Water tables(s)

First, a warning. 

 

This post contains a graphic and unsettling story about my heroic battle with a spider.  It is recommended that you lift your feet off the ground while reading it.

 

It has been really warm (in the 80's) for the past couple of days.  A big storm is coming in today and along with rain this afternoon the high on Saturday is supposed to be 54.  What the hell?  I don't want summer to arrive and for it to be 110, but it would be nice if Mother Nature could just decide on hot or cold.  We want to go to the Ostrich Festival this weekend, but not if we're going to freeze.  We've been trying to make it for 3 years and something always comes up where we can't go.  This year, apparently, it's going to be a blizzard.

 

After Elliott got up from his nap on Wednesday we pulled the new water table out of the storage shed and set it up in the backyard. 

 

This was Elliott's first water table experience. He is a water loving kid so this was a dream come true.

Spencer has spent hour upon hour playing with his old water table and was very excited for the new one.

Our backyard faces the south so the late afternoon is nice because the sun has moved over to the side yard and the patio and most of the yard is totally shaded.  That probably won't be true in July, but shade won't matter because it'll be too hot to be anywhere but in the ice dispenser in the freezer. 

 

On a totally random side note, the meaning of the name Spencer is "dispenser of goods".  I find it interesting, therefore, that it isn't spelled Spenser.  I hate that spelling, so I'm glad it's not, but I wonder how it got changed.  Probably somebody who was just a bad speller like 300 years ago. 

 

 

There was a glorious bubble bath after all of that outdoor fun. 

So, you all know how I'm a *little* OCD about comparison photos and such.  Well, I went into the archives to find pictures of Spencer the first time he played with his water table.  Guess what day is was:  March 7, 2009.  Elliott's first was March 6, 2013.  1 day apart.  Not planned.  Amazing. 

 When I got home from work yesterday the kids were already outside with our sitter.  We stayed out there after she left.  Spencer asked if I would get the old water table out for them.  I got it out of the storage shed and put it on the grass so I could rinse it off with the hose.  I rinsed the entire top and then flipped it over to get the underside and legs.  That was when I noticed the enormous web.  And then I saw THE SPIDER.

 

I am not exaggerating the size.  It was horrifyingly large. 

 

It was the largest non tarantula spider I have ever seen.  It was black and thick and it whispered my name in a Voldemort voice.  And it was fast.  I tried to drown it with a direct stream from the hose, but it kept evading the waterfall.  It was also using the water table legs to take cover.  It was a tricky little SOB. It's just my luck that I would run into a Mensa member spider when my husband was not around to help.   So, being the calm, cool and collected mother that I am, I screamed, threw the water table as far away as I could, pushed Elliott away, told Spencer to stay on top of the riding toy where he was standing and, while wearing flip flops, stomped on it.  The grass was really wet and the land was soft so my foot sunk in with it.  I was convinced that I was going to pull my foot up and see the spider attached to my skin with its fangs, but I was spider free.  I never did see its body though (I wasn't about to go combing through the grass/crime scene to look for it) so I wouldn't be surprised if that devil hunts me down in my bed after regaining its strength (which won't take long, because it is obviously using anabolic steroids).    

 

I kept a very careful eye on the edge of the grass to make sure it didn't re-emerge.

 

The rest of the afternoon was drama free.

I kind of hope that I didn't kill it and that the storm wipes it out today.  Maybe an itty, bitty, teeny, tiny bolt of lightening can strike it, killing it on the spot but causing absolutely no harm or damage to my backyard.