May 12, 2007

Happy Birthday!

Have a tarantula!
I took Kari to the museum today to celebrate her birthday. 22 years old! This is the kid that no one thought would live to be 2 weeks old. We got there and there was this big table set up. With bugs alllll over it. And this very nice man who was holding a big giant spider and offering people a chance to hold it. Well Kari and I stood there and I kept telling Kari "You could hold that. Look at that little kid holding that spider. You could do that." and she kept looking at me as if I was sprouting a few extra heads.

The guy with the spider finally said "Well you can pet her if you like. She's very soft, like a bunny." So Kari reached out and touched her and next thing I know, she's got the spider in her hand. I was absolutely stunned. She was so calm, so unafraid. Let it never be said that she's afraid to try new things.

So then he takes the spider back and looks at me. "Your turn." To which I said "Oh no, I have a serious phobia. I'd drop her or something and I don't want to hurt her." But we didn't leave. Truth was... I WANTED to hold the spider. I really did. All these little kids were doing it.

So I took a deep breath, handed my cell phone off to someone to take a picture and...

I'd like to say that I laughed it off and strutted away like I owned the world, but the truth of the story is that I shook the whole time and a few steps away from the table my knees tried to give out.

But that didn't stop us both from going back to the table later in the day. Kari even held the spider a second time. I didn't get a chance (I really wanted to do it again) because there were so many kids lined up and I didn't want to stop someone from getting a first chance so that I could get a second.

The spider herself was very sweet. (Wow, there's a statement I never saw myself EVER thinking.) And the feeling of her on your skin is a little like when you're knitting and the yarn brushes very gently against your skin.

Aside from giant crawly spiders, we spent a nice day at the museum,. Had lunch at McDonald's, visited Sue, Kari's favorite dinosaur, and finished off by spending all my money in the gift shop. I promised her that I'd buy her anything she wanted for her birthday. She left with:

A Sue t-shirt.

A Sue keychain.
A Sue information guide.
A Butterflies Of The World poster
A funny notebook showing a slug evolving into a cow.
A Deadly Dinosaurs sticker book.
And other things that I'm forgetting.

Happy birthday lil' sis. You're my favorite sister in the whole wide world.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't have a sister, but if I did, I'd want one just like you.

mrspao said...

I agree with Amy!

Anyway (for Kari):
Happy Birthday to you,
Squashed tomatoes in stew,
Happy Birthday, dear Kari!
Happy Birthday to YOU!

Yay! Sounds like you had a GREAT day with your big sis!

knittingnurse said...

Happy, Happy, HAPPIEST of Birthdays to you Kari!

I'm so glad that you and your sister have eachother. You guys are the BOMB!

Chris said...

Happy birthday, Kari!! It sounds like an absolutely wonderful birthday.

Diane said...

You were both very brave to hold the spider. I would have never even gotten close to the table.

What a wonderful way to spend a day with your sister. She's beautiful and so are you.

Anonymous said...

You really ARE the bestest big sister in the world...but we already knew that.
I want a picture of Sue the next time you go to the museum.
And I am uber proud of you for holding the spider. Even if you shook the whole time you held her...YOU HELD HER, and that's pretty freakin' cool.

KnittyLynn said...

Sounds like you had a blast and she got a haul!

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