What’s the fastest way to clean up thousands of eggs scattered across a big community park?

Simple: turn hundreds of children loose to grab them.

Easter egg hunts held Saturday, April 11 at Si View Park in North Bend and Community Park on Snoqualmie Ridge brought hundreds of families out for the morning. It’s an age-old adage that spring rains won’t keep children from collecting eggs, and Saturday’s rainy weather failed to dampen either the children’s spirits or the speed with which they collected their prizes.

“Twenty seconds of chaos” was how Daniel Bartholomew of North Bend described the Si View hunt, which was a lot of fun for his son James, 2.

“Looking good, son,” said North Bend parent John Gibson, after his son Austin, 4, collected a basket of 20 eggs at Si View. Members of the Snoqualmie Valley Moose Lodge hid 4,000 eggs in that hunt. The Moose have held hunts in the Valley for about 60 years.

Snoqualmie’s hunt, sponsored by the Snoqualmie Parks and Recreation Department, the Snoqualmie Ridge Residential Owners Association and the Sno Valley Eagles Auxiliary, had about 5,000 eggs hidden at Community Park.