Willow Grove 12/30/19

Andrei Dimir passed on the very first day of the round.  I had been trying to decide whether sims should retire at a certain age or what, but so far all my working sims have died before age 65.  Sabina was the first to live past that age and I considered having her retire, but since you can't actually retire from player owned businesses, she'd have to quit instead which would mean no money coming in for the household.  Sabina is a Fortune sim with the constant want to earn money, so that just didn't seem to fit for her.  I decided to let her stay in her job for as long as she keeps wanting to earn money, or until she wants to quit or "retire".  I'm sure this will suit Viktor just fine as he has no career ambitions of his own.

As I suspected Miki Anana died this round, but not before working 4 out of the 5 days.  The fifth day would have been her day off!  I'd like to say that Siku and Kahana were really broken up about her death, but honestly they barely noticed her absence.  They cried right when she died, then carried on as normal.  I really don't like these two overly much.  At first I thought they were cute with their 3 bolts and all, but when all they do is make out and play mahjong day after day it gets old.  They have no job ambitions, nor do they care about having a family, so they don't really do anything that's interesting for me.  On the bright side they'll eventually get old and die! Lol, just kidding...sort of.

Over at the Whitecloud/Akina residence, Celadon Akina grew into a teen.  He's a Family sim, but a bit of a loner.  He mostly hangs out with the cat and plays piano.  Even during the weekend building party he didn't spend any time with the four siblings who live in the building.  His parents are either at work or asleep most of the time, so he usually only sees them at breakfast.  They're just glad they lived long enough to see him reach teenhood, though they might not quite make it to his adult birthday.  Fingers crossed though.

Happy Simming!

Willow Grove 12/28/19

I played Akule/Dyami/Brigid a few days ago, but they were so completely dull I didn't bother posting about them.  Literally nothing happened.

Moving on, the De Lucas brought a new round and a new season: Winter.  I was surprised to learn that Matteo does in fact have two managers at Fresh Rush now.  It was very weird.  I wonder how many managers the game will allow?  I decided to just call Miki the "assistant manager" and leave it alone as she is not likely to live through this round.  Over at Red's, Matteo hired Karim Nazari to fill the chef's position vacated by Kala Akina when she became the manager there.  The only other news to mention is that Matteo's wife Helena became an elder and Thea Kristensen moved in with Nicolaas.  Matteo's two "uncle" are still alive and well, though both their life bars are getting pretty full, so I don't know how much longer that will be the case.

Kala Akina didn't have much to note this round either.  She mostly worked, though towards the end of the round she started rolling generic romantic wants.  She hasn't rolled anything for Jamil in a long time, so I think she's really decided to move on from him.  Unfortunately, as previously mentioned, the only real prospect she has is Akule, who is technically her stepbrother.  So they can't get together until and unless one of their parents dies.  Fun, huh?

The Nazaris lost their beloved patriarch Hakim this round.  I honestly didn't think he was going to go so soon.  Nakia and Lukas still have no desire for children, despite Maleka's constant want for a grandchild.  She already has four, so it's not as desperate as it seems.  The youngest Nazari, Hasan, grew into adulthood and is poised to move out at the beginning of next round.  He will be moving in with his older brother Karim.

Happy Simming!

Willow Grove 12/23/19

The Kristensens were fairly uneventful.  The twins, Markus and Thea, grew up near the beginning of the round and at the end of the round, Thea moved out to live with her boyfriend Nicolaas Bakker in the De Luca mansion.  Markus will stay here for now, as he doesn't really have any romantic prospects.  Both Frida and Ingrid will become elders next round and although Ingrid has given up on having another baby, she really does want to get married.  I don't know if that'll happen or not, but a new family will be moving to town in the Spring, so maybe there'll be someone appropriate there.

Kaden and Lulu Nazari's son Rylan grew into a child mid-round.  The next day the couple welcomed boy/girl twins Jaxson and June.  As soon as the twins were born Lulu rolled the want to get a job.  I guess she doesn't think Kaden's salary at Red's is enough to support three kids.  By the end of the round the twins grew into toddlers and Lulu rolled the want for another baby.  She got her wish and is now expecting baby #4.  She's sure going to have a lot on her plate next round, though I don't think there will be a job in her near future, as there just aren't very many jobs available right now.

Happy Simming!

Willow Grove 12/21/19

Imani and Stefan Dimir had a quiet round.  Imani achieved a gold badge in pottery, so that was good for her.  Jelani grew into a teen with aspirations of Fortune and Popularity.  Though Imani and Stefan are still young enough to have another baby, it doesn't seem likely they'll roll the want at this point.  They're not really kid people, I guess.  Throughout most of Jelani's childhood they didn't do much with him other than eat meals together, so it's probably for the best they don't have any more.

Happy Simming!

Willow Grove 12/20/19

At the beginning of the round Nova Whitecloud moved out to live with her boyfriend Reilly.  He just lives across the courtyard, so it wasn't a major deal.  The rest of the round was business as usual.  At least no one got promoted to manager!  Next round Celadon will grow into a teen, which is good because his parents are getting pretty old.

As I mentioned, Nova moved in with Reilly Flanagan and his mother.  I expected Reilly to roll the want for marriage immediately, being a Family sim and all, but he decided to be difficult and rolled all sorts of romantic wants (except engaged or married), the want for a job (of which there are none currently available to him), and skilling wants.  So yeah.  In other news, Reilly's mother Fiona became and elder.  Here's hoping for a more productive round next time.

Happy Simming!

Willow Grove 12/19/19

The Anana household was pretty uneventful until right at the end when Miki came home with a promotion to manager.  I would be happy about that except Miki works at Fresh Rush Grocery where Hakim Nazari is already the manager.  How can this even happen?  Will there be two managers? I have no idea what I'll find when I play the De Lucas next.  Ultimately, it probably won't matter all that much, as Miki probably won't live through the next round, but I'm interested to see what happens.

Happy Simming!

Willow Grove 12/18/19

You may recall that when playing the De Lucas Andrei Dimir quit his job.  This leaves just Sabina earning a living, as Viktor seems to have no professional ambitions.  He and his father hang out all day enjoying Andrei's "early retirement".  Not sure how Sabina feels about all this, but one of the elders doesn't have much longer to live, so we'll see how that plays out next round.

Happy Simming!

Willow Grove 12/17/19

Not a lot to report on the Nazari/Kristensen household.  Everyone went to work and school.  Nakia and Lukas do not have any desire for a child at this moment, which saddens Maleka.  Karim grew into an adult right after he developed a very brief crush on Thea Kristensen (who is dating Nicolaas Bakker incidentally), and then he moved out at the end of the round.  The family had a small dinner party for the boss and his wife, so that Karim could meet Matteo and eventually get hired on at Red's where a chef is needed now that Kala Akina has become manager.

That's it for today.  Happy Simming!

Willow Grove 12/13/19

Kala Akina got "demoted" back down to manager this round thanks to a poor chance card.  So that actually turned out well for her.  Also she finally started hanging out with Akule some more and I was ready to have her ask him out, only to discover she couldn't.  After a little investigation I realized the game won't let them be romantic because they are technically step-siblings since her father and his mother are married.  Sigh.  Kala's only other prospect is Reilly Flanagan, but he recently started dating Akule's sister Nova.  So I guess Kala's stuck with Jamil for the time being.  To be fair, she doesn't seem to mind being the other woman at all.

Happy Simming!

Willow Grove 12/12/19

As always we're back to the De Luca family to start off the Fall round.  Matteo had a chance to visit all three businesses, though he's still not making much money with so many employees to support, but I know business will pick up eventually.  While he was at Fresh Rush, however, Andrei Dimir decided to randomly quit his job.  Idk, maybe he wanted to take an early retirement?  Anyway, Matteo was able to replace him with Lukas Kristensen, so no harm done there.  Apart from the businesses, the only noteworthy occurrence was that Helena's son Nicolaas aged up to adult.  Now we just have to wait for his girlfriend Thea Kristensen to grow up as well.  She'll probably move in here when she does.  Next round Helena will become an elder, though Matteo will not as he is quite a bit younger than Helena.  Since Leo has virtually no romantic prospects, I'm hoping that the new family that moves in in the Spring will present him with some choices.

Happy Simming! 

Willow Grove 12/9/19

Kaden and Lulu Nazari welcomed their son Rylan this round and he grew into a toddler at the end of the round.  Lulu, being a Family sim, immediately rolled the want for another baby.  They had to try several times, but Kaden, being a Romance sim, didn't mind at all.  Baby #2 is on the way!  At this rate though they'll need a bigger apartment sooner rather than later.

Nothing eventful happened at all with Akule, Dyami, and Brigid.  Akule hung out with Kala a few times, but they've yet to even become friends.  Dyami and Brigid moved no closer to becoming more serious with their relationship.  It would have been a complete bust except for Brigid's brother Reilly (who lives next door) and Akule and Dyami's sister Nova (who lives across the courtyard) falling in love autonomously.  It's sad when the neighbors are more interesting than you.  Sigh.

Happy Simming!

Willow Grove 12/8/19

The Kristensens lost Hedda this round as expected.  Everyone was pretty sad, but life goes on.  Ingrid is getting desperate to have another baby before she gets too old.  She kept rolling the want to be friends with Stefan Dimir, so I had her invite him over.  Even though he's significantly younger and married, when I played him recently he kept rolling wants to "woohoo 3 sims", so I thought he might be down for a fling.  However, after greeting Ingrid, he proceeded to ignore her for the rest of his visit, choosing instead to follow her sister Frida around all day.  Jamil was having none of that; he kept staking his claim at every opportunity, not allowing Stefan much interaction with Frida.  Afterwards I checked Ingrid's panel and she still had not become friends with Stefan.  I also noticed that she's not very close to her sister either, so maybe it wasn't about hooking up with Stefan, but about using him to break up her sister's relationship out of jealousy that she has a guy and Ingrid doesn't?  Or maybe she wants Jamil for herself?  The don't have much boltage, but beggars can't be choosers right?

