the "nectar stick" in one shot. In another shot, she's reacting to a butterfly that just left the nectar stick, but what she and Todd don't realize is that he has a pipevine swallowtail on his hat! Look closely~)
The butterfly exhibit will end mid-July. It's been tough working almost every day since the beginning of June (so far only 1 day off in 3 weeks) but it's been an interesting experience. I want to stay plugged in at the nature center, but perhaps in other ways / not working so much on the weekends! There's a Master Naturalist course I've been wanting to take for years. Maybe I can work this in now?? It's a fun place and has a lot of great energy there. In fact, we recently went on a canoe trip that was hosted by the nature center - which is a staff benefit :) Mercer seemed to enjoy the trip, saying that he liked everything the best. 
He was really chatty the entire trip down the river (about 3 miles). Talk talk talk talk talk! Then we went through a wetland sort of area that was next to the main part of the river as we made our trek back up the river. Mercer was pretty silent from that point on. We got to see a little bit of wildlife (osprey, herons, and swallows diving for bugs at the water's surface). Mostly, it was nice trying out a new experience and sharing a relaxing evening with Todd and Mercer.
Mercer really liked the root beer. Todd and I thought that - a few days later - that we would really rock his world and introduce him to the root beer float. Well, he's hooked! He's asked for one most days ever since~
We also did some fun things this month too to honor Todd~
We celebrated his birthday by going out to dinner at a Cajun restaurant he likes. We also hung out (before and after nature center work) on father's day - again celebrating with food... a big breakfast + a nice gourmet french-inspired dinner (as requested by Todd). He also got a new fire pit for the back yard which will provide hours and hours of enjoyment in the coming years!
Mercer has been very motivated to read this summer too - already having completed several (sponsored) reading programs with prizes as reward! Give him a free pizza buffet or a free (LEGO) book and he'll read / ask to read more / want to double or triple his reading each day!!
Summer is definitely here. We've had our neighborhood golf tournament (a friend of one of our neighbors brought this huge military vehicle for some reason and was giving the kids rides in the back of it!) Isabella played with a sensory tub for at least an hour and played with chalk.
Mercer wrestled with some boys in the yard, played chase the flag with a group of the older kids (he and this group of kids actually all stayed up 'til midnight that evening). Mercer also "won" the low score challenge, earning a certificate and tee-shirt!
