The trouble with Easter this year was evident on the paws of Cinderella Louise, a white border terrier dressed up in her Sunday finest.

The fuchsia dye matching her frilly dress had mostly washed off in the wet grass Sunday morning, leaving her paws with only a hint of pink for her first Pooch Parade. The overnight downpours soaked North Texas and forced Easter events to be canceled, rescheduled or relocated. Among those affected was the traditional pet parade, which was canceled at its outdoor Turtle Creek location and re-created at an East Dallas indoor dog park.

"We were so disappointed," said Cinderella's owner, Frank Hacker. "We were trying to make a whole day of it."

Robin Hacker, who described their home in Valley View, Texas, as about halfway to Oklahoma, said she, her husband and Cinderella planned to spend the rest of the day at Lee Park picnicking and listening to the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. But that concert was moved to the less canine-friendly Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center because of the rainy forecast.

A parade and costume contest were held at the Unleashed Indoor Dog Parks but in a scaled back format from what's offered at Turtle Creek each year.

The soggy surroundings Sunday caused problems for more than just pet owners and music fans. Even the sacred suffered.

Jerry Wallace, an elder at First Presbyterian Church in downtown Dallas, said attendance at the early service was less than expected.

"It was pouring when I got here," he said.

Wallace said he expected a larger crowd for the later service since the rain, a few isolated drizzles aside, had finally stopped. However, he said that a friend told him that many churches canceled their outdoor sunrise services.

At the Dallas Arboretum, a time-honored Easter draw for shutterbugs and their children, the crowd was spare. But Dallas Blooms co-chairman John Semyan had a line ready summing up the weekend.

"We're not gray, even though the skies are," he said.

Semyan said attendance Friday and Saturday was unusually large. He guessed that people took their Easter weekend trip to the Arboretum early because of the predictions of major storms.

By 8 a.m. Sunday, rainfall ranged from 0.68 inch in Addison to 1.3 inches in Mesquite. Also, there were some reports of high winds and small hail as well as dramatic lightning shows.

Semyan said that despite all the hand-wringing about the weather, he expected to hit the weekend's attendance target.

Ignoring the damp surroundings, Sarah and Carlos Hernandez of Garland brought their 4-year-old daughter, Sofia, to the Arboretum. Sarah Hernandez said she hid Easter eggs in her office for Sofia, but after that, she didn't want to be trapped indoors.

"Even if it starts to rain, it still beats sitting around," she said. "Plus, we bought her a new dress, so we might as well come out here and get some pictures."