Until next time, Happy Simming!

Willow Grove 12/6/19

Haku and Winona Akina had a more peaceful round this time, despite aging to elders and caring for a baby, who transitioned first to toddler and then to child by the end.  Since they all work, they called up Winona's son Akule to take care of Celadon during the day.  He seemed happy enough to do it, even though it meant cutting into his pool playing time with his twin's girlfriend.  In any event, he's back to it now that Celadon is a child, since Haku and Winona hired a regular nanny to "track schedule" and just be there for a couple hours in the afternoon.  Nova has yet to find anyone special, though she does have a fairly high relationship with Reilly Flanagan.  He's still a teen, however, so we'll have to wait to see if anything happens there.

The Flanagans had a fairly uneventful round.  It was mostly just school and work.  On the next to last day of the round Reilly aged up to adult.  It turns out he has two bolts with both Kala Akina and Nova Whitecloud, both of whom live in his building.  He didn't get to see either of them the next day, since they both worked, but hopefully he'll settle down with one of them soon.

Imani Dimir spent most of the round doting on her son Jelani, but when he grew into a child near the end of the round and started school she seemed relieved to get back to her pottery.  I had hoped maybe Imani and Stefan would decide to have another baby, but so far they're content with just the one.

Happy Simming!

Willow Grove 12/4/19

The status quo continues at the Anana house.  Miki grew into an elder this round and had to go to work sick for three days, but she got better luckily.  Siku and Kahana seem to have no desires outside of sleeping late, playing mahjong all day, and having the occasional date night.  I keep hoping they'll roll the want for marriage or a baby, but so far no dice on that.  The Anana line may end with Siku.

Happy Simming!

Willow Grove 12/2/19

As you may recall, I moved Lukas Kristensen in with his girlfriend Nakia Nazari a little too early, as she was only still a teen at the beginning of this round.  Oops!  In any event, it worked out ok because she grew up a few days in and they ultimately got married, making Nakia's mother Maleka very happy.  Maleka is a Family sim, so her wants panel is pretty much all about her kids getting married and giving her grandchildren now that she and her husband Hakim are elders.  The two younger sons, Karim and Hasan, did not grow up this round, but Karim will become an adult and move out next round.  He doesn't have any romantic prospects at all, nor does his brother for that matter, so I expect they'll end up sharing a place eventually.

Andrei and Sabina Dimir aged up to elder this round, while their son Viktor aged up to adult.  I don't see any reason for Viktor to move out at this point; he has no job and no love interest, so we'll just let him mooch off his parents for a while. 

Happy Simming!

Willow Grove 11/30/19

Kala Akina had a semi-eventful Summer round.  It was the weekend at first and the landlord threw a building party.  Kala hung out with the neighbors for a while, but kept ignoring any attempts from Akule Whitecloud to socialize with her.  After the party she rolled the want for a date, so I had her call up Jamil Nazari.  I figured since Jamil has just recently moved in with Frida Kristensen, he'd want to keep his relationship with Kala quiet and would prefer a home date rather than going out.  Problem was, as soon as he arrived Kala's neighbors Nova Whitecloud and Brigid Flanagan decided to get into a fight, sending Jamil fleeing into the Whiteclouds' apartment rather than Kala's.  After the fight she was able to go into their apartment and hang out with him some, but when she left he refused to follow, so she ended up just going to bed until the date timer ran out.  The next day she rolled the want for a date and the want to have three first dates, which seems like a sign that she's cooling on Jamil after their lame date.  I thought maybe she should ask Akule out, but when she knocked on his door he said he didn't feel like hanging out.  Guess he was still mad she ignored him at the building party.  Anyway, the next three days were mostly just Kala going to work and back, except for the night a burglar broke in.  Luckily there was an alarm; the thief was caught before he even had a chance to steal anything and Kala got a $500 reward for her trouble.  At least she got something out of this round, lol.  Better luck in the Fall Kala!

Happy Simming!

Willow Grove 11/29/19

Summer round kicks off with the De Luca family as always.  The beginning of the round was the weekend, so Matteo spent some time fishing to replenish his stock for the grocery store.  On Monday he went to Fresh Rush, where I confirmed that Hakim Nazari is indeed the manager now.  Consequently, Matteo needed a new cashier to fill Hakim's old position so he hired Markus Kristensen.  Fresh Rush is now fully staffed.  On Tuesday Matteo ran Comandgo which was uneventful, and on Wednesday he headed out to Red's to see what was up with Kala Akina.  Turns out she is listed as "Unused 3", so she's not the manager.  The only way I can see to fix it would be to fire and rehire her, but since she doesn't actually have the qualifications to be manager it seems rather pointless to do so.  She was still assigned to chef duty and there were no other problems, so I'll just leave it alone.  If she gets more promotions from her end, I don't think it'll matter and if she gets a demotion she might actually become manager!  Wednesday was also Leo's birthday and he grew up to teen.  I have him helping his dad with the gardening whenever he can so that he can build up his gardening badge.  He'll need at least silver by the time he takes over.  He'll also need to do some fishing and maybe work on some cooking points.  For now his dad has everything under control, although Fresh Rush didn't make any money on the days Matteo was at the other businesses so he'll have to continue working on it so he can eventually just "check in" there.

That's all folks!  Happy Simming!

Willow Grove 11/28/19

As I mentioned previously, the Whitecloud brothers moved into their own apartment last round and Dyami's girlfriend Brigid Flanagan moved in with them.  So far Dyami is the only one with a job (he works at Red's) which means his brother and his girlfriend spend a great deal of time together.  I was a little worried about this as Akule and Brigid have more chemistry together than Dyami and Brigid do, but they've been nothing but friendly towards one another.  Mostly they just hang out and play pool all day.  Akule also has two bolts with Kala Akina, who lives in the same building, but she's dating Jamil Nazari.  Jamil, however, just moved in with Frida Kristensen, so I'm not sure if his relationship with Kala is going to work out that well.  Guess we'll just have to wait and see how this drama plays out.

Happy Simming!

Willow Grove 11/25/19

There were a lot of comings and goings in the Kristensen household this round.  First Henrik passed away, which made everyone pretty sad, especially Hedda, but not to worry Hedda, you'll be joining him next round.  Later Frida moved her boyfriend Jamil Nazari in at the same time that her son Lukas moved out to live with his girlfriend Nakia Nazari.  I didn't realize until after I moved him out that Nakia is actually still a teen, but I didn't want to move him out and back in again later, so I just went with it.  I'm sure she'll grow up next round, so it should be fine.

Next up was Kaden Nazari (there are so many Nazaris!) who had just moved into his own apartment.  Nothing much happened until the end of the round when he moved in his fiancé Lulu Whitecloud and they promptly tied the knot and got pregnant.  Hooray for more babies!

Until next time, Happy Simming!

Willow Grove 11/22/19

Imani and Stefan Dimir decided to take the plunge and have a baby this round.  They had a boy, who they named Jelani.  Imani will be staying at home with the baby, while also working on her pottery, which earns them a little extra cash.  As for Jamil, I thought I'd have him throw a party and invite both his ladies over to see which one he would pick.  Naturally he didn't choose.  So the next day I had him invite the two on an outing.  Once again, he refused to make a choice, so based on the fact that he'd only rolled wants for Frida the entire outing, I chose for him and had him kiss Frida resulting in slaps from Kala.  End of story...or so I thought.  Next day Jamil rolls the want to be best friends with Kala, and subsequently brings her home from work.  She rejects some of his advances, but eventually forgives him and now they're in love again.  Sigh.  So the way I'm choosing to interpret this is that Jamil wants the money and status that an older woman like Frida can offer him, but he wants to keep his relationship going with Kala also.  Kala is apparently so desperate to be with him that she'll accept being the other woman.  So I'll have him move in with Frida, but carry on with Kala as well.  Sims!

Happy Simming!

Willow Grove 11/21/19

The Flanagans lost Mona this round; she was 71 when she passed.  Now it's just Fiona and Reilly, since Brigid moved in with her boyfriend next door.  Reilly will grow up next round, but I'll probably have him stay with his mom, since she'll be an elder shortly after he grows up.  It doesn't look as if she's going to find a love interest, but he still has plenty of time.

Happy Simming!

Willow Grove 11/20/19

Winona and Haku Akina thought they'd have it easier this round with only two teen girls at home.  They were wrong.  Firstly, the girls' relationship has seriously deteriorated to the point that they're now enemies.  So, as you can imagine, there's a lot of slapping and attacking going on constantly.  On top of that, everyone got the flu.  Fun right?  Oh yeah, and Haku decided it would be the perfect time to have a baby, since they're not getting any younger and this was the last round they'd be young enough to do it.  Solid reasoning, but the last thing they really needed.  Nevertheless, they welcomed a healthy baby boy at the end of the round, who they named Celadon.  Both girls grew up to adult and Lulu will be moving in with her boyfriend Kaden Nazari, while Nova will stay at home for another round at least.

Happy Simming!

Willow Grove 11/19/19

Nothing much has changed in the Anana household.  Miki is still working; Siku and Kahana are not.  Miki does most of the cooking, cleaning, and grocery shopping; Siku and Kahana stay up late at night, sleep in for half the day, and do minimal chores.  Siku doesn't understand why his mother is so determined to work all the time, since they got a pretty large insurance payment when his grandparents passed away.  Why work if you don't have to?  Miki has given up on the whole job issue, but would it kill them to at least give her a grandchild or two before she dies?

Happy Simming!

Willow Grove 11/18/19

The Nazaris had a fairly uneventful round until the last day, when Hakim got promoted to manager at work and the youngest son in the family, Hasan, grew up to teen.  That's about it for them.  Next round daughter Nakia will become an adult.

The Dimirs had an even less eventful round.  Andrei and Sabina worked all week and Viktor went to school.  No one even brought a friend home.  Sad.

Anyway, Happy Simming!

