Thursday 10 August 2017

You say it's your birthday, January 2045

Round 37: January 2045 (Summer)

Seeing the kids have a few weeks before they go back to school and Ethan has some vacation time saved up, he and Maia have decided to take the family on their first holiday.

Maia will leave her store in the (relatively) capable hands of her manager while she and the family are off enjoying the sights in Cape Elizabeth.

The kids can’t wait and don’t even complain when they have to get up early to leave for the airport.

Willow and River are sharing their own room…

…while Wren will be staying right next door, with Ethan and Maia.

Ethan and Maia thought the kids would want to go straight to the beach but the hotel pool is right there!



The hotel is one of the cheapest in Cape Elizabeth but there are a surprising amount of things to do without leaving the site.


The next morning, the family heads off to the beach, where the kids are enthralled by the local performing a fire dance by the shore.

This gives Ethan and Maia a good ten minutes to themselves while the kids are entertained.

It's not long before River is keen for a swim, so Maia joins him. Wren is too nervous about the waves, so Ethan watches her and Willow while they build a sandcastle instead.

The kids later manage to somehow talk Ethan into fire dance lessons.

He’s not quite ready for flames but everyone is impressed by his twirling nonetheless!


On their last day, the family visit the old ruins. 


The kids especially are overwhelmed by the size of them!


But even more exciting for them is the end of the day, when they’re each allowed to pick out one souvenir from the store.


They end their trip with dinner at a local restaurant - a romantic table for two for Ethan and Maia and the kids at a nearby table.

Willow, River and Wren feel very grown-up!

**********

Back in Sullivan, there is a pair of twin boys turning one!

Byron Collins is a very loud and rambunctious little boy and is already proving to be a bit of a troublemaker. 

Noel is about as active but is much quieter and sweeter than his brother. 

Gemma Ashton is starting pre-school this year and is pretty excited about it.

She'll be in the same class with Matias Miguel. They haven't met before but hopefully, they'll get along.

Gemma's big sister Felicity is leaving primary school behind and starting high school. She's not interested in much, apart from making a lot of friends!

Gabriel Nott will be attending Suffolk University this year. He's quite happy to be living in a dorm with his girlfriend Bianca, who he's been apart from for the past year. Gabriel was very organised with his enrollment and has already declared the Literature major. 

Ramona Nihill is also starting at Suffolk this year. She plans to major in Journalism.

Best friend Ruby Lane is in the dorm room right next door to Ramona. Ruby will be majoring in Fashion Design.

Brendan Lachance is all done with uni!

He's sad to leave his girlfriend Aurora behind on campus but excited about the eventual share house he's planning on getting with his friends.

Until all three of his friends are ready to move in though, he's living with his parents (plus his brother, sister-in-law and newborn twin niece and nephew) for this year.

Brendan earned a 4.0 GPA and now has a job as a Rookie Field Agent with the SCIA. 

Caitlin Romilly has also graduated.

She will eventually live in the aforementioned share house with Brendan but has also moved back in with her parents (and sister) in the mean time.

Caitlin can't say she thinks that's too terrible, because her parents' house is quite close to her boyfriend Mitchell's unit.

She earned a 3.3 GPA and as such, has found it difficult to find a job in her chosen field of social work. Until she finds something, she's working as an Assembly Troupe Actor in the field of Counseling Psychology. 

Sullivan also has three new elders this year...

Corbin Gray...

Corbin's wife Pamela...

and Jesse Carmody.

Other birthdays this month:
Cole Hamilton turns 5
Beau Hamilton turns 7
Amy Clarke turns 10
Matthew and Simon Lane turn 20
Susannah Halmi turns 35
Gordon Nott turns 49
Vanessa Gentry turns 56
Tatiana Lachance turns 62
Caleb Moretti and David Sitko turn 63
Kimberly Carmody turns 74
Jace Novak turns 88

January wedding anniversaries:
Amar and Adrienne Hamilton - 3 years
Ethan and Maia Novak - 10 years
Rob and Patience Ashton - 14 years
Caleb and Cara Moretti - 28 years
Jonas and Tatiana Lachance - 36 years

Comparison pics for Byron and Noel:

 



Pretty obvious who Byron looks like! I hadn't realised Noel looked so much like Nathan until these pics though, so that's kind of cool. I also have not examined Byron from the side to see if he inherited The Chin. I bet he has though, because my game just loves that damn chin!

Notes:
  • Housekeeping: new student index and play schedule are up! Seeing I've started this round's play schedule with my new birthdays system, I've included which family will be getting a mini-update for each round (if any). If the story goes in a direction I don't expect, those may change but I will try to remember to also change it in the schedule here on the blog. 
  • I'm not sure how noticeable it is but Maia, Willow and River all started their vacation "fat" and ended it at the default or "fit". They all got plenty of exercise between the ocean and the hotel pool. 
  • I have now replaced all of the original Twikkii Island lots with downloaded makeovers. This was my first opportunity to try them out and they do need a bit of editing. I was getting some route failures on a few of the lots, so I'll need to go in and fix those.
  • Byron and Noel should both be heavily freckled but I forgot to add them! D'oh! I'll do it next time I remember. Seeing they come from sun exposure, it's not strange they wouldn't have them just yet.
  • Gemma looks so much like Patience! If she had blue eyes and blonde hair, I think she might even be a clone. Felicity looks much more like Rob. Patrick looks a lot like Patience too but I think resemblance is always more pronounced with the same sex parent. 
  • I put that stubble on Gabriel just out of curiosity and then ended up loving it on him. He has Lia's mouth (it looks weird on males and gets weirder as they get older) and I think the facial hair helps balance out his face a bit. 

