I now understand...

Why my parents stopped taking us to the big Easter egg hunt at the local park. I remember wishing we could go as a kid and begging, and being mad when they wouldn't take us.

Now that I am a parent, and we took our kids this year... I vow... not again.

We actually went to two. The first one wasn't too bad. It was crowded, but wasn't an insane amount of people. It went fairly quickly, and Jack and Ellie each got 4-5 eggs. The candy in them wasn't too bad either. Jack would have gotten more eggs if he had not been nervous and unsure. Of course there were the parents helping their kids, but I've found that in the younger age group, it's not really for the kids as much anyways...

After that one, I thought "Hey, that wasn't too bad..." so Jack and I dropped Josh and Ellie off at home for nap time and headed to the big egg hunt. When we got there, I almost turned right around and went home, but Jack was excited, and we had nothing better to do, so I went ahead and parked where I could and we walked the half mile in the dirt uphill to the fields where the hunt would be. (and no, I am not exaggerating... I just mapped the distance... haha) We finally got up there, and had to find the end of the line for the 0-3 age group. After waiting 20 minutes, they let us line up around the baseball field. When they finally yelled "go" it was a madhouse of parents rushing the field, shoving their kids towards the eggs, throwing eggs in their kids baskets, and not watching out for the kids that were supposed to be getting the eggs. Jack walked away with 2 eggs. I was so annoyed. So, we started the hike back down the hill (where Jack found two more eggs that other kids had dropped) and proceeded to spend 20 minutes just trying to get out to the main road. It was ridiculous.

So, until they don't allow parents on the field, or if we find a nice small one (like the first one we went to) I don't think we will be going to any egg hunts anytime soon. Some friends and us have already decided that next year, we are going to get together and do a nice hunt for the kids at one of our houses. less stress and more fun for the kids.

What about you? Do you go to the big egg hunts? Have you had any interesting experiences at one? I'd love to hear from you!