Safari Soap Opera

This last week we have had some zoo/safari animals in the block center. The kids did the obvious roaring, fighting, and eating each other for the first couple days but today they took it to a whole new level:

"Giraffe, you are my mom." (said by Hippo...adoptive mom?)

"Yeah, I am your mom, Baby Hippo."

"You are my best friend Zebra, you can come to my birthday party by the water."

These parameters were expressed and accepted by all.....and happy playing ensued, well at least for a few minutes. I'm not sure exactly what happened....

"I don't like you Zebra! We are NOT friends!"

"Baby Hippo, be nice to your friend." (Mama Giraffe scolds)

"You are NOT my mom anymore. You are Zebra's mom."

"I don't want to be your mom or your friend!!" (Mama giraffe exclaims in frustration)

"You guys can't come to my birthday party by the water anymore."

Zebra charges and bites..Hippo's death is finalized after a few moments of ripping and roaring noises.

All they needed was for the Hippo to come back to life as Elephant and live among them for a few years before revealing his true identity, and only because his Cheetah sister (a biological twin) is in desperate need of a kidney transplant and he is the only match. Or maybe the Lion (who we all thought was a male) could announce that he was really a she and that she was the actual mother to this unlikely family. (Of course this is possible because at the time she gave birth to the Hippo and Cheetah twins she was an unfit mother and the state took them away and gave them to her sister, the Giraffe.....but the real twist is that Lion and Giraffe are not related at all!!) Zebra has also recently escaped from maximum security anger rehab...for "killing" Hippo.

Then it would have been the perfect day on "The Days of Our Safari!" (Oh wait...there should probably be some sort of wedding, maybe between Crocodile and Gazelle....an unlikely match to be sure, but now you are hooked!)

You should also know that I had a really hard time trying to decide on a name for this post because the options seemed so endless: "Days of Our Safari," "As The Safari Turns," "One Safari To Live,"...I guess I am quite un-original.