New Additions

We've had a few new additions to our hippo pod over the past few months. Please welcome:

Hiccup (purple) - A very supportive 'po. Rather timid, though. He gets the hiccups whenever he gets scared--which happens a lot. 

Nancy (pink) - Met Hippo while waiting for a flight at Reagan National Airport. She has become close friends with Frankie, and they enjoy lighting up and wearing glow sticks on special occasions.

Ronnie (blue) - Came bearing a gift of jelly beans. Quick to smile and laugh at any opportunity (especially when he has eaten too much sugar--like in jelly beans).

...and just because they felt neglected lately, Hippo and Frankie want to say "hello again!"

We hope everyone had a Hippo Easter!

Frankie's Christmas

Our friend Frankie sent along some photos from his Christmas celebrations:

Citrus boxes are a comfortable way to travel. They're nicely padded and smell so good.

Hello, Holly! She's hanging around the Christmas tree to catch a glimpse of Santa on Christmas Eve.

The first thing to inspect on Christmas morning is the stockings. Will all my favorite candies be inside?

Hippo Ennumeration

A Friend of Hippo (FOH) pointed out that if I don't take a thorough snout-count of my hippo household, I might miss out on civic hippo representation and civic hippo dollars!

But do I count just us fuzzy ones? Do the House Hippos have their own count? Does Tiny count as a fraction of a hippo? Does Frankie count as a hippo-and-a-half? How do you count Flatopotamus? Does anyone have enough fingers to count us all?

We'll just let FOH's and ennumerators count for themselves.

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That reminds me – Have all you humans sent your census forms in?!?

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Twenty-five hippopotamuses! Hippos truly are social animals. How many hippos are in your household?

Hippos on Ice

Since we're stuck with winter – and the snow and ice that go with it – for a while longer, our little hippo clan decided to hold our own Hipp-O-Lympics.

You already know that Frankie likes curling, Aurora is a world-champion snow-hippo builder, Ludwig likes the slalom snow-hippo-angel making competition, Squeaky thinks the huge-hippo-luge looks interesting, and Opie is a speed-snout-sliding world champion!


As for me, I like ALL the winter hippo sports, but the napping-on-the-couch-after-a-cup-of-hot-chocolate-with-mini-marshmallows-marathon is my favorite!

Frankie Likes To Curl

Frankie's favorite winter game is curling.

His rotund physique is perfect for the sport.

His butt gets a little chilly and the sweepers tickle.

But sliding and bouncing are fun!

Frankie's Weather Report

During the Snowpocalypse of 2010, Frankie went outside to report on the weather.

The snow is five hippos deep and the temperature is two chills and a shiver. If you're going outside, bundle up!

The cars are hibernating. We'd better travel by foot.

Ludwig was hoping to visit the animals in the zoo, but nobody shoveled their sidewalk yet. We hope they have some good cartoons to watch and hot chocolate to warm up with.

The humans are sliding down a hill and struggling to climb back up. They probably wouldn't fall so fast if they didn't sit on those sheets of plastic.

Nature is very pretty when she puts her snow on.

It's unusually quiet and peaceful in the big city today. Maybe there will be more activity down this way.

The kids were starting up a snowball fight. Ludwig ducked behind a bush for a quick snapshot and then scurried off to safety.

The snowmen are growing fat this winter. They must be getting ready for a long, hot summer.

Not Kermit

Frankie heard that Hippo hangs out with Kermit the Frog. So he was very excited when he met Kermit himself! He found him in the forest, burrowing in some wet leaves and slurping up slugs. He invited him inside to warm up with some hot chocolate and a good movie.

Frankie Is Thankful

Frankie is thankful for Thanksgiving vacation.

Frankie is thankful for car rides.

Frankie is thankful for rest stops.

Frankie is thankful for cranberries.

Frankie is thankful for pie.

Frankie is thankful for games.

Frankie is thankful for kitties.

Frankie is thankful for leftovers.

Frankie is thankful for returning home after a fun trip.

Frankie Likes To Spin

Halloween Party

Hippo, Opie, Frankie, Squeaky, Flatopotamus, Grumpy Ducky, and a host of costumed acquaintances threw a wild Halloween party.


Opie won the prize for Best Costume. He looked so smart in his graduation cap that we kept mistaking him for Hippo all night!

Beach Hippo

I finished my summer by taking a trip to the beach in Ocean City, Maryland.


Of course I had to walk along the boardwalk and visit the kite shop.


And play mini-golf.


I won, of course.


The water was kind of cold for a hippo, but I liked flying kites, walking on the beach, and picking up shells and other keepsakes.


That's a funny looking shell. I wonder what it is?


As it turns out, it wasn't a shell. Meet my new friend Frankie, a little sphere'o'potamus who needed a good home. He came home with me to live with my other tiny potamus pals.