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Hey there! I’m new to the group and live over 1 hour away. I was wondering if anyone can tell me how will I know if the quarry is open to visitors, kids allowed, release forms and if we can bring water and snacks.

Everyone on TFF has been wonderful the past few days. I'd mentioned to a few of you that my kids wanted to go fossil hunting in the frigid windy weather today, so I thought I'd post what they and I collected today. It's not very auspicious. Keep in mind that one of my kids is 4, and I didn't sort this at all because his feelings would have been hurt, and he's on my lap. We were only out there for about 30 minutes because he got water in his boots. Anything worth posting separately?

Hi from the near-Chicago suburbs! Like others, it seems, we found inspiration at a recent visit to The Field Museum. Despite multiple visits, we'd never noticed the Mazon Creek section until recently as we often rush the Evolving Planet exhibit to get to the Jurassic Period. Any tips on how to search and weed through the incredible information here (thank you to everyone who shares--wow!), or tips for fossil hunting with kids at Mazonia-Braidwood, are welcome. We have low expectations, but still like to be prepared. Perhaps we'll bump into some of you next month when the season opens.

Recently, I found myself visiting my family because they were camping not too far down the road at Edgar Evins State Park in DeKalb County, TN. I had heard that Center Hill Lake is a great place for fossils, so I was eager to see what I could find. My youngest sister who is ten years old (15 years age difference between us) was THRILLED to be A ) hanging out with big sister, and B ) going fossil hunting! I made sure she knew ahead of time that we could not actually *take* anything we found since we were in a state park. Honestly, I did invite everyone else come along too, but all the other grown-ups wanted to do was sit around the fire. We picked our way down to the lake. The water was high and there was not a nice beach to speak of. However, there were lots and lots of boulders. My sister said that she and our dad had climbed on them the day before to see how far they could throw sticks and nuts into the water. I immediately started spotting fossils embedded in the rocks. This was the first sign that we were in for a fossil-filled afternoon: The boulders in some places were practically made of fossils. Her reaction: "I can't believe I was out here with Daddy yesterday standing on all these fossils and didn't even notice!" We found lots of nice little cephalopod fossils. These were the biggest cephalopods we found. She was amazed! I told her that people have found truly enormous ones in other parts of the world. The fossils are weathering away with the limestone. Druzy quartz appears to have filled this one! Not sure what kind of fossil it is. I explained that this was an extinct relative of squids etc. I also pointed out the brachiopods all through the rocks. After hearing what kinds of creatures used to live here as evidenced by the fossils, she exclaimed with wonder, "So all this used to be under the sea!" She's quick! All in all, it was a very fulfilling afternoon, even though we didn't take a single fossil home with us. We still have photos and memories (and some silly sisters-with-fossils-selfie shots not posted here). I'm a pretty enthusiastic person, but there is something about seeing a kid get excited about something that makes it all even more fun! It was my little sister's very first fossil hunt. She could not stop talking about it for the rest of the day. I think I've successfully infected her with fossil fever!