Zoo for two (and two)

I totally forgot to blog about the little girls' first visit to the Alaska Zoo. Their granddaddy and daddy took them in, along with their big sisters. (Mom had to stay in Girdwood and deliver lunches for Art Camp.) The zoo isn't huge, but there are many Alaskan animals to see including musk ox, moose, caribou (which smelled bad, according to Jim), snow leopards, sea otters, lynx, bears (polar, black and grizzly; the glacier bear was no longer there *sniffle*) and a few other animals.

One notable absence was the Maggie the elephant, who was moved to California a couple of years ago. Turns out elephants aren't indigenous to Alaska and don't do that well in our snowy climate. (*snort*) There is actually a story behind why the Alaska Zoo had an elephant in the first place (Annabelle, who was also an artist), so it wasn't that weird.

Here are all four girls, posing with what looks like their

bear counterparts (two big, two small).

The little girls enjoyed much of the zoo, especially the foxes. They watched the wolves and porcupines and Abigail liked the snowy owl. What Abigail didn't like was the petting zoo. Just look at her semi-worried, semi-scared face in the photo below:


The weather was a little rainy, but nothing to truly dampen anyone's spirits. Although apparently the little girls were scared of the squirrels that chattered at them as they ate their picnic lunch. Other highlights include several potty breaks (this was their first long trip to Anchorage and they did great with NO accidents!) and a long visit to the gift shop, where all four girls found treasures to purchase to remember their zoo trip.

There weren't a ton of photos taken, so I don't have a lot to share. Well, there were a ton of photos taken, but they were of animals. Lots of animals. But not my animals.

You'll have to make do with these two. In the zoo. Whew.