Easter egg hunt

It is Easter Egg Hunt season. If you plan smart, you can hit at least 6 different hunts during the 3 weekends before Easter. Lowe's Garden Center, Eagle Creek, Breezewood Gardens, Bainbridge/Howard Hanna, Aurora, Solon, and Chagrin Falls are just a sampling of the event locations. There is even a helicopter drop in Macedonia. The eggs are really dropped from a helicopter! And the bunny waves to the kids from high above! I know this because I attended the first annual helicopter egg drop last year. Both children and parents (ridiculous!) stormed the field like a scene from "Braveheart". Sean was 2 years old and Kate was in the stroller. Needless to say, he did not get one egg. The mayhem was enough to scare me from returning for the second annual. To boot, they are dropping 100,000 eggs this year, an increase of 94,000 eggs compared to last. I must admit, it was a thrill which I do not regret witnessing.

We were going to pass on the public Easter Egg Hunts this year but Saturday was just beautiful and we had no plans. Which one do we pick? I have heard horror stories about parents coaching kids and reaching over boundaries to grab eggs at the local garden centers. The discount coupons inside random eggs are as enticing to parents as chocolate bunnies are to children. So, no hunts sponsored by a local business. I wasn't about to watch Sean get trampled again. We also had to plan around Kate's morning nap so Chagrin Falls Riverside Park was the winner.

Perfect choice. We walked into "Pleasantville". There was a crowd but it was organized and reserved. There were 5 age groups. The children patiently waited for their turn. The parents casually watched as the kids grabbed the eggs. Everybody was happy. Nobody over the age of 12 was in possession of a plastic egg. Every child went home with candy.