Willow Grove 11/16/19

Kala Akina had an interesting session.  Work-wise she got promoted...twice.  Normally sims don't get promoted when working for a sim-owned business, though I have occasionally had one get promoted to manager this way.  I actually don't mind that too much as it allows a sim to become manager without having to get all those badges.  However, Kala got promoted past manager to "Unused 3", which I think I've only seen happen once, so I don't remember what impact that has when playing the business.  I'll have to wait until I get back to Matteo to figure it out; is she the manager or not?  In other news, Kala decided to throw a party since it's kind of lonely without her dad and sister around.  She invited her sister, her sister's boyfriend, Stefan Dimir, and Jamil Nazari.  The party was a huge success, mostly due to Kala and Jamil taking their relationship "to the next level".  Kala doesn't know that Jamil is also dating Frida Kristensen, so when I play him next I think he'll have a decision to make.

That's it for today.  Happy Simming!

Willow Grove 11/15/19

This round (Spring) was pretty eventful for the De Lucas.  Business-wise, Matteo finally got all three businesses running fairly smoothly (though not making much profit yet) with a full contingent of employees.  No managers yet, though, as he'll need to wait for someone to earn enough badges for those promotions.  Back at home there were a lot of changes.  Leo grew up into a child, much to Helena's relief, and started school.  Nicolaas brought a few different girls home from school, but the one he's shown the most interest in is Thea Kristensen.  Matteo's "aunt" Ama and "uncle" Mikhail both passed away, as well as the family dog.  They were all buried in the backyard plots near Lorenzo.  After all the sadness, Matteo and Helena decided to get Leo a belated birthday present in the form of two new pets, a puppy named Scout and a kitten named Bailey.  Leo will become a teen next round and it'll be time for Matteo to start passing along those business perks to his heir.

Happy Simming!

Willow Grove 11/14/19

Frida and Ingrid Kristensen are twin sisters who both have children: Frida has a teen son Lukas, while Ingrid has twins Markus and Thea who just became teens this round.  Also living with them are their parents Hedda and Henrik.  Frida works as a hairdresser at Comandgo and Ingrid is a hostess at Red's.  As far as dating goes, Lukas is dating Nakia Nazari and just this round Frida started dating Jamil Nazari.  You may recall that Jamil has been dating around a bit and is also dating Kala Akina, so we'll have to wait and see how that turns out.  Ingrid is not dating anyone, but being a Family sim, she really wants to have another baby.  At the moment though, her only date prospects are Jamil or Matteo De Luca who is her boss and married, so it's not looking great for her.

Happy Simming!

Willow Grove 11/11/19

Fiona Flanagan is yet another single mom (honestly I have an overabundance of them, but barely any single dads) with two kids and an elderly mother.  She works as a hairdresser at Comandgo Emporium.  She's not dating anyone, but her mother Mona was dating Anoki Whitecloud until his recent death.  Her daughter Brigid is also dating a Whitecloud, Dyami, who recently grew up to adult and moved into the only remaining apartment in their building along with his twin brother Akule.  Brigid also grew up at the end of this round and she'll be moving in with Dyami and Akule.  Fiona's son Reilly is still a teen so he'll be staying put for the time being.

Twins Imani and Jamil Nazari moved out of their parents house and into their own apartment.  Imani's fiancé Stefan Dimir also moved in with them.  During this round, Imani and Stefan decided to get married right away, while Jamil seems to still be playing the field.  He recently started dating Kala Akina, but the relationship is only at the crush stage.  This round he brought home three different women from work (both the Kristensen sisters and Fiona Flanagan), all of whom he has chemistry with and gets along with quite well.  I'm not sure which way he'll end up going, but time will tell.

Happy Simming!

Willow Grove 11/10/19

Winona Whitecloud is a single mother with two sets of twins and an elderly father to support.  She's been dating Haku Akina for a while now, but they were never able to move in together due to the fact that he also has twins and the household couldn't hold everyone.  However, his girls grew up last round, leaving him free to join Winona and her brood this round.  They got married right away, luckily before Winona's father Anoki died, and proceeded to deal with the chaos of having four teens in the house and only one bathroom.  Thankfully the boys grew up at the end of the round and moved out, so next round should be a bit calmer with only two teens and two adults in the household.  Though they are still young enough to have a child together, neither seems keen.  Can't say I blame them really, lol.

Happy Simming!

Willow Grove 11/8/19

The Nazaris are a large family with six children.  Hakim Nazari works at Fresh Rush Grocery, where he aspires to become manager one day.  His wife Maleka is a stay-at-home mom.  This round their oldest two children, Imani and Jamil moved into their own place just one floor down from their parents.  That left them with 2 teens, a child, and a toddler still at home for the round.  Their son Kaden is dating Lulu Whitecloud and their daughter Nakia just started dating Lukas Kristensen.  By the end of the round all but Nakia had a birthday: Kaden became an adult and moved out, Karim became a teen, and Hasan became a child.  I'd expected Maleka to roll a want for another baby at one of these birthdays, but I guess she's decided six is enough for her.  She still has a little time, but not much, so I guess we'll see what happens next round.

Andrei and Sabina Dimir have two sons, Stefan and Viktor.  Stefan moved out to live with his fiancé Imani Nazari at the beginning of the round, leaving teen Viktor as the only child in the household.  Andrei works at Fresh Rush and Sabina at Comandgo, so Viktor doesn't see much of them during the week.  Maybe that's why he brings so many friends home?  He went to school three days this round and brought a new friend home each day; he's becoming quite popular.  No girlfriend yet though.  He has some chemistry for Brigid Flanagan, but she's older and already dating someone, so I don't think that will work out for him.

Miki Anana has had a tough time raising her son Siku alone, as well as caring for her elderly parents.  Things didn't get much better for her this round.  Her parents passed away at the end of last round and then her son decided to move his girlfriend in, never mind the fact that neither he nor his girlfriend (Kahana Akina) has a job.  Miki is not that impressed with Kahana and though she loves her son, she's not too excited about working into her twilight years in order to support his loafing about.

That's all folks!  Happy Simming!

Willow Grove 11/5/19

First up in the rotation is always the De Luca family.  Lorenzo De Luca and his four friends founded the town initially.  I had a different plan for this 'hood at that time, but it didn't really go anywhere and ended up morphing into this idea.  Since I decided to move forward with Lorenzo as the business owner, I had his friends close up their shops and move in with him to the House of Fallen Trees.  They have various skills and badges from their time as business owners so they've been pretty helpful to Lorenzo over the years.  After Lorenzo passed away, they stayed on to help his alien son Matteo carry on the family businesses, which have now grown to three: Fresh Rush Grocery, Comandgo Emporium, and Red's Famous 50's Diner.

During this round Matteo married a woman he's been dating for a while, a relative newcomer to town Helena Bakker.  Helena has a young son Nicolaas and as soon as they were married they got to work on having a child together, which turned out to be another son, who they named Leo.  Leo will be their heir to the De Luca fortune and businesses when he grows up.

The next family in the round is the Akina family.  This round Kala's father and sister moved out to go live with their significant others, leaving her on her own for the first time in her life.  The beginning of the round was fairly dull for her; working as a chef at Red's really takes a lot out of her.  However, on the weekend things started looking up.  Since all the guys she ever likes keep pairing off with other people, Kala decided to call up Jamil Nazari, a guy she doesn't know that well but has good chemistry with, for a date.  They went to Bernard's and had a great date.  Though they're only in crush at the moment, the future is promising for these two, especially since Jamil's family is up next.

That's all for today.  Happy Simming!

Willow Grove 11/3/19

For the last week or so I've been playing Willow Grove, which is a town inspired by a guy I used to talk to on the forums.  His idea was to have a town with no "regular" jobs, just player owned businesses and employee jobs.  That's what I've done here.  I have all my sims living in the premade downtown section of Willow Grove and currently one sim owns three businesses which all the other sims in town work at.  At some point I may have other sims save up to buy businesses of their own, but for now having one owner is working well.

I'm not exactly sure how my update process will work for this town, but I play through each household a season at a time (I've already played one season to get back into the swing of things) and mostly play to wants.  I've been creating new families at the beginning of each season, but soon I will slow that down to only at the beginning of Spring.  Relationships are confined to playable sims only, so no townies here!  My business owner lives in the House of Fallen Trees, but everyone else lives in apartments, where I cut the rent down to 1/3 of the true rent (by familyfunding 2/3 the amount each week), because it makes it affordable for sims living without promotion bonuses.  What else?  I don't sent anyone to Uni, but when anyone ages up to adult I let them have one bottle of elixir to extend their adult lifespan a bit.

That's all for now.  Happy Simming!

New Salem 10/21/19

Winter of Year 5 is now complete.  The families will be in Year 6 Spring when I next play them, but for now I'm moving on.  The only sims who aged up were the infants in town, which would be Rebecca Young and the Nicholson triplets.  No more babies in town and none on the way either.  Some of the teens are getting close to going to Uni, but I haven't got all my ideas for Uni finalized yet, so that'll be dealt with next time I play this 'hood.  Not sure yet which 'hood I'll be moving to, but I'll keep you posted.  Happy Simming!

New Salem 10/15/19

I've played through everyone for a couple more seasons now and there haven't been a ton of big events, so here are the highlights:

Jacob Parker got fired from his job and even though he got a new one right away, he'll have two days off to start, so no income for the Parkers for a while.

The Nicholsons had a kitchen fire, which is when I discovered they had no smoke alarm.  They were able to call in the fire department after about 8 tries though, so at least no one was hurt.

Ella Smith invited Anthony White over one afternoon and now they're in crush.

And in a shocking turn of events Juliet White had one more date with Michael Edwards in which he spontaneously decided to propose to her!  He moved in also, so I guess we'll just have to see how all that goes considering he's still rolling wants for Jessica as well.

And that's all folks!  Next season will be Winter in which everyone will age.  I think some babies will be aging up to toddlers.  Happy Simming!

