easter egg hunt at below 40 degrees

easter has always been my most hated holiday. not because i have anything against what it stands for, not at all. i'm an anti-easterite because in our minds easter has been built up to be a warm, sunny day with cute dresses for the girls, smart outfits for the boys, outdoor activities and egg hunting. yeah, right. it's always cold as deep space AND we have to do the outdoor activities. my mom always said easter was the coldest day of the year, and as an adult i now have to agree.not that my opinion of easter has deterred the little guy at all. he was itching to go to the annual st. francis park st. louis hills easter egg hunt. he clutched his basket like it was a weapon.

the st. louis hills neighborhood association has built quite a show with this event. there were hundreds of people there, with 5 taped off areas for the different age groups of kids. i felt like i was at a bike race when the woman in charge began speaking through her megaphone to bark out directions for the hunt, and then she even blew the horn on the thing like buddy or dave ploch!

as the orders were given, eli positioned himself on the line. the older kids were instructing him on how to best conquer the egg field. someone broke the tape, making for a confusing start.

but he was off! he had his 5 egg limit in the basket before you could say peter cotton tail! there were more eggs than everyone thought, though, so he just kept collecting. (no-belt alert on left!)

he ended up with 8 or 9 eggs total, and immediately set out to eat their contents entirely.

i took a photo of hanna standing in front of a couple of the egg fields. all of those colored dots on the ground are eggs. there were hundreds and hundreds to satisfy the throngs of kids. it was an amazing site at 39 degrees to see so many people so intense about an egg hunt.

hanna and tyson bolted out from the tape on a side where most kids weren't standing. they had a whole section to themselves. again, a 5 egg limit was imposed but universally ignored by most. the older kids had bigger prizes than tootsie rolls, such as gift certificates to ted drewes and even a $25 cash prize. luckily, no one was trampled or hurt, because giving kids cash prizes is always risky business.

once hanna reached the limit, she had to negotiate the crowd. this pic is just a glimpse into the number of kids that were there. this was the 7 to 8 year old crowd only. how many kids live in the st. louis hills area??

tyson: in, 5 egg limit, out. nuff said.

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all in all, it was fun but very cold. the kids got candy and two ted drewes vouchers. eli was very, very angry that we had to curtail his candy consumption. he truly could have kept eating until his round little belly popped.