Our Visit to the Easter Bunny

Recently, my cave has become a canvas for Mousie’s Easter Bunny-themed decor, and a venue for Sleepy Snoogus’ napping, carrot munching, and party snacks... not to mention, a space for certain little buddies’ raucous Easter toy shenanigans. The confines of my home are shrinking, and I am a bear on edge.

It was only this morning, when I encountered Sleepy Snoogus snoring in my office chair with a half-eaten bag of baby carrots, that I realized it was time to address the situation in a manner that would not put too much of a damper on Mousie’s holiday fun. I don’t often leave my cave, but I could see only one solution to this dilemma: bringing the Easter festivities to a more spacious venue. Yes, what this situation called for was... a visit to the mall Easter Bunny.

Before I could finish suggesting this plan to Mousie, her sunhat was on, and she stood ready at the door, flanked by little buddies, with my sandals in paw. So, I put on my sandals, dusted off our trike, and just like that, we were off.

Here we are en route. It was a very sunny day.

Snoogus napped through the arrival of the first bus that passed by, so she got to the mall later than anticipated. There is a reason for the ’Sleepy’ in ‘Sleepy Snoogus’.

Sleepy Snoogus, who apparently also planned to join us on our outing, opted to catch the bus and meet us there since there was no way my little set of wheels would bear the additional weight of a bunny with a monkey friend latched to her neck.

Mousie and I needed to get moving if we wanted to beat the lunch rush and avoid the long afternoon lineups. Nevertheless, in spite of her obvious enthusiasm to visit the ‘real Easter Bunny’, Mousie stressed the importance of making time to smell the flowers along the way.

Here we are taking pause, so Mousie could smell the flowers.

Once we reached our destination, we got in line and waited for Sleepy Snoogus to join us. During this long wait, Mousie was in awe of the ‘surprisingly enormous size’ of the Easter Bunny and throne. I’m not really sure what she expected…

Mousie felt that we had come upon a veritable floral paradise, and repeatedly commented on how the pink flowers adorning the trellises were reminiscent of the The Secret Garden. This lead her to wonder if her favourite critter charmer, Dickon could be found somewhere therein.

Luckily, Sleepy Snoogus and monkey arrived just before the photographer gave us the green light to approach the large bunny. But first, I had to snap Mousie out of it—she was positively transfixed. I hoisted her onto the bunny’s lap and climbed up next to her. In a single bound, Sleepy Snoogus hopped up to join us, and we were ready for our group photo.

Here we are, visiting the Easter Bunny. It was hot. Mousie didn’t seem to mind.

Under an intense sun that beamed down through the skylight above, we sat in an insulative nest of white bunny fur. I could only imagine how the silent, faceless employee must have felt in that thick plush suit... I suspect that having a pile of stuffed critters on their lap didn’t help matters.

I must admit, it was a bit meta seeing the Sleepy Snoogus Bunny next to us on the Easter Bunny’s lap. I’m kinda glad she tagged along.

After our uncomfortably silent ‘moment in the sun’ with the mall Easter Bunny, we were ushered off the festive mise en scene by the photographer through the exit gates to our left.

Before heading back to the trike, I would have been remiss had I not used this opportunity to purchase some delicious Easter chocolate morsels at the mall confectionery.

Seeing how worn out I was from the heat, our early morning trike ride, and the cumulative effects of living in a cave overrun with Easter madness, Mousie offered to drive. But somehow, I doubt Mousie could have reached the pedals. So, I bit the bullet and fueled up on a box of chocolate eggs, and then pedaled us back home.