New Salem 10/5/19

Juliet White decided to have another go at dating so she asked Michael Edwards out again.  In the meantime, she called her friend Ella White over to keep her dad company while she was out.  Though she and Michael only had an okay date, Anthony and Ella hit it off and after dinner and some tv, were nearly friends.  Later that night they had a burglar, but luckily they have an alarm and the thief didn't get anything except a ride in a police car.

Michael Edwards didn't give a single thought to Juliet after their date.  In fact, he called up Jessica Young for what ended up being just a booty call really.  At least she's not pregnant this time.  As soon as she left the next morning, Michael was already thinking about the next conquest.  He's not a great guy really.

Happy Simming!

New Salem 10/4/19

Nothing too exciting over at the Smith house.  Elizabeth got promoted, which finally gave the family enough breathing room financially to buy a tv.  The kids are pretty excited about it because they've been bored out of their skulls.

Aiden Parker also got promoted, putting him back on the night shift.  Good thing they have those live-in grandparents to help out with the kids.

Happy Simming!

New Salem 9/30/19

Both Ethan and Olivia Clark got promoted this round, putting them both on 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. shifts.  This works really well now that the twins are in school because everyone will be out during the day and home at night.

Poor Jayden Hill can't seem to catch a break.  The day started off routine enough: go to work, shower, nap, chat with a friend on the phone.  After that things went south.  He decided to go out to Interactive to try to meet someone nice.  Unfortunately the only single lady who showed up was Isabella Adams, who Jayden can't stand.  They argued for a good portion of the night and then Jayden decided to call it a day and head home.  No sooner had his head hit the pillow than a burglar showed up!  It took several tries to call the police because he kept getting scared, but finally they arrived and carted the guy off to jail.  At least he got enough insurance money to replace the stolen items.  Poor guy.

Isabella also went out this round, looking to snag a guy, and I was pretty excited when William Lee showed up.  That didn't last long though because these two don't like each other either.  What is it about Isabella that she can't get along with anyone?  We're running out of single guys here, seems like she's aiming for a married one.  Sigh.

Happy Simming!

New Salem 9/29/19

Juliet White had a mediocre date with Michael Edwards.  Upon returning home, she rolled up another date want, so they might go out again.  They have good chemistry, but Michael is definitely not the settling down type, so I'm not sure if it'll go anywhere.

Michael's house was up next, and though he did roll a generic date want, he didn't roll any wants for Juliet.  In fact, at the end of the round he started rolling wants for Jessica Young (his baby mama one night stand).  So I guess we'll have to see what happens here.

That's all folks!  Happy Simming!

New Salem 9/28/19

I thought the Nicholson triplets would be growing up this round, but I was mistaken.  It appears they won't be growing up for another "year".  Lol, the chaos continues.

Middle child Megan Parker grew into a child this round which makes the adult to toddler ratio 4:2.  I'm sure grandparents Daniel and Chloe are excited about that given that they are the ones in charge in the evenings while both Aiden and Mia are working.

And that's all for today.  Happy Simming!

New Salem 9/27/19

The youngest Baker, Hannah, aged up to child this round.  Apart from that nothing too exciting.  I was hoping Jacob would get promoted, but he didn't.  Nevertheless, the family had just enough money to redo Hannah's room.  Hopefully the promotion will come next round.

William Lee's youngest daughter also aged up to child this round.  Now that Grace will be off to school with her sisters every day, I'm hoping William will start rolling up some wants for jobs.  They don't really need the money at the moment, but they will in time and at least he'd have something to do all day.

That's all for today.  Happy Simming!

New Salem 9/26/19

Only one family today: the Clarks.  The twins, Lucy and Noah, grew into children this winter which makes things a bit easier on the chaotic household.  This will be the status quo for a while since the older boys won't be leaving for college for another three years and the middle girls won't age to teen for four years.

Happy Simming!

New Salem 9/25/19

There are only three students currently at the witch school: Madison Clark, Lisa Adams, and Spencer White.  Madison's alignment is evil; she will likely found the first evil coven in town.  Lisa and Spencer are both neutral and they're going steady.  I haven't completely decided what I'm going to do with neutral witches yet, apart from them being able to teach at witch school.  I know I want evil covens to work in the Paranormal career and do evil spells, etc. and good covens will do good spells and run potion shops.  I'm thinking neutral witches might be something earth related like Natural Science careers or gardening, but I'm not sure whether they will form covens or simply live among mortals.  In addition to these three, one of the instructors (Helga) has a set of triplets: Hans, Heidi, and Hermina.  They're currently toddlers and running their mother ragged.  Technically Helga is also pregnant, but she has not "popped" nor given birth (despite being at least 3 days past her time), so I don't really know what is going on with her.  Time will tell I suppose.

And that's it for this round.  Next round will be Winter and everyone will be aging one day (= one year).  Since time moves so slowly here, there won't necessarily be anything to report for a given family, so I will likely only comment on those that have something interesting going on, like an actual age up, pregnancy, new relationship, etc.  Until next time, Happy Simming!

New Salem 9/24/19

The Parkers are a large family with parents (Aiden and Mia), grandparents (Chloe and Daniel), and four kids: Evan (child), Megan (toddler), and twin toddlers Kevin and Ryan.  While this is always a busy household, this round was much calmer than last round in which I had a gardener glitch in which about 40 gardeners got spawned and each one had to be dismissed individually.  This round in comparison was much less stressful.  Since both parents work at night, during the day the ratio of adults to children is 4/3, which is great.  Once Aiden and Mia leave, however, Chloe and Daniel are outnumbered 2/1.  Evan does a pretty good job of taking care of himself luckily and since Megan has already learned all her toddler skills that helps.  Next round should get a bit easier because Megan will age up.

Juliet White is the single mother of a teen son (Spencer), who was sent to witch school.  She's not completely alone though because her father Anthony lives with her as well.  Ever since Spencer left, however, Juliet has been at loose ends without much direction in her life.  She hasn't met too many people in town and spends most of her time with her dad.

Michael Edwards is a single guy who is making a living writing "self-help" books.  He's not very good at it, but it keeps him supplied with pizza.  He went on one date with Jessica Young, which resulted in him becoming a father to a baby he's never had any contact with.  He seems okay with this situation, never rolling any wants for his child or Jessica.  He's ready to move on and date someone else, but that hasn't happened so far.

Happy Simming!

New Salem 9/23/19

Jessica Young is a single woman who is raising her infant daughter Rebecca alone after what amounts to a one night stand with Michael Edwards (he'll be played later).  Even though Jessica has 3 bolts for Michael and is still in love with him, they've only ever had the one date and neither has rolled a want for another, nor any other romantic wants for each other.  The most I've seen from Jessica is a fear that he might die, which certainly doesn't mean she wants to marry the guy.  In fact, this round she was mostly rolling nature type wants and the want to meet someone new, so I don't know what will happen, but we'll see.

William Lee is a single dad with three daughters: twin teens Ivy and Laura and toddler Grace.  He spends most of his time caring for Grace and consequently hasn't met too many people in town.  He has met Isabella Adams (see last post) and I think they'd make a great pair, but neither has shown any interest so far.  Neither of his older daughters seems to want to date either, so I'm sure he's relieved about that.

The Nicholsons (Alexander and Emily) had three daughters: teen Theresa, child Angela, and toddler Veronica.  They decided to try once more for that elusive boy, but they got much more than they bargained for when triplets arrived: Andrew, Benjamin, and Christina.  The household is in perpetual chaos now.  Theresa takes care of Angie and Veronica, while her parents struggle to keep up with three babies who never want to eat or sleep at the same time.  Not to mention they are trying to maintain full time jobs as well.  Money is tight, the house is a disaster, and everyone's exhausted.  The babies will grow up next round, but will it be better or worse having 4 toddlers at once?

The Smith family consists of: Elizabeth, her mother Ella, and her two children Simon (teen) and Sarah (child).  Elizabeth has trouble making ends meet most of the time, but having her mom around to help out with Sarah at least saves money on nannies.  Simon also has a job, and between them they're able to just squeak by, though they don't have many luxuries.  Ella's main concern is getting married.  There aren't many eligible senior bachelors in town, but maybe she'll get lucky.

That's it for today!  Happy Simming!

New Salem 9/22/19

First up in the rotation is the Clark/Fairchild family.  The Clarks (Ethan and Olivia) had triplet teens (Dylan, Logan, and Madison) and a child daughter (Talia).  Their teen daughter Madison was declared a witch and sent to the witch school.  Shortly thereafter, they became the foster parents to the Fairchild children (child Phoebe and twin toddlers Lucy and Noah) after their mother died.  Phoebe and Talia are the same age and get along well, while the older boys are a great help with the twins.  They still see Madison during summer vacation, but she's beginning to lose touch with the family.

Jayden Hill is a single guy who works in the Athletic career and hasn't met too many people in town yet.  Hopefully he'll meet someone eventually, but he's got plenty of time.

The Bakers consist of grandmother Sophia, parents Emma and Jacob, and children Ezra (teen), David (child), and Hannah (toddler).  Though they live in a very nice house, money is a little tight right now as Jacob has only recently started working in a Law firm.  Ezra has a teen job as well, but it obviously doesn't bring in much money.  Though most of the family members are close, there is surprisingly little relationship between Sophia and Emma, despite the fact that they spend their days together taking care of Hannah.  Maybe Sophia doesn't thing Emma is good enough for her son?  Or maybe Emma resents having her mother-in-law living with them?  Idk.  Maybe they'll work something out eventually.

Isabella Adams is a single mother to teen witch Lisa, who is currently studying at witch school.  Isabella's greatest wish is to have another child, but so far has been unlucky in the romance department.  She's only met one man (Jacob Baker) and he's not only married, but she can't stand him.  Consequently, she's pretty lonely most of the time.

That's all for today.  Happy Simming!

New Salem 9/21/19

I'm baa-ack!  I'm moving on to New Salem now, which as you may have guessed is a town about witchcraft.  The basic premise is that, rather than being persecuted, witches are in charge here.  When a teen is found to have "talents" he/she is sent to the witch school.  I have borrowed the name of the school, it's four houses, and it's founding teachers from Harry Potter.  Admittedly I know very little about Harry Potter in the first place, so I'm not offended by using these names. 

