Fossil Hunting in Post Oak Creek

We went on an adventure to try a fossil hunting site that I just learned about called Post Oak Creek in Grayson County, Texas.  At one time this area was all under water and this is an easy site to access and hunt for fossilized shark teeth and other fossils of marine life that date back to the Great Flood (or the Cretaceous period which is believed to be 60-145 millions years ago). 

I am proud that my kids are up for exploring new places with me, even if they dress fancier than any explorer would ever consider dressing.  I love this little girl so much!

The site is about an hour from our house but we also had to stop at Tractor Supply to pick up rain boots since we were going to be walking through a creek.

The area that most people go to access the creek is at the Travis Street bridge in Sherman.  The path to the creek was well-worn.  There were several families and groups already in the creek on this day.

The creek was shallow and lined with trees.  It was easy to wade through but we were glad to have our rain boots.  

This is what we saw as we looked into the water.  Lots of little pieces of rocks and probably some fossils mixed in.

Nicholas quickly found a tooth!

The kids wandered down the creek but Stuart had a lot of success just staying in one area where wading in the creek wasn't necessary.

It is very helpful to bring some sieves or even kitchen strainers to help sift through the small gravel.  I got a set of 5 different size sifters from Amazon and the kids had fun sifting for fossils.

It is also good to bring some hand trowels and something to carry your finds in like a bucket or backpack.

More teeth!

Rachel was wearing rain boots but some of the spots in the creek were deeper than her boots were tall.  She didn't mind.  I always expect my kids to get wet if there is a creek around.

If you get tired of wading in the water to search the bottom of the creek, you can also search along the bank.  It all looks the same and there are lots of fossils throughout both of them.

We wandered down the creek some to explore.  The water got deeper as we walked and at times the bank disappeared so we were limited in how far we could walk.  It was a nice little hike and we searched for fossils all along the way.

When we get home from fossil hunting, we always clean our finds and spread them out on a towel to dry.  Here is an overview of our collective bounty.  I was able to ask some members of the Dallas Paleontological Society for help in identifying some of these.  I'll post their comments below in quotes.

We found more teeth than we have ever found on a fossil hunting trip!

Stuart had the coolest find of the trip.  It looks like a vertebrae of some kind.  "It doesn't look like the typical vertebral body that is usually found.  I am thinking it could be an intact neural arch from a fish vertebrae without the vertebral body.  If so that would be a fairly rare find.  Nothing of great value or anything, but rare because these parts are fairly fragile and rarely survive.  When they do, they are usually still attached to the vertebral body."

I don't know what these two things are.  I still need to research them.

We thought this might be some type of a vertebrae but someone from the Dallas Paleontological Society thinks it is an oyster fragment.

The piece below is "from the Kamp Ranch limestone.  It is the 2nd layer from the top of the Eagle Ford group.  It underlies the Arcadia Park formation.  It looks like a possible ichnofossil aka trace fossil from a burrowing creature.  My personal belief from personal observations in the field is that it is the trace burrow of a bivalve."  Note: I think of a trace fossil as a fossilized evidence of a creature's movement through or across a substance.  It is different than a fossilized impression of the creature's actual body.  A burrow is the remainder of a tunnel that a creature created in the ground or sea floor.  Burrows are trace fossils.

I really thought this piece below looked like a piece of bone.  But two DPS members agreed that is is a burrow cast in limestone.  Not as exciting as a bone but still amazing to me to find something like this.

This piece of bone has a clean cut so it is probably from a modern cow from a slaughterhouse that is up the creek.

The following is "a fragment of an Eagle Ford septarian nodule.  Looks to be largely calcite in yellow to cream.  The brown, root beer colored crystals may be aragonite."

The following is a cluster of Bellaplicata oysters.

This piece below is a mystery.  It could be man-made but it is too light to be concrete.  Someone from the Dallas Paleontological Society said, "I don't think it is concrete.  It see a fragment of a Pectin bivalve.  Probably an off layer of Kamp Ranch Limestone."  The line through the middle could be a burrow from some kind of small critter.   I don't know what it is but it is interesting looking.

The easiest access to Post Oak Creek and the way we entered was in Sherman on Travis Street where it crosses the creek.  Park on the road near Bob's Muffler Shop and Danny's Paint and Body Shop.  This is a well-known spot for fossil hunting and cars park here everyday.  The people in the town don't seem to mind at all.  You will see a path going down to the creek.  There is one steep area to get down to the creek but it wasn't too difficult.  I would love to see pictures of your fossil finds if you go!

Lyda Hill Gems and Mineral Hall at the Perot Museum

The Perot Museum of Nature and Science is a frequent science destination for us and the Lyda Hill Gem and Mineral Hall is one of our favorite exhibits within the museum. 

The hall has recently received some updates and while we were checking it out we had the wonderful opportunity to hear Ms. Lyda Hill speak to the guests.  That is, THE Lyda Hill of the Lyda Hill Gem and Mineral Hall!  Ms. Hill is one of Dallas' biggest philanthropists and she is passionate about promoting a love of science especially in young people.  She remembers how she loved to pick up pebbles when she was young and she wants to inspire others to pick up pebbles and explore the world of gems and minerals.  

