The Hunt

This weekend was Anthem Days. It's actually really cool that our community is basically a "small town" and has all sorts of community events like this. They had a carnival with rides, games, vendors, pony rides, train rides, bouncy houses, etc. There was also an Easter Egg Hunt for the kids. This was our first year attending Anthem Days. So little did we realize that the Easter Egg Hunt was more like a Protect Your Child from Getting Trampled Hunt! It was mass organized chaos (if that's such a thing!).

Well as usual, it took us a bit longer to get over to the Softball Fields where the Hunt was held. The 2 yr old time slot was 11:10 and it was 11:05. So Jer just dropped Anden & I at the entrance and then planned to park and bring Taylee & all the stroller junk with him. Anden was loving it and leisurely walking along swinging his easter bucket and admiring the trees, grass, rocks and bugs along on our way. Panic sank in though when I realized I was the only parent not running & literally dragging my child as if there was a natural disaster brewing behind us! I figured they must know more than me, so I scooped up my uncooperative child and joined the mass exodus of evacuees...with Anden politely saying the entire time "Put me down! Let me walk!". I explained to him that there must be GOLD in the eggs (due to the large crowds gathering) and we're going to miss our chance for life long financial security if we didn't hurry!! So he immediately saw the vision and off we sprinted. Luckily we gained an edge in the migration race as several others were temporarily stalled due to wardrobe malfunctions (fallen shoe, torn dress, etc) and equipment failures (dropped easter buckets, broken handles, fallen purses/cameras). I congratulated Anden for keeping all his belongings, clothing, and bodily parts in tact! As soon as we entered Field #1, where all the miniature humans and their overzealous parents were gathered, the DJ started the countdown. Phew we had made it! As I was catching my breath and patting myself on the back for our on time arrival, I noticed those around us were basically in the starting block sprint stance. Luckily we had managed to get in the front of the pack. So as the speakers boomed "3...2..." I stood behind Anden and braced for impact! I figured if I spread my shoulders & arms wide enough then I could withstand the onslaught of the over aggressive parents and protect Anden long enough for him to bend down and grab a cheap plastic piece of crap egg without getting trampled! I immediately winced as the speakers yelled "1...GO!" The whole pack started to move forward. As you can imagine, 2 yr olds aren't the quickest at bending down, picking up eggs and putting them in their baskets without getting easily distracted. So rather than pick up the eggs, they all seemed to get confused by each other. Luckily Anden happens to be very coordinated. So we saw the opening and capitalized on the other kids' weaknesses. "There's one Anden, DIVE!". We managed to get 4 eggs before the other kids had stopped tripping over their shoes. I figured that was enough and we retreated upstream to safety. But not before we ran into the Easter Bunny himself and some scary looking Mother Nature lady. The other kids were still fumbling for eggs while tipping over their baskets, so we managed to secure a one on one with the Easter Bunny. As you can see, Anden was thrilled with the entire ordeal...


After his scarring interview with the Easter Bunny, we called Jeremy to tell him we were done and were pleased to report there were no fatalities. Jeremy: "What?!! You're already done?! I'm not even there yet!!" Yep, that really was how quick this "Easter Egg Hunt" was. Jeremy & Taylee missed the whole thing while they simply parked and walked to the field. I assured him he would be able to relive the experience for years while Anden attends mental therapy to heal the emotional wounds. Happy Easter Everyone! :-)