egg hunt rescue

I saw the other day that a mall not far from our house was hosting their first Easter egg hunt this year.  It was supposed to be more of a scavenger hunt.  You go and register and you get a list of clues that lead you to the various participating retail stores.  You show the store people that you have a registration sticker and they give you an egg.  Seemed like a good idea and so we told Abs we were going to find Easter eggs and we all packed up.

I should preface this with saying that Abby was really excited.  Mickey Mouse Clubhouse has been airing their Easter Egg hunt episode lately and Abs loves it.  As soon as I told her we were going to go find Easter eggs, she said "and hop like a bunny? And do the hot dog dance?"  Both references to that particular cartoon.

Well, the mall opened at 10 and we got there about 5 till.  I don't know how many people were in line ahead of us, but we couldn't even see the registration desk and there were at least as many people behind us.  After waiting in line for about 20 minutes, the mall security guards came around telling everyone that they were out of packets and the eggs and candy were gone - we should all just go home.

Ugh.

we were glad the hunt was inside today

Abby knew something was up.  She could see all the other kids with their baskets and eggs and she wanted in on that action.  When we started to leave the line, she asked "we find Easter eggs now??"  I was sad.

So, here's what we did.

Kyle walked around with Abs for a bit and I went to the dollar store and bought some plastic eggs and some smarties.  Kyle then took Abs to ride the little merry-go-round, and while she did that - I found a relatively low-traffic corner of the mall and hid the eggs myself.  When I opened the eggs, I discovered that they were actually an egg garland - so I ripped the strings apart so that I could hide them individual.  I use the term "hide" lightly.  I scattered them on benches and on the floor and in the coke machines.  I scattered the candy around too.

waiting on the merry-go-round

cute, right? ;)

When they were done with the ride, Abby came around the corner and saw the eggs.  She just lit up.  She ran around collecting the eggs and the candy.  It didn't take very long - but she was excited.  She showed me her bag when she was done and kept saying "Look! We DID find Easter Eggs! That was fun!"

stuffing her bag

hunting

"look mommy!"

getting a closer look

So, maybe we didn't get a bag and sticker and eggs filled with candy - but we made it work and Abby had a good time - which was the whole point.  :)

She fell asleep on the way home - which is RARE.  Especially as it was still an hour before nap time.  We decided to go ahead and put her down for nap when we got home.  I sat in the room with her for a little bit (I've been doing that occasionally to make sure she stays in bed - I usually stay for 5-10 mins and sneak out)  After about 15 minutes and right when I was sure she was asleep, Abby rolls over and looks at me and says again, "Mommy, we DID find Easter eggs, and the candy too, we did find them."

Totally worth it.

Shhh....don't tell him I posted it.  

I just wanted to prove to the world that I married really really well.