Apples and Tarantulas

Last Sat. we packed up our kids for a trip up the mountain to the apple orchard. We had to do it after two soccer games, a violin performance, and a hair cut. But we loaded up to pick apples to make into pie filling and applesauce. There were tons of apples this year, and we were able to get quite a few. The kids enjoyed picking them, although we ended up with some that are still pretty green. The gnats and mosquito's were terrible, but we made it out okay. As we are driving down the mountain Mont sees a tarantula walking across the road. Being the Dad that always wants to show his kids things he wanted to stop, but there was no place to pull off. So, we continued on. About 5 minutes later, there was another one. So, this time we stop. All the kids, except my oldest daughter jumped out with excitement as they wanted to see the tarantula. My 6 year old loves all things living, and was therefore the first of the kids to want to hold it. She let it crawl all over her, and loved it. She wanted to take it home for a pet. My 5 year old touched it with one finger, but that was enough for her. My oldest would only look through the car window. My 10 year old held it and thought it was pretty neat. But my 11 year old had to be talked into. This is my macho son, but is afraid of spiders. He finally consented to hold it when he realized that his 6 year old sister had a picture of her holding it. He can't be beat in anything, and there was no way he was letting her be better then him this time. He held it and decided it wasn't so bad. Mom, well, she had the camera, and that was as close as I was getting to that thing.