Hannah Lerner certainly dressed the part yesterday for the Easter egg hunt at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore, wearing bunny ears, a light pink jacket and matching colored gloves.
She had just helped her family a day earlier celebrate the Jewish holiday of Purim, but Hannah, who was born in China seven years ago, was at the zoo with her mother for the fourth consecutive year, getting their hands on some chocolate treats.
Sharon Lerner of Pikesville makes sure Hannah celebrates all the Jewish and Chinese holidays. But they don't pass up on the sweets-oriented occasions, either.
"We don't want to miss the Easter egg hunt or trick-or-treat," she said.
The midpoint of the three-day hunt at the zoo attracted hundreds of families, who partook in collecting about 20,000 plastic eggs scattered in three strategic areas - away from the animal cages and exhibits. The event ends between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. today.
Many kids came prepared with their own baskets, but not necessarily enough clothes to keep them warm during the overcast day.
"Gloves would have been a good idea," said Heidi Woods, who was with her husband, Jim, and their two children, Isabel, 4, and Matthew, 20 months.
The Woodses were participating in their first egg hunt away from their Eldersburg neighborhood. They are regular summer visitors to the zoo, and the event gave them an excuse to see the polar bears again.
The bears "are actually awake today ... usually in the summer they are asleep because of the heat," Woods said.
Richard and Kristine Haynes of Annandale, Va., were pleasantly surprised yesterday by the egg hunt. They took their three children to the zoo as part of a two-day "mini-vacation" to Baltimore. They stood in line, waiting for 7-year-old daughter Nicole to exchange the eggs she collected for candy and toy prizes.
"Once they saw the egg hunt, we decided to jump in," Richard Haynes said.
So did lots of other kids, who ran up and down the paths to the picked-through piles of eggs, many of them collecting more than the allotted limit of five. There was little sport to the event itself.
"They are just sitting there; they are just all right there," said Tahar Babas, 40, of Pikesville, who was out with his son, Reda, 3.
Organizers wanted to create a less-chaotic scene than last year at Waterfowl Lake, said William Waughlin, who organizes events at the zoo. Kids last year were asked to line up and rush at once toward the eggs. Many of the less-aggressive ones came up empty.
"Parents threw their kids into the pile and hoped they came out alive," Waughlin said.
Wearing his puffed-out winter jacket, Reda was wearing himself out selecting which plastic eggs he wanted to claim. He shook the eggs to see whether they had candy inside. (Many did, but organizers said they should have been empty.)
"This is good for us and good for him," his father said.