You see, gems and minerals are a "gateway science".  Kids who might not have much appreciation for formal science will still be fascinated by interesting or sparkly rocks.  As they develop a love for gems and minerals, other doors of interest might open for them into related sciences like chemistry, geology, art, geometry, art, etc.

The Lyda Hill Gem and Mineral Hall has four signature displays.  Their 5 foot tall amethyst geode has always been an impressive site.  The Eyes of Africa is a show-stopping fluorite found in the "Alien Eye" pocket in Namibia, Africa.  It has symmetrical black outer zones framing diamond-shaped vibrant green cores.  This beautiful piece is on loan from Lyda Hill.

Stibnite, also known as Antimony Sulfide, is one of Nicholas' favorite displays.  It is a robust cluster of crystal formations recovered from an industrial ore mine in Jiangxi Province of China.  It is an amazing piece.

And finally, the monthly birthstone case displays the rough and faceted forms along with a special display of beautiful jewelry featuring the current month's gem.

We admired the Aurora Butterfly of Peace, a 240 colored diamonds, some of which fluoresce under UV light.  This piece symbolizes "a spiritual connection to Earth for all humankind".

I am in love with this Ammonite fossil that has an iridescent coating of Aragonite.  It was found in Canada.

As we were admiring this amazing piece of Tanzanite, Ms. Lyda Hill came over to speak to us!!   This is one of her pieces that she has loaned to the museum.

She talked to us some more about her passion for inspiring children and adults to learn more about nature so that they will take care of this planet for the next generation.  We enjoyed hearing her stories about a few of her other pieces on display at the museum.

There are sections in the hall based on color, based on the country where the specimens were found, and based on the type of gem and mineral.  It makes it really interesting to look at the pieces this way.
 

For example, these three pictures below all represent rhodochrosite but look how different they look from each other.  

There are also several interactive screens where you can see what different minerals are made of or play a head-to-head game to test you gem and mineral knowledge.

Here are a few of our other favorite specimens in the hall.  I like the rich purple and turquoise of the Azurite/Malachite piece.  The stringy slivers of silver are one of Nicholas' favorites.

We love being inspired to learn something new every time we visit the Perot Museum!

As we were leaving the museum, Rachel proudly pointed out that we actually spoke to one of the founding donors of the Perot Museum of Nature and Science.  

Come check out the amazing new look of the Lyda Hill Gem and Mineral Hall but make plans to come back later in February for the museum's upcoming special exhibit, The Art of the Brick, featuring the world's largest display of LEGO art!  You can bet we will be back for that!

The Perot Museum of Nature and Science is located at 2201 N. Field Street in Dallas.  For more information, please visit their website at https://www.perotmuseum.org/.

Family Time at the Lake with the Bluebonnets

The bluebonnets were out this spring but our usual spot by Grapevine Lake didn't have many blooms.  The ground seemed extra muddy so maybe there was just too much rain.  But we still had a nice time going out and exploring the area and taking pictures.

Rachel found this dead tree to sit on and asked us to take this picture.  She is developing a good eye for setting up pictures.

Of course, a little play is always fun too.

We found a few patches of bluebonnets.  The kids stayed still and posed for us for a little while.  This is probably the biggest patch of flowers that we found.  We were also a little late in getting out here so there were probably more flowers a week or two ago.  

I can't believe how quickly these sweet kid are growing up.  I try to cherish the time with them but it still seems to just slip right through my hands.

This guy especially is getting too big!  I blinked for a moment and he now he will be starting eighth grade next year. How did that happen?

These two are so precious to me.  What a blessing it is to be their mom and to watch them grow and learn new and exciting things each day.  

Aww!  I was just going to pose with him and he surprised me with a kiss on the cheek!  What a sweet boy!

Stuart handed over the camera to one of our budding photographers so we could get a picture together.

We rarely get pictures of the two of us together.  This is shadowy and we were wind-blown but I love any picture with my sweet hubby.

Our kids are always discovering neat things in nature.  I never know what they will find but I love how they show each other their finds and they try to help each other identify them.

Nicholas found a little caterpillar.

I even found a pretty butterfly.

It's always fun to just explore around here.

My boy loves sticks so he is often carrying one around when we are outside.  This is the mack daddy of all sticks though.  Look how gnarly it is.  He was using it as a magical staff to shoot laser beams at things.

I love how there are still glimpses of a little boy in him.

Look how tall Nicholas is getting!  It won't be long before he is as tall as Stuart!

This little one is a sweet heart and she loves to give kisses.

She loves her Daddy.

Of course we can't go to the lake without Rachel bringing home some cool rocks and fossils.  She gathered them up in her dress to carry them back to the car.  She was a little sad when we made her go through her bounty and limit it to her three most favorite treasures to take home.

On the way to the car, Rachel fell and got hurt.  Big brother scooped in and saved the day by giving her a piggy back ride to the car.