How can you spark a passion for conservation in your kids?

   I am a HUGE lover of animals. And consequently, so are my kids (and the honey has been recruited as well). Conservation is a whole other "animal". What makes someone care about something they usually only read about? Is reading about it enough? I don't think so. These are some old pictures from earlier this year in Gatlinburg, Tennessee at the Ripley's Aquarium. I am a lover of experiences. And we have always gone to the "touch" pools to feel what we normally never get to feel. This started when I was 18. We had already graduated and my friend and I flew for the first time, out to California to stay with her aunt. I was determined from then on, I would try something new that I had never experienced on each trip I went on. That trip resulted in a tattoo (given by a small, blue haired man named "Soup Bone" ~ apparently he was given the nickname since the giver said he was no bigger than a soup bone) and a trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. There I felt sting rays for the first time, and sea cucumbers (gross~ola). I have been hooked on breaking out of my comfort  zone, if even in a small way, and trying something new ever since! I try to be conservative as much as possible. If you are friends of mine at all on facebook, you will see all the rescue posts...I just can't help it. If it just saves one animal it is worth it. Even the tat from Cali is a Ridley Green Sea Turtle. Endangered. One day I WILL have chickens, and they will be of the heritage variety - if I can save it, shame on me if I don't. That is my philosophy anyway. 

   So I try hard to get my girls into doing new things. And after looking at the pictures again, I can see the spark of passion for these sea creatures written all over Biggest's face. It was just me and her that day. We were on a trip with The Dreamcatchers Troupe ~ they performed at Country Tonight! And even though the place was packed, we were so engrossed in touching those rays that it felt like we were the only ones there. It felt like a rock concert. And we could have stayed all day. Middle and Little LOVE the parrots at Birmingham Zoo. They love to feed the little Conures the cups of nectar.

   While I am a HUGE advocate for giving animals their space and not crowding them or teasing them (disclaimer ~ I AM that woman that if I catch your kids running around, chasing the peacocks at the zoo, I will get all over them for it, if you don't want me to, WATCH YOUR KIDS). I also appreciate the opportunities to connect with them in a personal way. It goes so much deeper, and has so much more meaning. I am very thankful that my kids can too. How do you spark a passion for something in your kids? Everyone needs a passion for something.