A main difference between this 'hood and others I play is the timeline.  Here I'm playing a much slower timeline where I play each household for one day, changing the season each round, but only aging sims once per "year" in winter.  In effect, each day equals 3 months or one season.  This allows pregnancy to last the appropriate amount of time, children to be born closer together in age, and for sims to develop relationships over a longer period of time.  I'm also having triplets as an option here, despite not having the triplets/quads hack.  I'm getting around it by sending 3rd trimester moms to a community hospital (apartment building) where aging is also off, so that once the first baby (or babies) is born, the mom can have a second pregnancy immediately.

Since this town is still young, there are only a few students at witch school and no one has gone to Uni yet.  There have been a few babies born and there was one accidental death, resulting in a single mother's children being put into the foster care of another family.  There will eventually be covens, but as no witches have reached adulthood yet, that idea hasn't been fully developed yet.  For now it's mostly a bunch of normal families, living normal lives, hoping their children aren't witches.

I will update family by family, starting with a background story since they've all been played a bit already, then continuing with updates as new or interesting things happen.  Since it's played so slowly a lot of times nothing of note is going on, so I may skip those households that were uneventful, or just post less frequently so there's more to tell.

That's enough for now.  First post may be today or tomorrow.  So for now, Happy Simming!

Aridia (Elf Town) 7/22/19

I am moving on to a new town now, but it's a very complicated town already and I since I write a story in game about the goings-on there, it seems a bit redundant to do updates here as well.  So I'm just going to put a brief synopsis about it here and then there won't be any updates for a while until I move on to something else.

The premise of Aridia is that a newlywed elf couple finds themselves in an alternate dimension due to their entire clan being exterminated by enemies and them escaping just in time.  The new realm doesn't contain any elves, just humans and, as they later discover, aliens.  This couple is literally the only hope for their race to survive, so they have many, many children - 20 to be exact.  If you're wondering how this is possible, it's because elves get 4 bottles of elixir during adulthood (elves are known to be long-lived).  They are just now approaching elderhood and they already have 37 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren.  It's quite a wild ride actually, lots of drama, and so many birthdays I can barely keep up, so you can understand why updates would be difficult.

I'll be back when I shift to a different 'hood.  Until then, Happy Simming!

Smercury 7/21/19

Cassidy Ottomas found a job finally in the Science career, which is great, but means hiring the dreaded nanny for Dylan.  Luckily he will grow up next round which means the nanny will only be needed for a few hours a day.

Olivia Hart is now living in a dorm with her ex-boyfriend, his new girlfriend, and another couple, which wouldn't be so bad if her own (dormie) boyfriend hadn't been forced to move out last year to make room for the newcomers.

Piper Wheeler was a freshman this round.  Her mother Willow is on the rescue team and has been on Smercury for quite a while, leaving Piper and her older brother Wolf to pick up a lot of the slack at home, while their dad works nights.  She's pretty happy to be on her own now, with no siblings to take care of for a while.  She also met a cute boy, which is a plus.

Gerard Fuchs' father was abducted before he was even born.  He was raised by his mother and her boyfriend, who did a pretty good job of standing in for his real dad.  Now he's at Uni which, according to his mom, was the highlight of his dad's life.  He wonders if he'll have the same experience.

That's it for this round!  Happy Simming!

Smercury 7/16/19

Wolf had an ordinary day.  He hung out with a woman who lives in the trailer park with him and is crushing on her.  Later he stargazed for hours, but was not abducted.  I'm not sure if being abducted would make his life better or worse at this point.  I mean, he'd find out where his father went, but at what cost?

Nothing particularly eventful with the Harts.  It was a Saturday, so it was mostly just hanging out and playing video games.  Matthew did decide to stargaze for a few hours, but he luckily did not get abducted.

Lilly's son Ezra grew into a teen this round, which will make things a lot easier for her work-wise, however she's also taken up stargazing frequently which might not bode well for Ezra.

Gayle Ottomas is already in that boat, with her father Tommy being abducted recently and her other father Hun away on the rescue mission.  She's managing so far, but her grades are dropping rapidly.

Happy Simming!

Smercury 7/13/19

Nothing much has changed for Marvin Tinker.  He and his family go about their lives without ever really thinking about Melody and if she'll ever return.  It's a reunion I'd honestly love to see.

Not a lot to report for Gabi and Isaiah.  Their youngest grew into a child and their oldest will leave for college next round, leaving room in the household for another baby which they both want.

Gavin became an elder this round and I was going to let him grow his girlfriend up with him and then move her in, but it seems BV townies can't be grown up that way?  Idk.  So I guess he'll have to settle for just inviting her to stay a lot, as he's already been doing.  He has been rolling up wants to gain logic points, so maybe he'll get abducted and be reunited with his wife instead.

Olivia has lost another brother.  Why are the aliens so obsessed with the Ottomas men?  First her dad, then Paul, now Tommy?  She's getting really tired of losing family members.

David is struggling with Tommy's abduction as well.  How can he keep the family together if the aliens keep picking them off one by one?  The only adult males left in the family are David and his oldest son Alex.  Will one of them be next?

I was pretty worried about the Kims this round when Amaya decided to start stargazing.  Luckily she wasn't abducted, but if she had been she'd have been reunited with her husband Justin at the expense of their four children.  Their oldest daughter Serena, who is a teen, would have had to take on the role of parent to her three younger brothers.  Crisis averted!

Things were pretty uneventful for Monica and Julien this round.  It's only a matter of time, however, until Monica discovers that Julien is cheating on her with his "friend" Vamsi.  The guy just doesn't learn from his mistakes; cheating is what caused his marriage to break up and now it's going to be the death of another relationship.

Happy Simming!

Smercury 7/5/19

A new round has begun which means we're back to the Gavigans.  Nothing much has changed here except the youngest became a child and the next to youngest, Andrew, is having trouble in school.  Most of the round was focused on getting him caught up on homework and getting the baby grown up so that Mary can finally get back to her job and maybe get promoted.

The only thing new for Sharla is that she's lost another brother to the alien planet.  Her brother Tommy was abducted, who she is quite close to.  And so her life of solitude continues.

And then there were four.  Charles Wheeler's daughter Piper moved out to Uni this round, leaving him with his teen son and two child daughters.  It doesn't seem as though his wife Willow will be returning anytime soon.

Maura Newson is adjusting to life as a single parent in the wake of her husband's disappearance.  So far her work schedule is lining up well with Megan's school, but on the weekend she'll need some help.  And if she gets a promotion, who knows?

Ginger and Tina welcomed their seventh child this round - another boy!  That's six boys and only one girl so far.  Current ages are 3 children, 2 toddlers, and 1 baby.  (The oldest boy, Blair, already moved out.)  Ginger also became an elder.  Next round we'll have a couple of age ups, but I'm sure chaos will continue to reign.

It was a good news/bad news round for Jasmine.  First her boyfriend got fired, but then she got a promotion which is helpful towards furnishing their home.  Luc plans to start looking for another job right away, so hopefully they'll be a two income household again soon.

Happy Simming!

Smercury 6/30/19

Cassidy Ottomas is the wife of Paul Ottomas, one of several Ottomas men who have been abducted.  She is struggling to raise their young son, living off the earnings from her paintings while trying to find a job.  So far she's been keeping her head above water, but for how long?

Olivia Hart is not a very good student, but she's trying to get through Uni because she knows it's what her mom would've wanted her to do.  She still has no idea what she'll do after college, but that's still two years away, so she can think about it later.

Happy Simming!

Smercury 6/29/19

Wolf Long's father was abducted when he was a baby.  Later his mother married his stepfather and they had several more children.  When his mom left to head up the team on Smercury, his stepfather tried, but Wolf never really felt like he belonged in the family unit.  He's convinced that if his dad had never been abducted his life would be much different.  To that end, he has become obsessed with researching abductions ever since moving out on his own.

When Jodie (Larson) Hart was abducted her family was left in a bad spot.  Not only does her husband Matthew now have to raise three girls on his own, but he has to do it with no major source of income as he's an elder and Jodie was the breadwinner.  Luckily they have a bit of savings to live off of, but what happens when it runs out?

Lilly Haggerty has become one of many single parents resulting from abductions.  It's been tough, but soon Ezra will be a teen who not only won't require child care, but who can get a job.  Lilly likes the sound of that.

As previously mentioned, the aliens seem to hit some families harder than others and this time it was Tommy Ottomas' turn.  He was working towards getting onto the rescue team (his husband Hun is already there) but the aliens had other ideas and abducted him.  Now their teen daughter Gayle is left on her own wondering if Hun will be able to rescue Tommy and get them both safely home again.

That's all folks!  Happy Simming!

Smercury 6/25/19

The Kim family has been hit harder than most by alien abductions.  First Robert Kim was taken and Justin moved back home with his mother and eventually got married.  In time, Cynthia was also abducted, leaving Justin, his wife Amaya, and their two children.  All was calm for a while, but then Justin was taken as well, just after finding out Amaya was pregnant again.  Amaya is now raising 4 children on her own, having given birth to twin boys.  Which Kim will be next?

Monica (Bratford) Worthington has struggled ever since her husband Frances was abducted when their son was just a baby.  She raised James on her own, going through a series of relationships along the way, one of which resulted in another son, who is currently just a child.  She is now seeing Julien Cooke, who has had his own experience with abduction.  He dated Cynthia Kim after her husband was abducted, but that ended with her being taken as well.  No shortage of drama is this household.

And believe it or not, none of the other families I played today have been affected by abduction.  They're living the good life!  That's it for today.  Happy Simming!

Smercury 6/24/19

Marvin Tinker is the second child of Stephen and Wanda and he probably owes his life to the fact his sister Melody was abducted as a teen.  He was born to replace the child they lost.  Now he's grown, married, and has a daughter.  His parents died of old age.  Melody has never returned.  What would he even say to her if she did?

