When we left off in the previous episode, we were just getting to know the Dawkins family.
It turns out Harrison works in the military. He and Nikki seem to be very much in love. They are autonomously romantic with each other. Nikki quit her job at the police department and thereby escaped her overbearing boss Myra Burkhart. She now works at the restaurant.
Normally, kids don't need a sitter when the parents are off at work, but for some reason Elvis Fortune showed up to watch over Noah and Holly. I think he plans on going to prom later in the day (it must be in a nearby town as there's no school here yet.) All that's missing from his ensemble is some blue suede shoes.
Noah feels he's much too old for a babysitter and he and Holly plan to be off the lot while the parents are at work in the future, so the sitter won't come.
As luck would have it, Parkway Fuel Depot (created by Sandraelle) came to town, so the kids went to check it out the following day. It's a kiddie wonderland full of junk-food opportunities and video games.
Meanwhile, it appears that poor Harrison had a bad day at work.
Winter came in like a lion while the kids were at the gas station.
Best get on home, kids.
The following day was Nikki's day off. She and Holly had a mother-daughter cooking day (autonomously). Holly's muffin came out overcooked, but luckily Nikki's grilled cheese was quite tasty.
I was looking for Harrison because I saw him come in and grab a sandwich and leave. He loves the outdoors, so decided to eat out on the patio. Staci gave me a jump-scare!
Don't be such a creeper, Staci! Leave that to your mother! Nice hat, Harrison. Staci never did knock, and she left before Harrison could invite her in. Maybe she realized she forgot her coat. I'd think Harrison would have more sense as well. Aren't you cold? I don't think the Cape Albacore residents are aware that winter is upon them. They are often seen without coats on, but there are some exceptions.
Diego seems prepared if not a bit overdressed, but where is little Jan's coat?
Myra is showing some common sense.
It's time to check in on another household. Let's start with Sea Horse Estates, created by Texanski.
Meet Ruth Dodge who resides at Sea Horse Estates.
Ruth, an adult, is a natural cook, party animal, computer whiz, good, and nurturing. She's currently working in the culinary career.
Ruth has recently returned to her childhood home after her marriage broke up. She and her husband James just couldn't see eye-to-eye. They never discussed family plans before getting married. Ruth just assumed that since he acted the part of the "fun uncle" to his nieces and nephews, that he'd want kids of his own. Coming from a large family herself, Ruth just couldn't imagine life without having a house full of them.
It turned out that James was a kid at heart, a Peter Pan who never wanted to grow up and never wanted Ruth to be distracted by babies who would take her attention off of him. Ruth stuck with James for several years, but the biological clock was screaming at her. The marriage dissolved.
Ruth has several siblings as can be seen by the number of kids' bedrooms in the house. However, none of the others were interested in living full time at the house and just kept it as a vacation/family get-together house where they meet up for a few days a couple times a year. They all agreed that Ruth should live there if she wanted and was willing to host their family get-togethers.
Ruth definitely wants a large family, but after the years of compromise she endured as a wife, she's not sure she wants to marry again. Instead she has turned to adoption as an option. Since she needs to work to pay the bills and younger married couples are given preference when placing babies and toddlers, Ruth has decided to open her home to older children who need a forever family.
The first child she adopted was Will. Will has a good sense of humor, is a mooch, and is a heavy sleeper. The very first night he insisted on sleeping in the treehouse despite the cold and snow.
Next came Jill, who loves the outdoors, is friendly, and a virtuoso. She's very fond of the chickens.
Hester joined the family on Snowflake Day Eve. Just in time for a gift-giving party.
Hester is a computer whiz and dare-devil who loves the outdoors. I don't know what the kids are up to and Ruth doesn't seem concerned, but I think the explosions coming from the treehouse must be the brainchild of Hester.
As for the gift-giving party, it was very well attended. Many of the guests liked seeing the animals and playing in the snow.
