Easter is over and so ends the egg hunts – except for a few which were postponed to this weekend in an attempt to avoid the snow, sorry “peeps”, no luck.
We started our egg “hunting” adventures with the The Lakes Eggstravaganza in Blaine, MN. It is an outdoor event, not ideal this year. It is free to attend, but they have onsite registration. For registering you get a bag with promotional information from sponsors, a frisbee, and a raffle ticket. Many people used their own baskets; while I did register onsite, I don’t think anyone would realize if you did not.
There was a food truck and a mini-donut stand. Mini-donuts cost $5, I didn’t buy from the food truck. They also had face painting, this appeared to be free, but the lines were long. They had clowns, which I saw talking under the shelter; I didn’t see any “clowning”. The Easter Bunny was there and gave kids a golden egg; you could take your own photos. The golden egg contained mints, like you get with a dinner bill– they even said “thank you”. The main attraction while waiting was the park.
The egg hunts were broken by age with the littlest kids going first, but each group had their own field. They were staggered every 15 minutes. The eggs are tossed into open areas, no hunting involved. Onsite they called it an “Egg Grab” which was a more fitting term. There were many eggs –my son got over 30. In my son’s eggs it was mostly small toys like bracelets, finger puppets, tops, and many slimy things you flick at windows; there was some candy, and more “thank you” mints. We tossed many prizes out, but the finger puppets were liked by my 2.5yr old.
The raffle was “must be present to win”. They announced the draw time at registration, it was well after all egg hunts. The prizes were bikes in various sizes, the odds looked good of winning one. Because it was so cold we went home and came back “in time” for the drawing, but they ended early. I can’t blame them; it was too cold to keep kids. The way it is, if you register for the smallest bikes and you can stick around till the drawing, your odds are great. I will be going back next year, if it is offered, but only because of the proximity to my house, I would not make a special trip to attend.
Bunny tip at The Lakes Eggstravaganza – the lines are long when you first arrive, but if you visit him after your hunt finishes (or once the littlest kids start) the lines get much shorter.
Because of the weather, we decided that was the last outdoor hunt for the day. We headed to Cub Foods. All Cub Foods had an Easter Event. Each location may do theirs different, but at our Cub, kids frosted cookies and the Easter Bunny made an appearance (he left early and we didn’t see him). They had set-up an egg hunt near the pharmacy. Eggs were actually hidden (among adult diapers and tampons), which was fun; you could only take one which was less fun. We arrived a half hour before the end time and my son was the only kid there, because he was the only one, we let him look for all the eggs, which he enjoyed. He handed it to us when he found one and when he moved on we put it back. The egg had a fun size chocolate in it.
The last egg hunt of the day was the Playground Egg Hunt in Woodbury. This is a paid, pre-registration required event, but the cost was less than $5. I signed up because hidden eggs at a playground sounded appealing. I was disappointed when I got an email the event had been moved inside and eggs would be spread on indoor turf (I was glad it happened day of).
For small children, they did a fabulous job of adjusting and still adding some challenge. There were boxes and cones all over the turf with eggs under them, and eggs openly scattered. They said kids should collect 10 eggs and then check out the craft, free-play yard games, and Easter Bunny (take your own picture). When my son found a “hidden egg” under a cone it was a game-changer in the glee level. Most kids collected their 10 eggs and then went to play games. There were many un-turned cones, we let him move every cone and box looking for eggs and he had a blast. There were buckets you could put the extra eggs in. Inside the eggs were small plastic toys (tops, rings…), stickers, and tattoos. I had been hoping for candy or fruit snacks. Regardless of what was in them, he had a blast “finding” them.
As long as the paid playground hunt is equally as challenging when it is actually outside, it is one I would go to again.
The last Easter event my son went to was Pump It Up Egg Hunt, Ham Lake, MN. My son loves Pump it Up, and they have been generous in hosting free events. But, their paid Easter Event on Friday morning for kids under 5 was a disappointment. We paid $15 and some odd change to register online. It included pizza and jumping, those were great, but normal Pump It Up things. For the egg hunt, eggs were “grab” style. Kids were told to get a few each– but the eggs were empty and once collected, the kids put them in a white garbage bag a staff member was holding. At the end of the event their “Easter prize” was a small sized Sixlet and a single mini tin-foil wrapped chocolate egg. There was an Easter Bunny. They sold raffle tickets to win a birthday party, my mom bought a ticket. It was very cheap but she got the impression it would be drawn at the end of the event – the event my son was at. Only a few people entered. They didn’t draw a name and when asked why they said it was a misunderstanding and one would be drawn for each group when the events were done on Saturday. I guess it was another misunderstanding; we contacted them on Monday to see who the three winners would be (one for each event) and there was only a winner, from Saturday. I have to think they just were not ready Friday morning….but I heard similar reviews from people that went Friday night and Saturday.
School carnival “season” is up next. I don’t have kids in school yet, but since they are fundraisers and my son can play duck pond, cake walk and ring toss, I will attend our school’s carnival. I LOVED my elementary school carnival. I still very vividly remember going to all mine, starting in 1st grade. I had the best time playing the “fish pond” game (where they clip a toy/candy to your poll), finding poker chips in slime buckets, and my absolute favorite, sitting in the “bingo hall”. I know my memories of Bingo are exaggerated, but I can’t kick it. I try all kinds of Bingo (festival Bingo, purse Bingo, real bingo hall Bingo) trying to recreate the excitement of Bingo I had back in elementary school. I have a couple on the events page, but if drinking is more your style after Easter, check out Frikin Fest.
Keep Entertained 