Gabriella (Newson) Gavigan has had two abductions so far in her family: first, her older brother's wife and unborn child were taken and recently, her younger brother was taken.  Gabi's husband Isaiah has been lucky that none of his family has been taken, but his father Nathan is currently part of the rescue team, so he hasn't seen him in a long time.

Gavin Newson has never been the same since his pregnant wife was abducted shortly after their marriage.  He knows that if his wife and child are still alive, that child would be grown by now, and he's missed his/her entire childhood.  He's given up on the possibility that they'll ever come home and consequently he's been dating someone, but he's not sure he wants to make it into anything serious.  It's just not the same.

Olivia (Ottomas) Garth and her twin brother Paul's lives have always run in parallel.  They both married about the same time and they each have a young child.  Now, however, their paths have split because of Paul's abduction.  Olivia is a twinless twin and she doesn't know if that will ever change.  Given that their father Peter was abducted years ago and never returned, she doesn't have much hope.

The Ottomas family has been affected by abductions in many ways.  David had to take on a lot more responsibility when his father was abducted and now that all the kids are grown, he continues to act as the patriarch of the family, trying to hold them all together.  It's no easy feat, especially considering Sharla's husband was abducted, Tommy's husband is working with the rescue team on Smercury, Tommy himself is training to join the mission, and their youngest brother Paul was also abducted, leaving behind a wife and small son.

That's all for now.  Happy simming!

Smercury 6/22/19

Sharla (Ottomas) Lee spent a long time looking for Mr. Right, but as soon as she found him and married him, he was abducted.  Since then, she's been somewhat of a recluse, living off her painting/pottery income and rarely venturing out.  It should also be noted that her youngest brother Paul was abducted shortly after her husband.  Sharla and Paul were never particularly close, but now they probably never will be.

Charles Wheeler first met his now wife when she was a single mom to an infant son whose father had been abducted.  The two soon fell in love and got married, having four more children together.  However, not long after the youngest child was born, Willow was selected for the rescue team.  She has a personal motivation, given her oldest son's father is somewhere on the alien planet, but also wants to reunite as many families as possible.  Noble as her intentions are, it's made things difficult for Charles, who is left to run the household alone.  Luckily the older kids are a great help with the younger ones, particularly since Charles works nights.

Garrett Newson was living a pretty quiet life with his wife and daughter until this round when he was abducted.  He has no idea what life will be like for him now and his family has no idea when, or if, he'll return.

Ginger Newson and Tina Traveller have a large brood of adopted children.  They've both also been touched by abduction, with both Tina's parents having been abducted and Ginger's younger brother Garrett recently being taken as well.  They both try to hold out hope that their family members will be returned, but Tina's parents have been gone so long, she's not even sure if they're alive.

Raven Rai, the daughter of Jasmine Rai and Gunnar Roque, was affected by her father's abduction in a roundabout way.  She was never close with him when her parents were together, broke, and cheating on each other, so she probably wasn't heartbroken when they split up and he was subsequently abducted.  However, the events that followed did impact her life.  Her mother met and married a man named Clarence Phillippine and they had not one, but two sets of twins in a short period of time.  The family moved and went from being broke in a tiny trailer to having slightly more money in a slightly bigger house with four more people in it.  Now that she's grown, she lives with her boyfriend in a fairly large house, though it's sparsely furnished due to their current lack of funds, but Raven's used to that.

That's all for now.  Happy Simming!

Smercury 6/21/19

I've decided updates will only be on Bluewater residents who have lost someone via abduction or who have family members working on the rescue team.  This way Smercury continues to be a bit mysterious and we don't waste time updating on people who are just going about their business with no real concerns about aliens - yet.  To that end, today's update will be on the Gavigan family originally from the bin - Nathan, Mary, and Isaiah.

The family has grown a bit since I started playing them.  In total the Gavigans now have 10 children.  Nathan was selected to join the rescue mission just after meeting #10.  He's been on Smercury for a while now, leaving Mary at home to deal with the kids on her own.  At the time Nathan left, the four oldest kids had already left home, either for Uni or just out on their own, but the other six were still at home.  As of this round, the fifth child has left for college, bringing Mary to five kids ranging in age from toddler to teen.  Since both Nathan and Mary are elders and Nathan is not the most senior member of the team (despite being the oldest member) there is a strong possibility that one of both of them might die without ever being reunited.  It's a sad, but heroic, story of sacrifice.  Here's hoping some rescues start happening and some new people get trained to replace Nathan soon.

That's all for now.  Happy Simming!

Smercury 6/7/19

Smercury is a challenge that was inspired by another challenge called 1,2,3...Blast Off that I saw on the Sims 2 Exchange ages ago.  That challenge was a single household challenge with sims living on a "rocket ship" and exploring an alien planet.  So credit goes to whoever created that challenge, because it got me thinking: what if sims didn't get returned home after being abducted?  And that's how Smercury was born.

So it basically works like this: I have a main 'hood that is Smercury with a Bluewater Village attached, as well as a Uni for each.  Whenever a sim is abducted from Bluewater, they are actually moved there, where they become workers in robot factories.  The males, of course, are compelled to give birth to as many alien babies as possible to continue the alien species.  The alien culture is reminiscent of a beehive: matriarchal, with a queen and male drones.  Children and teens live communally in a "boarding school" and are cared for by Servos (which are made by the sims living in the Workers' Compounds.)

As you can imagine, having sims taken physically creates a bit of chaos and drama on the "home world" of Bluewater Village.  Couples get separated, children lose parents, friends go missing.  Consequently, new relationships form eventually, causing all sorts of blended families.  Here's the twist though: the sims of Bluewater don't just sit back and let the aliens wreak havoc on their lives.  They train sims in various careers to join the rescue mission crew that is secretly camped out on Smercury to observe, research, and ultimately rescue as many sims as possible.  What happens when a husband returns home from captivity on Smercury only to find that his wife has moved on with someone else?  Or when an old woman returns to find her siblings dead and her children grown?  Or when someone has children on Smercury and brings them "home" for the first time?  So many possibilities!  Not to mention that the members of the rescue team also have to be separated from their families for long periods of time which could cause problems as well.

So far, no sims have actually been rescued, though the team is in place and working towards that goal.  The alien race is growing by leaps and bounds and there are many broken families in Bluewater who are just trying to survive.  Some families have been hit harder than others.  The Kim family alone has lost Robert, Cynthia, and Justin, leaving only Justin's wife and children on the home planet.  Gavin Newson's wife was abducted shortly after their wedding and gave birth to their daughter on Smercury.  Melody Tinker was abducted as a teen and has no idea that she has a brother back home.

The ultimate goal here is to create a fully functioning alien society that has no need for abduction to continue their species.  I have no idea if this is actually possible without cheats, given that all aliens born of abduction are siblings and all their children are therefore cousins, but we'll see how it goes.  I am using all the premades in Bluewater, plus all the bin families and the students who come with La Fiesta Tech.  In addition, there are the townies/dormies who marry in and I have teens grow their townie friends up with them when they go to Uni, so the town is always expanding despite the abductions.  LFT is being used as the alien university, while I've created a custom Uni for the Bluewater folks.  And in case you're wondering about Stella Terrano, she's the Queen of Smercury.  As the only CAS alien in the 'hood she can have children with the alien offspring that get born on Smercury and I think that will be helpful in getting children who are far enough apart in relation to marry each other and eventually produce "pure" aliens.

In any event, we'll see how all this goes.  Not sure what my update process will be here.  I've played a few rounds already to get back into the swing of things.  I may want to update household by household or I may just update when interesting things happen.  We'll see.  That's all for now.  Happy Simming!

Legacia Landing 5/28/19

Mini update:  Arianna is pregnant, Jasper and Juniper graduated Uni and will be starting their own legacies (Traditional for Jasper and Matriarchy for Juniper).  Hero and Cato also graduated.  Hero returned home to take over her father's Random legacy, while Cato started an Alphabet legacy.  Hero married her Uni boyfriend and is pregnant.  Lilith and Jace will not have more children, which makes Raine the future heir.  She's currently a toddler and her sister Cassandra is a child.

That's all folks!  I'm moving on to Smercury now, which is a town in which alien abductions are for real.  My next post will be about them.  Happy Simming!

Legacia Landing 5/26/19

Unfortunately, Lorelei died without getting that final promotion due to her becoming enemies with some random townie Luna brought home from work, who then caused her reputation to go down or spread rumors or something.  Sigh.  In any event, I was able to get her platinum before she died, so at least she got the platinum grave.  Luna and Greg's fifth child, Seraphina, was born. Kier went off to Uni and returned to take over the legacy.  He bought The Lucky Shack to pursue his LTW and met a townie there that he fell for.  They had a couple dates and then got married.  Her name is Arianna.  At present, the twins are at Uni, Wren is a teen, and Sera is a child.

Over at Basil's place, the twins went off to Uni, while Basil finished his job hopping and got a job in Slacker for his LTW.  I rolled to see which twin would be heir and it's going to be Hero.  She will return and take over after Uni.  She rolled "couple" for marital structure, so she'll need a spouse.  Luckily, she's found a guy at Uni that she wants to get engaged to.  I hope there won't be any family drama as he's one of the guys Hero's Aunt Lilith dated once upon a time.

Lilith and Jace finally did have a baby, a girl named Cassandra.  She looks just like her father with blonde hair and blue eyes.  They followed up with a second daughter (Raine) who is also blonde and blue-eyed.  Not a lot of variety here.  Lilith has decided that the youngest child will be heir.  Since they might still have another child before getting too old, it remains to be seen who that will be.  At moment, Cassie is a child and Raine is a baby.

Happy Simming!