Jessie, you'd best get inside and partake of the cupcakes and cookies Ruth is serving before you freeze to death!
After presents were opened, the kids went out to play in the snow while the adults played a game of dominos or grabbed that extra cupcake.
It looks like Nikki thinks Harrison is having too much fun dancing with Anna Chin-Rajkupal and thinks it's time they went home. I hope he doesn't have to sleep on the couch tonight.
As the party wound down, Ruth noticed some wild horses across the street. One of them appeared to be a unicorn, so she had to investigate.
Yep! That's a unicorn, alright. Ruth bought some cows and chickens when she first moved in, but she doesn't have a horse yet.
Maybe someday, but the white horse clearly doesn't like her, the unicorn claims he's too expensive, and the dark horse wants her dead, but will still take the carrot she offers. Maybe she'll adopt one like she adopted her children. But for now, she's got plenty to do with milking the cow . . .
caring for the bees . . .
and raising the children.
"Where's your coat, young man?" The chickens have been assigned to the children since that's a chore they can actually do. Will gets along well with his new sisters, . . .
has become acquainted with the paperboy, . . .
and the Dawkins kids have been over, so he's managed some rough-and-tumble fun with Noah, . . .
but it's tough being the only boy in a house full of girls. Ruth decided it would be good for him to have a brother. Meet Chester, the latest addition to the household.
Chester is a couch potato, party animal, and mooch.
Ruth doesn't spend all her time with just the children, however. She wants to get out and socialize with grown-ups now and then. She met Hector Lance at the Parkway Fuel Depot.
Ruth and I thought he looked goofy in the hat, and it was hard to see what he looked like, so I fixed that.
He doesn't look too bad. I think he lives in Pelican's Perch. We'll drop in on him next episode and see what he's about. Ruth also met a paparazzo named Dallas Michaels.
Noah, where are your parents? Do they know you are hanging around the bar?
Ruth also met Lola Collins, another paparazzo with questionable fashion sense.
They were not getting along at all. That didn't stop me from giving her a makeover, however.
Ruth's boss, Yvonne Askew, invited her to a party at her house. Very fancy!
Coastal Breeze Manor was created by Soocoolsim, and is quite grand. We'll take a closer look at the Askew family shortly, but for now, let's see who came to the party.
First we have our hostess, Yvonne, who thought it would be a good idea to make the dress code swimwear in the dead of winter. At least there are some hot beverages to help them stay warm. Most of the action took place in the music room.
Nikki played base, Yvonne the drums, and Ruth the keyboard. Jessie just watched.
It looks like Yvonne and Ruth are getting along well. Could there be a raise in Ruth's future? I honestly don't remember if Yvonne invited any guys or if it was just a girls' party. Go Barbie!
As the evening wound down, Ruth discovered the piano room. She rarely gets a chance to play such an elegant instrument. She took piano lessons when she was a child.
Time to end the party. Yvonne is expecting her parents and uncle Bubba in the morning.
Yvonne grew up poor. Her parents were hard-working, salt-of-the-earth people who always struggled with keeping the wolf from the door. Yvonne is a lucky sim, and a recent lottery winner who is spending her winnings like there's no tomorrow. She bought this fancy mansion and spent nearly all her money furnishing it to perfection as she's the picture of a perfectionist. Then she invited her aging parents and uncle to come live with her, retire, and finally live the life she feels they deserve. She also invited her emotionally challenged brother Seth. (I randomized the traits for each family member, and Yvonne was created by Story Progression, so her traits are also randomized.)
In addition to being a perfectionist and lucky, Yvonne is charismatic yet a loner, so it's nice that the house is so big and she can find a place to be by herself. She's also an angler.
Billy, Yvonne's father, is absentminded, socially awkward, and a kleptomaniac. Perhaps this is why he struggled getting ahead in life. He also loves the cold, and is a dog person. If he had his druthers, he'd have a house full of dogs.
He's really enjoying life as a retiree.
