Easter Egg Hunt

For today's Easter egg hunt, Linus was "one with the egg." Literally.

With the help of Aunt Hannah, Shawn and some project management on my part, we crafted a Easter egg costume for our first Easter egg hunt hosted by the Bluegrass Barkery. The egg costume idea birthed last week when I noticed best costume won a prize during the Easter egg hunt. The picture of Linus carrying an egg across his back gave me a giggle, so I picked up some fabric and elastic and hoped the resourcefulness of my sister would carry us through this litte endeavor. I was right. I don't usually sew, but Hannah was gracious enought to wipe the dust off of Mom's old sewing machine and work a little magic. The finished product was a yellow, pink and purple egg costume, complete with squiggles and an elastic band. We wrapped up the sewing just moments before the Easter egg hunt began.

True to form, we were running a bit late. When we turned on Clay avenue I could see a sea of dogs and their owners at the front porch of the Barkery, probably receiving directions for the hunt. We parked and I anxiously lifted Linus out of my Honda and onto the pavement. With Hannah's help, we pulled the egg costume over his harness. He froze in objection to his new attire. His face said, "Mom, you've got to be kidding me." I didn't see any other costumes in the crowd. I felt kind of like that over-the-top mom that makes her kid look ridiculous by going all out making a costume for the school play.Fortunately, we saw some retreivers covered in plastic eggs, flowers and hats, and an English bulldog with bunny ears. It took a couple tugs before we could get him in the mix of the dogs.

Because most people were intent to find the golden egg, few were noticing the large egg tettering across this little Frenchie's back. But when they did notice, the reactions were priceless. I was so preoccupied with other people's dogs, I hardly paid any attention to the competition. We were immediately greeted by Haleigh and Kenzi, two of our favorite cousins, who came out with their mom Sandee to help with the hunt. Kenzi and Haleigh played with Linus and led him across the yard on a leash. They were so helpful adjusting Linus' bobbling egg and making sure he was getting noticed. When all the eggs were taken, they made sure Linus got some treats to take home and were kind enought to rehide a few eggs for him to find. They are the best for looking out for him.

Linus met many new friends during the hunt. We met a beautiful Doberman named Josie who wanted to play with Linus on the porch, despite her obvious advantage in size. Hannah and I were nuzzled by two rescued grey hounds whose sweet demeanor took us both by surprise. Hannah spotted a Great Dane, her "dream dog," and was immediately drawn away. While shopping inside the store, Linus and I met Eva, an English bulldog who was dressed to impress for Easter. On the sidewalk, Linus introduced himself to girl a Basset hound named Bear. We also ran into an incredibly friendly blue-eyed pit bull who was very eager to get to know all his canine commrades. We met a tiny black teacup Chihuahua who was accompanied by a sweet little girl with bunny whiskers painted on her face. Everywhere you turned, there was an interesting dog to be met. Most notably, we met two French bulldogs, Elvis and Hana. Elvis was a gorgeous, well behaved Frenchie with brindle spots. Hana was all brindle and very laid back as well. Linus could definitely learn from these two.

We left the Barkery with a wonderful bag full of goodies, just for sporting the giant egg, and a bunch of new friends that we'll hopefully see very soon. Our egg hunt was just another reminder to me that there's a wonderful community of dog owners here in Lexington who treat their pets as children. It's nice to know I am not the only "crazy" dog person around here and to know there's a great network of people who love to socialize and share the goodness of their dogs. We'll be out there, at parks and farmers' market and walking downtown, and we are eager to see you fellow dog people!

Thanks to the Barkery and all our friends there for the goodie bag and putting on this wonderful event! Happy Easter everyone!