But what about the toddlers on Toddler Tuesdays?
Tuesday was too early, with nearly two weeks before Easter, and the next Toddler Tuesday, April 19, is beyond April 17’s Easter Sunday.
Peter Cottontail hopped to the rescue as the light-footed tan creature traversed the Kukui Grove Center food court to “collect” potential egg hunters for the “surprise” KGC egg-hunting grounds laid out for patrons of Toddler Tuesday, held the first and third Tuesdays of the month.
“This works out well,” said Brenda Biehler Turville of Showtime Characters, who coordinated the event as well as runs the Easter family photo booth at the Bunny House, located next to Partea in the shopping center. “The Easter Bunny is white and does not want to soil that white outfit. Peter Cottontail is brown, and just wants to have fun dancing and jumping and doing all those things keiki like to do,” she said.
The timing for Peter Cottontail was perfect, as families gathered for lunch and the toddlers were unaware that the dancing and healthy exercises designed to stimulate appetites for the midday meal was a way the giant bunny used to collect potential egg hunters.
Keiki Korner was a perfect haven for toddler egg hunters, welcoming the parading Peter Cottontail and his entourage of toddlers and their parents with a display of colorful healthy eggs strewn about by the Menehune maintenance workers.
Peter Cottontail, pausing for photo opportunities along the way, further asserted the safety of the toddler egg hunters by limiting entry into the egg-festooned play area to just the youngsters, keeping the parents ringed around the perimeter of the play area.
“Spring is here,” said Melissa McFerrin-Warrack of KGC, helping a mother register her older children for the Saturday egg hunt.
“This is just a hint of the big egg hunt coming up Saturday that will run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. as part of the Spring Festival that I call ‘the three Cs’ — Characters, Candy, and Crafts! Registration opened Monday at kukuigrovecenter.com for the limited number of egg hunt treasure maps, the key to participating in the egg hunt.”
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