8 comments:

  1. The Novak's vacation looked super fun! They seemed to be having a blast in the pool, and there were so many fun things to do there. I didn't expect Maia and Ethan to have three kids, and Willow, River, and Wren are so adorable. What kind of business is Lucida Rosa? Is it a florist?

    The stubble is nice on Gabriel with his mouth shape. I can't believe I didn't notice that was Lia's mouth when I first saw him and thought he was Gordon.

    Your elders look great! Jesse Carmody is really cute, and I don't think I've ever seen Corbin Gray as an elder before! He's been in several of my games and then I always remember his character in Lakeside Heights/Fish and the Bird, too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Heh, Maia's ideal family size is 1, so she probably didn't picture herself having three kids either. Ethan's IFS is 3 though, so he won out this time. :) And yes, Rosa Lucida is a florist. Maia's dad Jace was the original owner. I love going into my sims' inventories and seeing what flowers they've bought for their homes. Unlike a lot of other things for sale at my sims' businesses, I can pretty much always find a spot for some flowers or a pot plant. :)

      Gabriel definitely resembles both his parents, so it's not so crazy you saw Gordon in him. Like you said here though, he has Lia's mouth. Lia's mouth is quite distinctive to me, much more so than anything he inherited from Gordon.

      I love Jesse as an elder, although I was a bit sad to age him up! And come to think of it, I don't think I'd seen Corbin as an elder before either. Jen, who used to write LaQuest Beach, had Corbin in her hood too and I'm almost positive he never got as far as elder. In my hood, I'm going to have to be careful not to mix him up with Caleb. They sort of look alike if you're not paying close attention!

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

      Delete
  2. Wow, I want some of the Novak's luck. I go on vacation and I gain weight! I've never come back in better shape.

    Byron and Noel are adorable and will be even cuter with freckles. I was sad to see Jesse on the elder list. He's still a good looking guy, but man he was super good looking in his adult years.

    The Ashton girls are adorable! Very good genes they have there! I like the facial hair on Gabriel too, I agree that the facial hair brings a balance to his face. Caitlin looks great, and poor Brendan, that's quite a full household that he's moving back into! At least it won't be for too long.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Right? The most I can ever manage on vacation is to maintain, because while I'm eating a ton, I'm also doing a lot of walking. I've never, ever lost weight though.

      I'm going to go and add those freckles this morning, before I forget! Jesse still has his boyish charm as an elder, which I was quite pleased with. I was sad to age him up because he really was a good looking adult. But I wasn't quite as sad once I did age him up, because I still love his looks. :)

      Agreed, the Ashtons all have great genes! No need to feel too sorry for Brendan! His current household isn't scheduled until the second half of the round, at which point I'll already have him moved in with his friends. It's possible I'll pop in on them during a birthdays update but definitely not for a full session.

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

      Delete
  3. What a fun vacation for the Novak family! The islands and the mountains were always my favorite. My sims rarely ever went to the Far East location until I built a university there.

    I have to say, it is indeed weird to see Corbin as an elder here! I don't think he ever made it past 33 in my hood, although he made it a bit further as a story character. I always forget that his face isn't mine, and then I see him all over living all of these different lives. I don't remember how much of a personality he ever came with in game, but everyone (myself included, eventually!) seems to settle him down with a family in the end. As a face though, I'm pretty sure it's one of the standard TS2 types. I think my Cameron Gibson (Bella's guy) had it, too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The islands are the absolute best, to me. The mountains have a lot of fun stuff to do at least, though some of the lots are pretty hideous. The Far East has the winning combination of ugly lots and there being very little to do! I want to make that whole place over, eventually.

      Yes, Corbin's face is definitely one of the defaults - that's all you can get with TS2 townies. I never noticed the resemblance with him and Cameron but now that I'm thinking about it, I can see it! You might be right. As for personality...well, he's got one, obviously but there was no lore or back story or anything for any of the townies in TS2 (except Bella Goth in Strangetown). They were just kind of there!

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

      Delete
  4. Love seeing so many birthday's and graduations!

    Looks like the Novak family had a great vacation. I've always loved the vacations hoods in TS2. For some reason it feels more like a real vacation for my sims than in TS3. Maybe because they are smaller hoods and you only have a limited amount of time to do vacation things. lol

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I love a nice big birthdays post! I always look forward to January in my game. :)

      I think the thing with vacations in TS3 is they didn't really give you a ton to do if you felt like your sim wasn't really the sort to go traipsing around tombs, setting off traps and being chased by mummies. Which, in my game at least, is basically all of my sims! That's what the issue with WA is for me, anyway. Although my Far East and Mountains destinations need a lot of sprucing up before they're as fun as the Islands.

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

      Delete