Opened in 1998, The Bunny Museum is described as a living museum with over 17,000 bunny collectibles of every size, shape, and matter. It is about a half mile away, so we decided to walk over.[below]

Open only on holidays or by appointment, [Father's Day open 3 pm - 6pm], and charging no admission, lo and behold, Candace was there at the front door to greet us, with 'Hoppy Father's Day.' That's 'Hoppy' with an 'o' -- get it?

Candace has what could be described as a bigger than life personality -- she is very enthusiastic about her bunny collection.

And serious about it too. [below]

Sign the guest book - they've had over 8000 visitors.

No purses, no backpacks, no strollers. [Dianne was asked to leave her purse in a small trunk on the front porch.]

There's even a sign that tells visitors that each room is under closed circuit surveillance. There'll be no funny bunny stuff here. Don't even think about it.

And by the way, don't touch anything. The leftovers of a ceramic bunny sit in a bowl - see what happens when you touch?

Before inviting us to 'hop on in', Candice took a moment to reprimand Megan for having the 'wrong' animal on her shirt [a dog].

As the sign reads: This is a private home. Okay, okay -- sheesh!

Surprisingly, cameras are welcome. And as promised, each room in their home is jammed packed from floor to ceiling with bunny stuff. With displays on both sides, the hallways have become quite narrow, even in the entryway, creating a close feeling, not for the claustrophobic. One of the first cabinets we observed displayed what Candace described as 'The Pretenders.' [below]

These are characters, dolls, and other toys dressed up as bunnies. We observed Spongebob Squarepants, Tweety, Garfield, the M&Ms guys, and an assortment of other dolls, all wearing various bunny costumes. Get it?

 

 

 

Another room was devoted exclusively to stuffed animal bunnies. [right]

And it's piled high. According to what we learned, the family actually watches TV in this room. In fact, much to the surprise of many of the visitors, Steve and Candice actually do live in this house.

[apologies for the poor quality photo]

And we saw the stuffed animals, and the ceramic figurines, and even some real bunnies, which had been relegated to the kitchen during operating hours. Under normal living conditions, the bunnies are essentially free range.

The backyard features more Rose Parade float remnants, and a large assortment of garden accessories featuring bunnies.

We found ourselves drawn to the backyard bunnies in peculiar ways.

 

 

 

Where else but Pasadena can you view an old piece of an old Rose Parade float?

 

 

 

 

We took a good hard look at them.

Candace has been collecting bunnies for just 10 years. It all started with a rather ordinary looking white stuffed animal bunny which is on display -- a Valentine's Day gift from Steve. And a hobby was born. Or is it a compulsion? They're even listed in The Guinness Book of World Records as the world's largest bunny collection. That's cool.

The neatest piece in the collection? Their new dining room table [above] which features The Bunny Museum logo - that's 'Honey Bunny' in the logo, one of Steve and Candace's real live bunnies, who died in 2002.

The oddest piece in the collection? Honey Bunny, who is now stuffed [a la the taxidermy man] and sits in a protected glass case. Even Megan winced at that one.

There are big plans for The Bunny Museum, including moving the extensive collection into a home '10 times bigger,' a bunny store, and a bunny-themed restaurant that serves vegetarian meals, of course.

Call it what you will, collection, museum or obsession, it might satisfy a curiosity to see who would assemble so much bunny stuff, and it might be really great for Candace to have all of the bunny stuff. After about 15 minutes, we left, feeling a bit irritated and shoved around. For us, going to the Bunny Museum is a bit like visiting some overly strict aunt -- she invites you over to play, but has the furniture and floors covered in plastic and doesn't want you touch anything.

And while I understand Candace's wish to protect her bunny collection, she might consider taking a softer and fluffier approach, one that isn't so intensive and rules oriented.