I miss Annabelle, I grew up in Anchorage and went to visit her every summer. As a teenager, I worked at the zoo one summer. I would sit on the bench near her enclosure while I ate my lunch. Her paintings were wonderful. Her trainer offered to have one made for me, I declined because I was leaving for college, but now I regret that. I ended up moving to Nevada for a teaching job and read Mukluks for Anabelle to my classes every year for our reading week activities. I would show them my mukluks from when I was a little baby, so they could see what they were made of. It was story so different from anything they had ever heard of, that even the older kids enjoyed the book and the presentation of experience with Annabelle. I have now retired from that teaching job and I am back in Alaska on the Kenai Peninsula. My backyard is now my zoo. We have two moose families that roam the area and lots of birds.

Would love to know more of that story of Mark almost dying on a goat hunt! That’s a huge zoo!

Very nice tour of your zoo !! Glad all the kiddos like going there ! It doesn’t have to be a huge zoo to be quaint and educational .. very nice ! Bless you all !

That is so sweet that you had all the children with you. The animal is liked the most was the bald eagle.

This was awesome! I love going to zoos. But I will say you have the patience of Job! Bless you for being such a calm laid back mom and aunt!

Thanks for taking us along...I think a zoo makes you young at heart...no matter your age...Thanks again...

Thanks for sharing your trip to the zoo. Very interesting

I love you with your "wolf pack"! Not a great fan of zoos, however (!), this organization is doing so much more. What a great resource for the community. TY for the tour! 😘 My favorite stop in NC was the NC Roanoke Aquarium. Small, dedicated and education forward. Otters are the best!

What a wonderful elephant story. Maggie sounded like fun !! 😀😀

I loved seeing Annabelle!!! I remember thinking it was so cool she painted!!!

Loved the video.. You do such a great job explaining everything.. Thank-you.

I don't think this would be allowed to happen to a baby elephant now as it's recognised how much elephants need to be part of a herd. Having said that, Annabelle seems to have had a lot of human contact and this would have helped her. Thankyou for the video Lauren...it's been a welcome distraction from the TV coverage of the death of our beloved Queen Elizabeth. She was an amazing woman and will be missed RIP

Loved every minute, you're a natural at this! Really enjoyed the additional information you provided. Once again, great job, and thank you!

I love zoos. Thanks for taking us along.

What a lovely zoo .I will definitely go there when I visit Alaska.Carol England x.

love your enthusiasm about the places in alaska!

I’ve been to the zoo almost every year on my kids field trips and kids days and I have never seen the plaque honoring Annabelle, and I remember seeing Annabelle and Maggie as a kid

Thank you for the tour of the zoo and all the history. We have a similar zoo we love to visit in our local mountains. It is always nice to learn about the native animals. I love that they take in hurt animals for rehab or their new homes. The history of Annabelle was so cool !! 🐘 And I especially loved the pictures over the years of the kiddos with the moose antlers. Great memories for you all ❤️

Thank you for sharing the Zoo excursion. The added bonus story about the Elephant was so interesting. I so enjoy listening to you tell about adventures in Alaska.

I've gone to your zoo in the summer and when there was snow still on the ground...love it!!

It has been a little over five years since I have been to a zoo. I was last to the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha. Great seeing the zoo. Thanks for the tour.

Fun!! I love the little goats and the otters!!

I and My brother were visiting family in Wasilla this past March. we spent a couple hours at the zoo. with a stop for hot cocoa. your video was a great reminder of a great day and so much better than the phone pictures that I took. thanks for sharing.

Thanks for this tour !

baby moose! I always wondered why the plural of moose isn't meese 😂

The Elephant story was so interesting. The zoo is great for children, an informal setting.

Thanks for sharing. ❤

It is a sweet little zoo. I had no idea they had one there! I am planning to move to Alaska (hopefully next summer!) And this will be so much fun for my two sons. They love animals! Would love to see more videos like this where you go to fun and educational attractions!!

I enjoyed hearing about Annabelle & seeing the Alaska Zoo with you. This was really nice.

Thank you, I enjoyed walking thru the zoo with you, learning about the animals and history of the zoo itself

I loved the polar bear.

i love the zoo thank you so much for sharing this with us love from pa

Oooooo thank you so much for taking us along and telling us the history loved it I love this channel...have a blessed day

Thanks for sharing this trip to the zoo. I really enjoyed it. 👍

You have your own personal zoo! LOL I had four boys (all grown now). Enjoy them while they are young because time flies!

Great video! I always love when you tell the history of something or someone!!1❤️

Hi Friends, you are a natural educator Lauren, the way your tour of the Zoo for us just flowed is a skill you have mastered. Thankyou for sharing 😊

thanks for this amazing video I love going to the zoo

Thank you for the tour I truly enjoyed it and the children are so cute I don't know how you manage but you're a good teacher and mother.

Sweet little Reese so outnumbered. She’s got the prettiest little curls, I love her hair. This was a fun video, I had a great time at the zoo today, lol!

