Cowan Lake State Park

Cowan Lake State Park was our second of the day, it is within a 15 minute drive from Caesar Creek State Park, and we made it just in time. The extremely kind and friendly attendant at the campground office told us that they are shutting down for a month or so to redo all of the camps bathhouses and cabins.

A short distance away from the entrance to the campground was OUR FIRST, at least first completed trail: Old Field Trail. We are so proud of this little fact. It is a short trail... about 0.8 miles. A little loop, but we made it through with boys and- no injuries. 

No injuries- is something that we are actually very proud of because this trail had TONS of pointy red bushes. 

After researching it, we have come to the conclusion it was a barberry shrub.This trail was covered in these shrubs so we were careful with the boys because our little one is in the grab before he thinks stage of life. 

In addition, another plentiful find on this trail was... STICKS! These sticks, twigs and branches became swords for pirates, walking sticks for mountain climbers, and tripping hazards as we wound our way around the trail. It was a lot of fun seeing new plants and trees species. Two that stood out to me was a little daisy looking flower (most likely a weed), but beautiful. Most of the plants I like end up being weeds. The second was a plant or possibly a tree that formed these winding branching that formed circles thin and thick and looked like it grew around a pencil or a windy river. It is hard to describe! Anyone getting a good picture in their mind?

Along this trail we also found leaves as big as our face!! Below (farthest image on the left) is a picture for reference. We placed it next to a tiny little quarter. This leaf could probably fit $25 or more in quarters across its whole surface area. E was so excited to find a pink leaf (farthest image on the right below)!

This park also has an interesting history, according to OhioDNR: "The region was once a stronghold of the Miami and Shawnee Native Americans. After the Battle of Fallen Timbers, the threat of Native American attacks subsided and settlement began. In 1797, the first settler in the area, William Smalley, began clearing land for his home along the river, which was later dammed to form Cowan Lake. Cowan Creek was named for the area’s first surveyor, John Cowan. A dam was completed across Cowan Creek in 1950, and in 1968, Cowan Lake was dedicated as a state park."

Also just learned from OhioDNR that the Japanese Barberry is on the Invasive Plants of Concern in Ohio.

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It is a cool thought that the land we walked on was once the home to Native Americans and that people began to settle here in a different time. The leaves and trees we see, the land, could have looked totally different. Along our adventure we also had a 5 minute discussion or longer... on what animal this leaf resembles (middle picture above). I saw a cat. Marcus saw an owl. What do you see? 

Our last "super cool" find was a leaf with many holes in it which we decided was from a very hungry caterpillar. I don't know if I mentioned this in a previous post, but E loves caterpillars. We have read the book, watched a short film, and there is even an app where he takes care of... an egg, which hatches into a caterpillar that he feeds and walks around, then it forms a chrysalis before emerging into a butterfly! The leaf we found is below:

As we go along these walks we end up collecting quite a bit of nature. We compare and contrast them. We talk about the colors, shapes, and how many points they have. We look at the acorns and their hats. I will have to show you one of our activities in another post sometime. 

For today, we are completing an experiment with our leaves! It is an attempt at preserving them. Online there are lots of various ways and methods for preserving leaves. The one we are testing is simple, Mod Podge! Starting with the back of the leaf we use a foam brush and then let them dry. 

E loves painting. 

Of all of the crafts that we do together, yesterday he proclaimed that painting is one of the things he is thankful for, along with his family and mommy. (Such a sweetie!) 

Here is the first coat on the front of the leaves. I will do a follow up photo and tell you how they look once they are dry and all of the research I read said to apply a second coat so I will do that as well. I love these #guentheradventures