Yvonne's mother Betsy is friendly, excitable and easily impressed, loves the outdoors, and loves animals.
She really loves all the amenities the house has but is a little concerned that Yvonne is going through her money so fast.
"I know Yvonne is hoping for a raise soon, but I just don't know how long she's going to be able to keep up this standard of living."
"I can keep up on the housework and prepare the meals so she doesn't need to hire a butler, and maybe you can start a garden in the spring to help with the grocery bill, . . . "
"Honey, I know you want us to just stop working and enjoy retirement, but I think I'd go crazy without something to do. I thought since you work outside the home, I could at least help you around the house and have a nice meal waiting for you when you get home, okay?"
Seth also plans to help out. He joined up with the police force, but he struggles with his mental health and has always had a hard time holding a job for long. His traits are unstable, insane, supernatural fan, eco-friendly, and artistic. Maybe someday he can go the hospital and get stabilized.
Then there's uncle Bubba. Bubba is friendly, brave, athletic, a dog person, and a mooch. I don't know how much he will contribute to the family's finances. He went down and registered as retired and wants to be a chess legend.
He might just hang out at the bar and play darts most of the time.
I had to give the lady at the bar a makeover. I can't stand people randomly walking around in witch hats when they aren't really witches. Come here poser, let's do something about this.
After getting rid of that horrible dye job, she's looking pretty good. Bubba thinks so too.
Yvonne has been spending some alone time out on the pond skating.
I don't know if it was due to her drive for perfection or just dumb luck, but she got really good in a relatively short period of time. She can now skate backward and do spins.
Of course it was inevitable with so many animal lovers and dog people in the house that they would need to get a dog. This is Otis.
Let's drop in on one more household before we leave.
This is Mary Cohen who lives in a little starter home called Nuthatch, created by Fatness1974. She may look like a mild-mannered librarian in this picture, but she's got a wild side. (Traits provided by Story Progression.)
Raised in an ultra-conservative home, Mary has always been a people pleaser - especially when it came to her parents. She went to college and majored in business like her parents wanted, rather than the fine arts like she wanted and was very reserved with the boys so as not to get a "reputation," and has always been viewed as a "goody-two-shoes." However, her parents have recently passed away and now she can live the life she aways dreamed of without "bringing her parents to shame."
Mary is a genius and a virtuoso. She's also flirty, a party animal, and a hopeless romantic. Her lifetime wish is to be a rockstar. Time for a makeover to reflect the new you, Mary.
With her new look, Mary ventured out into her new town to start meeting some people. She met this guy at the gas station, and I don't remember his name, but they danced awhile before she decided to check out the library.
There she met Yvonne, who had just gotten off work, Bubba, and Betsy. She also met LeRoy Turner, who last I knew was engaged or married to Bianca Rossi.
LeRoy was really coming on to her! What about Bianca, LeRoy? I even had Mary ask him if he was single, and he avoided the question! (action cancelled itself.) I sense some trouble brewing. Mary was getting hungry so she asked LeRoy if he'd like to go get a bite to eat.
They went to Cuttlefish Mews where Mary ordered a group serving of onion rings.
The weather broke and Spring is on the way, so Mary decided to eat outside. The locals are definitely wondering who the new girl is. She must exude that "star quality." One of LeRoy's coworkers is here. That probably explains why he chose to sit at a different table - he didn't want rumors that he was out with another woman getting back to Bianca.
While she was at the pub, Mary also met the pillow-fighting politician Vince Howard.
I don't recall giving Staci that outfit, but I kind of like it. The sash needs to be a different color, though. She's wanting to know if LeRoy is a pilot of the seaplane.
Noah Dawkins! Why are you sitting at the bar?!? Those are MY onion rings you're eating. And there's your mother, acting like nothing is happening.
There are more new houses and more people moving in. I think I'll turn aging and Story Progression on for 3 days and let the babies age up and see what happens in the neighborhood.
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