Ithacaview.com

My 5 year old son and I decided to go hunting for buried treasure. We agreed that the best place to look was in the stream near our house since you wouldn't have to dig. and it didn't take long before we uncovered our treasure: fossils.

Now, my 40th birthday is rapidly approaching and I must have been subconsciously looking for something nearby that I could claim to be older than me (even my doctor is younger than I am. Ack!) because the first one, an intact fossilized mussel was right in front of my hand as soon as Museum of the Earth and learned about fossils. He was so excited he ignored the freezing cold water and plunged his hands right in to look for more. It wasn't long before we were rewarded again with the most amazing butterfly-shaped brachiopod impressions. The treasure gathering continued until our hands were red and painful from cold. We were frozen, wet, and muddy but no 5 year old ever looked more proud as he carried his buried treasure up to the house.