Liang Zhang was taking pictures of her daughter Sophie before looking for eggs. The Easter egg hunt at South Park Saturday was sponsored by HyVee and Lawrence Parks and Recreation.

With her two sons dressed in blue-and-white striped seersucker suits and two daughters in pink-and-white checkered gingham dresses and all wearing white flip-flops, Beth Lee’s children were the picture of spring Saturday afternoon as they all leaned in to give the Easter Bunny a group hug.

The children were among the hundreds who descended upon South Park in search of Easter eggs as part of the annual Egg Hunt Eggstravaganza.

For Lee, it’s a family tradition that extends back to her childhood.

“We’d always come to South Park,” she said.

Saturday’s event had children collecting five different colored plastic eggs, which were scattered throughout the downtown Lawrence park.

After showing proof of the eggs, the children received a bag of goodies from Hy-Vee. The bag was filled with candy, cookies and toys.

Lee’s daughter, 10-year-old Grace Goodwin, said her favorite part of the event was the candy.

But she had plenty of options to choose from.

Along with thousands of eggs, South Park was filled with booths where children could get their faces painted, stand in line for balloon animals, make crafts or jump on inflatable playgrounds.

Jo Krise was sitting on the sidewalk with her 4-year-old daughter and 2-year-old son eating goodies from the bag.

“We come every year and the kids just love it,” she said, noting this was the first year the weather had actually been warm.

Marty Streit, store director at the Hy-Vee on Sixth Street, said the beautiful day brought out a good crowd. Hy-Vee and Lawrence Parks and Recreation sponsor the event.

Sitting on a bench next to her Easter basket and wearing pink bunny ears, 9-year-old Charlize Pate was examining the contents of her bag. Her favorite finds were a peanut butter egg and a toy whistle.

However, she said she hoped that today the Easter Bunny would add to her stash by bringing her a chocolate bunny.