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WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� President Donald Trump welcomed tens of thousands of people Monday to the , saying the overcast weather meant no one would have to worry about getting sunburned. He thanked the National Park Service for how 鈥渟piffy鈥� everything looked.

More than 40,000 people were expected to participate, he said.

鈥淗appy Easter to everyone,鈥� the president said, flanked on the White House balcony by his wife, first lady Melania Trump, and an Easter bunny mascot. 鈥淚t was a beautiful day yesterday, and it鈥檚 a beautiful day today. We don’t have to worry about sunburn but … it looks like it’s not going to be raining.鈥�

The president and first lady visited the egg roll area, where he blew a gold-tone whistle stamped with the presidential seal to start a few races. They also spent time at a station where kids wrote cards to service members. Melania Trump later read 鈥淏unny with a Big Heart鈥� at a reading area. It’s a story about a forgetful rabbit who gets injured, must stay in bed and learns to be kinder to his family.

Wooden spoon-wielding children competed against each other to guide hard-boiled eggs dyed pink, blue, yellow and green across a patch of the lawn to a finish line. In some cases, eggs were lobbed into the air instead of rolled across the grass, and at least one wooden spoon went flying through the air.

The participants included some of Trump’s grandchildren 鈥� son Don Jr.’s children.

At a special station promoting next year鈥檚 250th anniversary of America鈥檚 founding, kids and their families could sign a mini-Declaration of Independence or dress up as Founding Fathers. The daylong event featured multiple activity stations, live performances and story times.

Trump gave a 鈥渟pecial thank you鈥� to his wife for her work organizing the annual event.

鈥淚 also want to thank the National Park Service,” he said. “The job they do in making everything so beautiful and spiffy, and I鈥檓 very difficult when it comes to that. I will tell you, very very difficult. … They have done an incredible job. You just have to look around and see鈥�

The American Egg Board, which has participated in the Easter egg roll for nearly 50 years and has been a lead sponsor for the past decade, donated 30,000 eggs that were hand-dyed by board staff and volunteers, said Emily Metz, board president and CEO.

She said the board understands the frustration felt by egg farmers and consumers over the egg shortage caused by the spread of avian flu and how expensive it’s become to buy a dozen.

Metz said the 2,500 dozen eggs given to the White House were small and medium, sizes not typically sold by retailers, so they will not further strain the supply or contribute to even higher prices. Nearly 9 million dozen eggs are sold daily in the United States, she said.

鈥淲e feel like we need to take a moment to celebrate where we can, and you cannot have Easter without eggs. And you cannot have the White House Easter egg roll without real eggs,鈥� Metz said in an interview.

Trump also included topics that had little to do with Easter in his brief remarks, like recruitment gains for the military and police and fire departments. He also said religion was “coming back to America.鈥�

The egg roll is one of the oldest White House traditions. It dates to 1878 and , who opened the lawn to children after Congress banned them from rolling eggs on the grounds of the Capitol.

Tickets for Monday’s event were distributed through a lottery.