The One Where Emma Holds a Tarantula

One of the best outings we did in October was attend a children's show featuring a magician and an animal trainer at one of our local fall festivals. We rather randomly decided to actually sit down for the show simply because it was a bit chilly outside and also because Matthew would not stop freaking out about the gigantic cannon that kept shooting large pumpkins into the mountainside. He has never been a fan of the noise it makes and each year has only become increasingly fearful. We figured we'd give his little nerves a break and take in a little magic and get our wild animal fix.

The magic show was fun! The magician was hilarious and the kids laughed and laughed at his corny jokes. The tricks were simple and the adults could certainly figure out how the magician accomplished them, but the kids were in complete awe. For the final trick, Paul got called up to assist the magician and we all enjoyed watching the magician tease him the entire time. My favorite pastime is poking fun at my hubby. My second favorite pastime is watching someone else poke fun at him. Just kidding...kind of. But it was truly fun for the kids to watch Dad assist in performing a bit of magic. We took the guy's card at the end of the show because he would seriously be a lot of fun to hire for a birthday party in the future if the costs are reasonable.

The second show immediately following the magician was a wild animal show put on by a local animal trainer named Terry. He brings in a wide variety of his own rare and exotic animals for the children to see up close and personal. Almost each animal was available to be held or petted by the kids that wanted to participate. Matthew and Emma sat up front and center for that show. They both love animals and are generally very adventurous about touching and holding even the scariest looking animals.

However, Emma was truly a tough gal when Terry brought out his pet tarantula. All the other kids shrank back in horror, unwilling to even consider petting the gigantic spider. Paul would have skedaddled out of the room himself if I had not kept such a firm grip on the hood of his sweatshirt. Evidently, Emma did not inherit the cowardly genes of her father when it comes to spiders. But Matthew did. While Emma eagerly held her hand out to receive the eight-legged beast, Matthew put his head in his hands. Paul watched in horror while Emma not only pet the spider, but offered to hold it. She didn't find it scary in the least. I was pretty proud of her pluckiness.

Then, Terry brought out his large sea turtle and placed her in the middle of the room. He then asked if any of the "little ladies" wanted to try riding her. Well, Emma was the first one to raise her hand but he ignored her and instead chose the girl sitting next to her. The little girl went up and then began to shake her head fearfully when he asked her to stand on top of the turtle's shell. As Terry tried to coax the little girl into doing it, Emma decided to take matters into her own hands and before Paul or I could grab her, she marched right up to turtle and sat on him. Terry and the entire audience thought it was hilarious. This was a dream come true for Emma - she has always wanted to ride a real turtle. In fact, whenever she or Matthew rides on Paul's back at home they always say they are "riding a turtle". Now, Emma has actually done just that.

Matthew's favorite part of the entire show was the giant python. He loves snakes and is not afraid of them in the least so he was all about posing for pictures besides the giant snake. Snakes are another phobia for Paul so he cowered in a back corner of the room while his children got up close and personal with their new slithering friend.

Everyone has something they fear. For Matthew, it is gigantic cannons shooting off pumpkins. For Paul, it is spiders and snakes. For me, it is everything besides spiders, snakes, and pumpkin guns. We are still trying to decide what Emma is afraid of...if anything.

Getting together a group picture of these kids always involves a pep talk and some shameless bribery.