Dear Kid,

The Hippos Are Coming! The Hippos Are Coming!

And as far as I can tell, there won’t be any tutus involved (extra points if you get the reference–extra, extra points if you know the name of the hippo diva).

According to the Cincinnati Enquirer (and we all know that if it’s in print it MUST be true, but in this case I sincerely believe that the reporting is accurate), hippopotami are returning to the Cincinnati zoo. You can read the article here.

Yay!

Henry (he’s a 34 year old) is going to move in with a much younger female (17 years old) and the watching will commence.

Part of the watching will be public. As in the public can watch the water horses cavort and frolic. At least to the extent hippos cavort and frolic and I really don’t know how much of that they do.

Part of the watching will be private. As in the zoo people will be watching for important signs and signals—like bringing her home to meet his mother and shopping for a ring.

There is great hope (hippo hope) that the two will breed and produce a contest to name a baby hippo. You don’t have to start figuring out names quite yet. The hippos don’t move in until 5 months or so from now, and the gestation period for a hippopotobaby is 8 months. (When you think about it, 8 months is a very short time for baking such a large animal.)

The whole exhibit is state-of-the-art and greener than Kermit, which gives us another reason to be much happy that the HIPPOS ARE COMING TO CINCINNATI!

Love, Mom

Her name is Hyacinth Hippo. The clip is her and “her servants.”