I arrived feeling a little nervous about 45 minutes early to the annual MSU 4H Children's Garden Teddy Bear Picnic. I was wearing my under armor, I had everything ready to go. It was about 43 degrees with a chilly wind, freezing for me in a light jacket. I walked into the proceedings as things were still being set up. I was directed to an empty booth; this was a problem because I had nowhere to change. After waiting for about 20 minutes, I figured I might as well get into my Snark Fursuit. I pulled on my furry fursona, and waited. And waited. It was about 10 minutes before things were supposed to start, so I called my handler for the day. She said, "We're here... where are you?" The volunteers had put me in the wrong tent! I told her where I was and would she mind coming over to get me. My vision at this point, as any of you that fursuit know, was pretty limited. She agreed and a couple of minutes later, came walking up with her rainbow hat. Quickly tossing my personal effects into a box, we rushed over to the real booth.

The kids were fascinated. I had many who just stared at me with this glazed look in their eye, as if they couldn't quite figure out how such a large teddy could be moving around. Several of the kids came up and just hugged me right off the bat, and I hugged them in return. Some kids were scared, so I avoided going near them, pretending to be scared myself, covering my eyes and hiding behind my handler. Many of them really got a kick out of that. There was lots of laughing and dancing, clapping and high fives. I have a squeaker hidden in one paw, and they laughed out loud when I squeaked and pantomimed a variety of different things. I squeaked when I waved, which cracked many of them up, and I squeaked when I gave them a hug. Very cool. This is the main reason I decided to start fursuiting. Yes, I am also looking forward to cons, but this, bringing joy to a child, what's better than that?

There were a few parents who pushed their scared kids towards me, the kids screaming in fright, telling them it was going to be ok, and stop crying so they could take a picture. One wanted me to hold their kiddo for a picture; I won't do that. My paws are not quite nimble enough for such handling.

I got to take my picture with many different people, MSU's women's basketball team, the cheerleading/pompom squad, firemen, moms and dads, police, doctors, nurses and volunteers. Most of those pics are on my handler's camera, and she is going to get me copies, and I will post them here.

For my first fursuit adventure, which lasted 4 hours in suit with 2 10 minute breaks, things went very well. I drank an enormous amount of water on my first break and never had to pee. Sweated like a pig. I'm glad the kids I hugged didn't notice or didn't care. It also rained briefly... the worst part about this was the ratty look the fur took after a light rain landed on it. But, it brushed right out. I turned my suit inside out when I got home, and it dried in a matter of hours.

The head worked quite well except for that darned vision. When I took the head off during my first break, my eyes had trouble looking straight ahead because of how long I had to peer through the narrow eye sockets. But, for the most part, it did what it was supposed to do. The fans were great! If your fursuiter has the knowhow, have them install three. One in the snout, and one in each ear as exhaust ports. It really made a difference in keeping my head cooler.

I opted to not do the digitigrade pads. I need to work on that bit.