On March 28, I took the kids to Asher's Chocolate factory for their annual Easter Egg Hunt. Unlike our attempt at an egg hunt last year, this year was much more successful on numerous fronts. First, in order to participate in this egg hunt, we had to pre-register. This actually cut back the number of kids who participated. Lucky for us, a lady in our ward, who serves in the primary, works at this factory and registered a number of people from our ward beforehand. Below is a picture of the kids and their friends from church sitting on the curb before the egg hunt begins.
Second, there were a ton of eggs, boxes of chocolate, and jelly bellies covering the enclosed hunt area. In other words, there were plenty of goodies for every child.
Third, parents were not allowed inside the enclosed hunt area at all. At the hunt we went to last year, parents could go in, they were told not to help pick up any eggs. However, with so many parents in the area, it was nearly impossible for my two kiddos to pick up anything - that's why we ended up with nothing last year. I liked the rules of Asher's much better.
Fourth, the Easter bunny and young girl picture above went in and helped the children who didn't know what to do, or were too scared to pick up eggs on their own. Fortunately, my children didn't need the help this year - they were not overwhelmed by the number of people present, and did quite well on their own. However, other children needed this help, and it made me happy to see that every child left he hunt with a full basket of goodies.
Zabien got off to a slow start. He picked up two packages of jelly bellies and called it good. I kept encouraging him to pick up a few more things, knowing that he would want more candy in the end. He was very trusting. He set his basket on the ground, walked away from it to pick things up, then walked back to put those things in his basket. It ended up being a lot more work, but a method that worked for him, funny as it was. Wanting immediate satisfaction, he mostly picked up the packages of jelly beans he could see rather than going for the eggs where the contents were hidden.
Eliza was delighted to have so many options to choose from. Despite the options available, she was still selective in what she chose. She only picked up the blue, pink, and yellow eggs. I convinced her to pick up boxes (which contained large amounts of chocolates) as well as the eggs and jelly beans. She picked up 2 boxes, which took up the entire contents of her basket. She would pick up 2 or 3 things, then walk over and show me what she got. I had to keep telling her to go back and pick up some more - there was plenty there. It's funny how different the two were in their approaches.
As mentioned before, they both made out well in the end. With a big smile on her face, Eliza came running up to me when it was all over and said, "I did good this year."
Doing good this year was an understatement. Before we left, we were instructed to open the eggs and return the shells. Some eggs contained a number instead of a treat. If we got a number, we were supposed to report to the front table for a special surprise. The egg at the very bottom of Eliza's basket (so probably one of the first ones she picked up) was the number 5. What was the prize? This giant chocolate bunny!
I don't know how she is going to eat all that chocolate. It's a good thing her parents are so involved in her life and can help her with the things that she needs. :)
I think Zabien thought that he had to give back everything that was in his basket before we left. He started eating as much as he could as quickly as he could. It wasn't until I explained that he got to take his full basket home with us that he stopped stuffing things in his mouth and pockets. Yes, I am happy that both children ended up with a full basket of goodies, but I am even more happy that it turned out to be a positive (and not negative like last year) experience for both of them. I don't put together Easter Baskets for the kids, so whatever they pick up during the Easter Egg Hunts we attend is what they get.
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