Legacia Landing 5/21/19

A LOT has happened in Legacia Landing since my last post.  Luna went off to Uni and met a guy she liked, Greg.  They moved back to the homestead after Uni so that Luna could take over as heir.  Greg has red hair and gray eyes; his LTW is Journalism.  Luna's is Law Enforcement.  Shortly after they took over, Basil moved out to Uni, leaving just Luna, Greg, Lorelei, Vasyl, and Lilith in the household.  Luna and Greg got started on their family right away, having first a boy with black hair/gray eyes, then red-haired twins, one with gray eyes, one with green.  Once Lilith also left for Uni, they had one more girl (also with red hair/gray eyes).  The kids' names are: Kier, Jasper, Juniper, and Wren.  Lorelei continued trying to pursue her career, finally having some success.  Luna and Greg both moved up their respective career tracks relatively smoothly, though Luna has been abducted three times while trying to earn logic points.  At the present time, Lorelei is an elder with maybe two days left and just one more promotion to permaplat, Vasyl has just passed away (having achieved his LTW of Graduating 3 Kids from College), Luna and Greg are about a week away from elderhood and have decided to have one more baby before they get too old, Kier (the heir) is a teen with the LTW to Have 5 Top Level Businesses, the twins Jasper and Juniper are also teens with LTW's for Slacker and Entertainment, respectively, and Wren is a child.

Meamwhile, Basil started his own legacy: a Random Legacy.  I took the rules I found for TS4 and modified them for TS2.  Basically, most things are decided at random, as you might expect.  Basil rolled for "single parent", which means no spouse or significant other.  He would be allowed to move in a mother long enough to have the child born, but I decided to go the alien route instead.  Amazingly, he was abducted his second time trying and gave birth to twins who are the same age as his sister's twins.  This was especially lucky, as he'd rolled for 2 children, so now that's done.  I also decided that all heirs will be job hoppers for 10 jobs (switching jobs every time they get promoted or achieve the goal I set for non-traditional jobs).  Once they finish 10 jobs this way, they can work on their job-related LTW, if any.  Basil has currently completed 6 jobs, a mixture of traditional and non-traditional, and his twins are now teens.  I have not rolled yet to see which will be heir, but their stats are as follows: the boy, Cato, is Pleasure/Knowledge and wants to top the Gamer career, and the girl, Hero, is Romance/Family and wants to top the Music career.

Lilith started a World Legacy, which just means she and all future heirs have to marry BV townies.  Lilith also had the unfortunate (in my opinion) LTW of 50 Dream Dates.  I wanted to get those out of the way before she settled down, so she spent her teen and college days dating constantly, followed by about a week of adulthood doing the same.  I sent her on a vacation during her Senior year of Uni to find "Mr. Right".  She went to Three Lakes and found a guy called Jace Fuchs, who she didn't have any particular attraction to, but she liked him better than the one other choice she had.  I'm assuming that we're going for locals rather than other tourists.  Anyway, once I finally got her LTW finished, I moved her guy in and they got married.  They have yet, however, to produce an heir despite trying quite a few times.  One of them has some fertility issues.  In any event, I'm sure they'll get there in time.

That's all for now!  Happy Simming!

Legacia Landing 5/14/19

The Legacias are off and running!  Lorelei Legacia is the founder.  Her college years were pretty uneventful.  I had her check out all the guys she met and then let her decide who would be "the one".  Btw, I randomly chose her zodiac sign of Leo, then assigned her the Romance aspiration based on a chart I have that divides the zodiacs up by aspiration.  I randomly rolled for her secondary aspiration of Pleasure.  This is how I'll be doing everyone's aspirations.  Anyway, back to Uni.  For a Romance sim, Lorelei sure took her time becoming romantic with anyone.  On the first day she met most of the guys in her dorm and the llama mascot.  The llama proceeded to call her every day after and almost every day he showed up to chat with her, sometimes at 3 in the morning while she was sleeping.  It was a little stalker-ish honestly.  Although she had bolts with several guys in her dorm, she mostly ignored them, making a few female friends instead.  During the second semester of Junior year she finally chose someone...the llama mascot, who she no bolts with and whose face she had never seen.  So that's what we went with.

After Uni I moved Lorelei into a randomly selected starter home (I put a selection of 10 different bin houses that cost under $20K into the neighborhood - she got the Bonny Bungalow) and moved Vasyl (llama mascot) in.  He is neither the most handsome, nor the ugliest sim I've ever seen.  He has black hair and gray eyes to go with her red hair/green eyes combo.  His LTW is to Graduate 3 Kids from College.  Lorelei's is to top Music.  Btw, Vasyl is Family/Popularity.  Lorelei was lucky enough to find her job on the first day; I left Vasyl jobless so he could care for the children.  Unfortunately, the day after Lorelei got pregnant with their first child, she was fired due to a bad chance card.

I didn't really expect them to get married (Romance sim!) but during a date Lorelei rolled up the want for marriage and I locked it in.  Since she had her days free, being out of work and pregnant, they tied the knot in a very simple ceremony because funds were getting pretty low.  Just after their first child Luna was born, Lorelei found a job in Music again.  She has been plagued continuously by bad chance cards and has been demoted several times.  It doesn't help that she's only able to go to work one or two days before taking time off for maternity leave, but I wanted to get the kids out of the way quickly.  Their second child was a boy named Basil and the third a girl named Lilith.  All three kids have Vasyl's black hair and Lorelei's green eyes.

At this point in time, Lorelei is a Record Store Clerk, they scraped up enough money from promotions to build a small third bedroom and relocate the bathroom, and the kids are aged teen, child, and toddler.  Lorelei and Vasyl will be elders in 10 days and they have a whopping $1194 in the bank.  Hopefully things will start looking up as we play forward.  That's all for now.  Happy Simming!

Legacia Landing 5/12/19

This is an idea I've been toying with for a while, but since it's very similar to how I play anyway, I was searching for a way to make it different and unique.  So this is what I've come up with so far.  I will make a neighborhood that is all legacies, so that there are no spares because spares will become founders of their own legacy.  To keep things interesting I'll be randomizing what type of legacy each new founder starts.  My list is as follows:

1) Adoptacy
2) Alphabet
3) Matriarchy/Patriarchy
4) Prettacy/Uglacy
5) Rainbow
6) Random
7) Supernatural
8) World
9) Genacy
10) Traditional

Now I know there are many other variations that I could use, some of which I'm doing in other 'hoods right now, but I decided to keep it at these 10 for simplicity's sake and because most of these I haven't tried before.  I will, however, be making some changes to the core Legacy rules for this 'hood.  Firstly, there will be no lawn living.  I have many neighborhoods that revolve around building and I'd rather not have to deal with that here.  Instead I will give each founder a starter home for them to do with what they will as funds allow.  Secondly, I will be allowing playables to marry in primarily because it just makes sense since all playables will be born in game (besides the original founder, of course) and part of a legacy already.  Townie marriages will still be allowed as well.  Finally, and perhaps most controversial, I will allow all children, regardless of bloodline, to be eligible for heirship.  I've observed the natural children only rule throughout many a legacy, but it's always bothered me.  Blood doesn't make family, love does.

I will begin with a single founder in Uni.  He/she will have the last name Legacia.  This first legacy will be Traditional, but future legacies will be randomly rolled for.  Since I'm a fanatic about aging and keeping everyone in sync, I'll play one day for each household, followed by one year of Uni.  I will probably send all teens to Uni, even though I hate it, because it's the best way to find potential spouses.  Probably Lifetime Wants will figure in heavily.  Apart from that and the structures of the individual variants, I'll likely let my sims plot their own courses in life.  Not sure yet what type of storytelling (if any) will occur, nor what my plan is for reaching the end of a particular legacy.  Definitely there will be no scoring.  And that's pretty much it.

Next post will be the first one for the Legacias.  Happy Simming!

Mole/Wirth Legacy 5/12/19

This is the final update for the Mole/Wirth Legacy for a bit.  Let's jump right in.  Not much to report on the Wirth side; they're moving pretty slowly.  Iris and Brandon got jobs, got married, and are now expecting their first (and likely only) child.  Noah, Todd, and Opal are all still alive, but retired now.  I don't expect Noah and Todd to make it much past the baby's birth.

Over at the Moles' house, Cameron finally died of old age at 84.  Both Bryan and Jade are now elders, Sage has graduated Uni (along with her cousin Lana) and moved in together with Lana (both are pursuing Entertainment), Jeremy is currently at Uni with his cousin Zane (they'll both move to the main house after graduation; Jeremy is the heir), and the twins Albert and Amber are nearly teens.  Lee and Lena are also elders, Austin and Melissa had a second son, Dallas, and are expecting a third child, Dylan and Willow have no children.  Brady and his wife Joanne have one son, Parker, who is a child.  Living with them are Asher (Noah's son, Iris' brother, Brady's second cousin) and his fiancé Tracy.

That's it then.  I am planning to make a new 'hood that will be all legacies and that's what I'll be working on next.  New post about that to follow.  Happy simming!

Mole/Wirth Legacy 5/7/19

Another long update.  All the third generation kids are now adults.  On the Wirth side, Iris went to college, where she fell in love with her second cousin Brandon.  Neither of their fathers is keen on the relationship, but they don't care.  Upon graduation, she and Brandon moved back to the Wirth house just in time for Edith to die suddenly and Asher to leave for Uni.  Iris is planning to go into Journalism and Brandon wants to be in Architecture.

Over on the Mole side, Austin finished college, moved in with his brother Lee, and married Melissa.  Dylan skipped college, also moved in with Lee to pursue a career in Entertainment, met and married a townie named Willow.  At this point in time, Lee and Lena have a daughter Lana, and Austin and Melissa have a son Zane, both of whom are children.  Brandon, as mentioned above has moved in with his second cousin Iris.  His twin Brady was going to move back into the main house with his girlfriend Joanne (a former BV teen who lived with them as an "exchange student" for a while), however there ended up not being enough room for them.  Since Kitty died of a terminal illness (old age) when the twins were still at Uni I thought it would be a good idea to move Brady and Joanne back to keep the kid count for Bryan and Jade down a bit.  In the meantime, I let Bryan and Jade get pregnant with their third child.  Their first child was a girl, Sage, and their second a boy, Jeremy.  To my surprise, when trying to move Brady and Joanne in I got a message that the house was too full, even though there should have been room, meaning that Jade was pregnant with twins.  Sigh.  They ended up being boy/girl, Albert and Amber.  So Brady and Joanne had to move into their own house.  At least Bryan and Jade are too old to have more children.  I am a little disappointed though that none of the four kids ended up with Jade's green skin and all of them have giant alien/human eyes which look so creepy to me.  Up to this point, I've been picking the oldest child as heir, but in this case I think I'll pick whichever one looks least creepy as an adult.

