The eggs have arrived
Annual Easter egg hunt at Aspen Park of Cascadia is a success
The winter weather Moscow has seen this week abated long enough Friday to give hundreds of children and their parents the chance to hunt for eggs on the lawn of Aspen Park of Cascadia.
The Easter bunny, Zipper T. Bunny, made an appearance for photos and to lead the countdown to the egg hunt. As the countdown neared the end, the kids got louder and louder as if in an attempt to make the numbers come faster.
After the announcement of “Go!” from Zipper, the children hit the ground running. The eggs were scattered across the lawn with about 50 golden eggs spread between the two age group yards. The golden eggs were numbered and each number correlated to a different prize, from Easter baskets to chocolate bunnies.
Julia Chavez brought her two sons with her for the first time after her daughter, Sydney, told her about the hunt — it was their first time visiting this egg hunt and the kids had a blast.
Her son, Ocean Chavez, found not one, but two golden eggs. His prize was a peeps cup, which he promptly showed off to his mom and big sister.
“I had a lot of fun,” Ocean said.
As if trying to set a record, the kids found most of the eggs within 15 minutes. They then spent a few minutes running up and down and searching in the bushes to ensure they had found them all.
The brightly colored eggs numbered in the thousands, said Jennifer Trout, co-coordinator of the event. Since this is the first hunt, since the COVID-19 pandemic had them pivot to a drive-through rendition the last few years, they wanted to be sure they had enough eggs for the kids.
“I’m going to consider it a success,” Trout said.
There were cookies and Capri Suns for the kids to snack on before the hunt, and a miniature rex bunny made an appearance as well. The bunny is a pet of a staff member at Aspen Park.
Aspen Park residents joined in the fun by watching the kids search for the eggs and enjoying a cookie or two while they waited. More waited inside and watched through the window. They weren’t sure what the turnout would be when they decided to host the hunt in person again, and Trout said this year might have been bigger than it was at the last in person event two years ago.
“It’s one of our favorite events of the year,” Trout said. “It’s just a lot of fun to put on.”
Kali Nelson can be reached at knelson@dnews.com.