Watching your videos make me want to go visit Alaska, greetings from Mexico

I look at you and am amazed how you can wrangle all those boys. I only had 2 and sometimes I just wondered if I could make it a day. But you and Mark are great.

We have a zoo like that about a 2 mile walk on our bike path. Cape May County Zoo in NJ. Thanks for showing us your zoo.

Such a neat trip, thanks for taking them.

Haha I love it you saying about cat and one scream luna hahaha. Loved it thank you for the zoo it was amazing

New viewer here! Love the walkthrough of the zoo. I like all the animals!

Thanks for the zoo tour and the story of Annabelle you are such a great story teller. ❤️

This was great. I have not been to the AK Zoo since Binki the polar bear was there. We even got an ornament with a shoe in his mouth. I have seen 2 golden eagles in my life. One was in Arkansas and one here in Alaska.

Have a some fun at the zoo.

Hey Hamm family so happy to be with you all.xoxoxo

Once again love it when you take us on your outings, you really give us a wonderful insight into Alaska life and I love how you look up the history of things that peak your interest, not sure if you know this but we only have black swans in Australia. Looking forward to the next video 🦘

I really enjoyed the zoo!

Hello Hamm Family ❤️ Thank you for sharing your zoo with us... both the wildlife and kids. Lots of beautiful animals. As much as I prefer to see animals in the wild, it's comforting to know their are people and organizations that care for and rehabilitate wildlife that are in need of help. The story of Annabelle and Maggie was so interesting. My favorites are the Big Cats, especially the Tigers (my #1), the bears and wolves (sad to hear they've all passed on). I shared my moose encounter earlier. They are humongous and a bit scary, especially when you're like me, 5'3 1/2"... Yikes. We have wildlife that visits often: Deer Family (w. an absolute gorgeous Buck). We had 5 new fawns this year. Maggie's foe is the Buck. She puts on a good show when he's not around, but when he is, she's all tail between her legs, a whimper and hide behind Mom or Dad... or beeline it into the house. Fox Family with 5 kits this year. Rabbit Family with lots of babies that Maggie wants desperately to herd. They're not amused. Groundhog Family... our lawn's bitter enemy... and Mark's. Black Bear, pretty sure it's a male, who just passes through now and then... around dusk. Raccoons... little mischief makers. Black King Snakes. Just saw a big one this morning. Birds: Cardinals, Robins, Bluebirds, Jays, Swallows, Wrens, Crows and other Blackbirds, Fultures, Owls and Hawks. An occasional Bat. And lastly, a Feral Cat Family. Over the last few years the Animal Shelter has been catching, neuter/spay, then releasing. Our Ash is one of the babies that adopted us when he was about 10 weeks old. He's a little over 1yo now. Maggie and Dakota were adopted from our Animal Shelter, both when just a few months old. They all went from Paupers to Princes/Princess. Again, thank you for sharing your adventure. Have a Great Weekend. Yah's Blessings ❤️

That’s cool. I am in Kansas

Sorry I meant Annabelle!! We have a nice zoo in South Carolina. They do fun things at Halloween and Christmas!!

I feel bad for Annabelle. To be sent to a completely different climate with no social interactions for so long is just wrong imo.

we have bobcats n mountain lions in my backyard time to time I nvr feed dogs outside or leave food in wither when they are out n nvr leave out at night in winter summer to hot they only go out to go potty ( my dogs lol)

Just saw your channel, love it. I am from Jamaica and is just fascinated by Alaska. Just a thought, why is there no reptile at the zoo? God bless you and your family

Was wondering what do they do in the winter when it's so cold?

Bart Simpson asked for the Elephant, I wonder if the Simpsons got the idea from this story

when you said “they accept donations” i figured cash…then you showed a meat donation box 😮

I love following along even though I don't believe in zoos for animals to live their lives sad for all.

A lovely little zoo and you always give us lots of good information but, the polar bear enclosure? That poor bear! That enclosure is horrible and too small and that bear seemed agitated and bored.

This video was hard for me to watch since all the animals are in such small enclosures. It almost seems like a road side zoo that are run by good meaning people but the just don’t have the means/funds to properly care for the animals in their care. I don’t know what else to say but it saddens my heart.

wat wordt de jongens groot

I thought they had beluga whales

Shame they can't rehabilitate and exist to reintroduce to the wild. That double pane with the seals is intentionally there. Often viewers bang, knock on the glass not realizing it's loud and nerve racking to the animals and can cause reactive aggression to handlers. Sound defines location and threat in the wild and much sensitive hearing than ours. Imagine having a base drum banging next to your ear. Miserable. I cringed when your son head butted the interior panel. Swimming on back is a soother to stress and boredom. At least the experience was educational for the kids.

Thank you for the tour of the zoo and all the history. We have a similar zoo we love to visit in our local mountains. It is always nice to learn about the native animals. I love that they take in hurt animals for rehab or their new homes. The history of Annabelle was so cool !! 🐘 And I especially loved the pictures over the years of the kiddos with the moose antlers. Great memories for you all ❤️