That's all for now.  Happy Simming!

Mole/Wirth Legacy 4/26/19

Wow, a lot has happened since the last update!  Let's start with the Wirth side.  As expected, Alec died just before baby Iris was born.  Sad, but yay for a girl finally being born into this legacy.  We haven't had one of those since the founders.  Everything was going swimmingly until a paperwork mix-up got Noah accidentally inseminated.  The Alien Embassy gave him the choice to give up the baby, but in the end he and Edith decided to keep him.  They named him Asher.  At this point in time, Noah and Edith have just become elders, Todd and Opal are still adults, and Iris and Asher are children.

On the Mole side, both Luna and Connor died within a day of one another.  Shortly after their passing Cameron and Kitty had twin boys: Brady and Brandon.  If you're counting, that's six boys in a row folks.  Their oldest son Bryan went off to college, but didn't stay long.  He met an alien woman named Jade, fell in love, and decided to drop out and get married.  The moved in with Jade's "elderly aunt" (actually she was Daniel's wife from way back when, who I never got around to playing through to death) and proceeded to adopt as many puppies and kittens as possible (Jade wants to Raise 20 Puppies/Kittens).  Back at home Cam and Kitty's second son Lee went off to college, where he met Lena.  He actually did graduate, moved into the former Aspir house (I kicked them out lol), and married Lena.  They are expecting their first child.  Shortly thereafter, Bryan and Jade had some financial troubles (i.e. Bryan's the heir, but there wasn't room for him and Jade until Lee moved out) and moved back in with Cam and Kitty.  They are causing a bit of trouble because they have no jobs, keep adopting pets, and have just announced they're expecting.  Their third son Austin is currently a Senior in college, fourth son Dylan is a teen who doesn't particularly want to go to college (Cam blames Bryan for being a bad influence), and the twins are children.

Whew!  That was a lot lol.  Until next time, Happy Simming!

Mole/Wirth Legacy 4/20/19

Since the last update the family has experienced some changes.  First Diana died suddenly from a stomach condition she'd been hiding from the family (technically she died of old age), then Dawn also died suddenly when she surprised a burglar, fell and hit her head, and was found the next morning frozen on the deck (also technically old age).  Amid all this loss, however, Cameron and Kitty welcomed a third and then a fourth son.  They're named Austin and Dylan.  Also Noah's younger brother Todd abruptly decided to marry his girlfriend.  They spontaneously eloped and returned home to surprise the family (basically I just didn't feel like a big wedding ceremony was in order so soon after Dawn's death).  Noah doesn't think his brother's marriage is going to work out.  Time will tell.  Noah and Edith also learned that they will be parents in the near future.  Neither is particularly excited about it, but they're glad Noah's dad Alec is still around to help out (pretty sure Alec will die before the kiddo is born, so we'll see how they deal with that).  That's all for now.  Happy Simming!

Mole/Wirth Legacy 4/15/19

I've decided to play my dual legacy over in Desiderata Valley.  It's based on two women descended from premade sims, one is human, the other alien.  I've written a somewhat tragic backstory for them to overcome, but at this point they are both elders with grown children and one of them has grandchildren as well.  There probably won't be a lot of updating here, as I have the full story to go off of in my game, but in the event anyone else decides to read this I'll give a brief recap of the story so far:

Sharon Wirth and John Mole were engaged and living in Desiderata Valley.  Unbeknownst to Sharon, John was in the SCIA and he agreed to become the first test subject for the aliens, whose females had all been rendered infertile due to a viral epidemic.  The aliens inseminated him, but when they discovered he was carrying twin girls, they betrayed him, thinking they could use the girls for breeders and therefore have no need to mix their race any further with humans.  They kept John in captivity until the twins were born.  John, however, fought back and was able to escape right after the first twin was born.  He hid in the woods, gave birth to the second twin, left her at Sharon's doorstep, and got as far away as he could, ultimately dying of blood loss after being found by an elderly couple.

Meanwhile in Desiderata, Sharon had learned she was pregnant right after John's disappearance.  On the night he left his daughter on her doorstep, Sharon also gave birth to a daughter.  Sharon was convinced that the alien baby was John's, so raised her as her own, naming her Luna because she found her in the moonlight.  Her own daughter was born in the wee hours of the morning and was thus called Dawn.

Sharon's family was not keen on her keeping the alien baby, but after a DNA test proved Luna was John's child, they relented and even allowed Sharon and the babies to move in with them.  Sadly Sharon died in a kitchen fire shortly after the girls' toddler birthday, leaving her sister Hannah and her husband Isaac as their guardians.  Hannah and Isaac's son Daniel was quite a bit older than the girls, so he left for college by the time they were children and didn't visit much even after he graduated.

Hannah became depressed after the loss of her sister, her only son moving out, and the steady decline of her marriage.  She eventually committed suicide.  Isaac began drinking after that and wasn't much of a guardian to Dawn and Luna.  They were left to their own devices a lot.  When they were teens, Isaac decided to check himself into a rehab facility and called on his son Daniel to move back home and watch over the girls.  Isaac died in a car crash on the way to rehab and Daniel became their permanent guardian.

Daniel had never particularly liked his cousins, especially Luna, and so he avoided them as much as possible.  Once they left for Uni, he deeded the house to them and moved away.  During Uni both girls met their future husbands and upon returning home Luna married Conner and Dawn married Alec.  Eventually Luna had a son, Cameron, and Dawn had two sons: Noah and Todd.

At some point, Luna's twin Diana, who had been with the alien civilization this whole time, showed up and filled them in on exactly what had happened to their father and how she found out about it.  They learned that their cousin Daniel had been abducted against his will, despite the agreement between the Sim Nation and the Alien Nation that men would only be inseminated on a voluntary basis, and there he'd met Diana.  Once they realized their family connection, they worked together to piece together the whole story and then use it to force the aliens to release both of them (without impregnating Daniel).  As it turned out, the aliens had in fact tried to use Diana as a breeder, but she had never successfully carried a baby to term, making her useless to them.  They agreed to set both of them free in exchange for their silence about all their misdeeds.  Daniel returned home and continued to have no contact with his cousins.

Diana had nowhere to go, so her sisters invited her to stay and join their ever expanding family.  The house was full to bursting at this point, so when Cam finished college and prepared to marry his college sweetheart, he purchased a large house across the street and asked his parents and Aunt Diana to move there with him.  Though they were sad to separate, the sisters all agreed it was for the best.  Since Cameron had his heart set on a large family, he and his new bride Kitty began trying for a baby right away.  As of now, they have two sons, Bryan and Lee, and a third baby on the way.

Dawn's sons are a bit younger than Cam.  Noah went to college, returned home with a fiancée (Edith) in tow, got a job in the Medical field (same as Cam coincidentally), and has just gotten married this round.  Todd opted out of college for a career in Music and is dating, but hasn't yet decided to settle down.  Dawn is very anxious for grandchildren, but so far no dice.

Lol, I guess that wasn't exactly the short recap I'd planned.  Oh well.  Until next time, Happy Simming!

American History Challenge 4/12/19

Finally all of the third pregnancies have been delivered and we wound up with an unprecedented FOUR sets of twins!!!  I wasn't even sure I'd get 2 sets this round and then there were 4, unbelievable.  We are now in year 1410, which is where I will leave my little tribes for now.  I'm still working out the kinks in the rule set for tribal society, however, and will continue that when I come back to them.  I'm wondering if maybe I should take this opportunity to rewrite history and make things the way they should have been (according to me of course, lol), rather than simply trying to play through history as it actually went down (as far as we know).  Things to ponder.  I still have a ways to go before any settlers show up, so I'll have plenty of time to decide.  Next time, I'll need to start working on the ceremonial lots and figure out the best way for the children to start meeting one another so we can start planning future marriages.  Not sure which 'hood will be up next.  Happy Simming!

American History Challenge 3/19/19

Quick update:  Upon starting the new round with the Apache tribe, something unexpected occurred.  The matriarch of the family, after repeatedly passing out from heat stroke, died.  I considered pleading for her or exiting without saving, but decided to leave things as is.  The couple had one daughter and one son before she died, which gives the Apache tribe the ability to survive, though they won't be as prolific as the other tribes.  Since I hadn't been expecting a death so soon, I didn't have the ceremonial grounds built yet.  But, I've just finished building the one for the Apaches so Cocheta can be moved there next round.

American History Challenge 3/18/19

All of the second pregnancy babies have been born, and we had two sets of twins again!  There are now 4 families working on their fourth child already, while the others are all working on #3.  Next round all of the firstborn kids will be aging up to child and some of the secondborns will also be aging to toddler.  I still haven't started building the ceremonial lots yet, but I may start working on them in the next round when it won't be as chaotic as this one was.

American History Challenge 3/4/19

All the tribes are working on delivering their second babies (in some cases third) soon.  The ones who farm are also harvesting/replanting.  We are in the second season, which means the years 1405-1410.  I'm looking forward to the kids becoming children because they'll have the opportunity to meet other kids from the other tribes and begin forming connections which could ultimately lead to tribal marriages.  I'm looking forward to seeing which tribes end up merging so to speak.  I'm still working on exactly what the chief's responsibilities are.  So far I don't have much, just that he will own the ceremonial lot (which I haven't even started building yet) and that he will be able to declare war (which I also haven't figured out how to handle yet).  Something will come to me in time.  In the meantime it's just have as many babies as possible!