Summer 2011 - First

Seth (39), Ivy (36), Kendra (9), Jared and Leah (1)

The First household was settled into a nice routine.  As soon as he came home from work, Seth would chow down on whatever leftovers Ivy had made earlier in the day,

then he'd head upstairs to take care of the babies,

so his wife could catch some much needed sleep.

The babies and Ivy in bed, he hoped on the computer to do some research until Kendra got home from school,

then they'd head outside for some one on one, daddy-daughter play time in the front yard,

before it was time for the babies' afternoon feeding.  By then Ivy would be well rested enough to enjoy some time with the family.

If they were lucky, they'd find at least a few moments to let each other know how happy they were to be married to the other.

As she was getting older, Kendra was starting to become more independent.  She was making her own friends at school.  She often invited her best friend, Bridget over.  Bridget was a lot younger, but there weren't really any kids in the hood that were any closer to Kendra's age, so she didn't mind that Bridget was only in first grade, when she was in fourth.

She was also developing her own hobbies as well.

She really enjoyed playing chess and was glad when she could get some special time alone with her mom and dad.

Soon Ivy would be returning to work, so the family had to employ a nanny on a regular basis.  She arrived just in time to change the babies' diapers.

Once the babies were taken care of, she let Kendra entertain herself, and the cat, while she caught up on her favorite soaps.

Kendra was always glad when her parents came home from work at the end of the day.

She couldn't wait to spend time with them.

And they with her.  As she was getting older, it was fun to watch her develop her own interests and grow into the sim she would become in the future.  They could hope for nothing more than for her to remain the sweet girl she is now.

Summer 2011 - Havers-Rossi

Alexis (47), Geneva (17), Owen (17)

Alexis was feeling reflective.  Time seemed to be flying by.  Her children were almost all grown-up.  They would be graduating from high school at the end of this simyear and starting college the next.

She had been looking forward to this time since she found out she was pregnant with them.  She had never particularly wanted children, but she was glad that chance had given them to her anyway.  She had to admit, it had been fun watching them grow and she loved having them in her life.  She just had a feeling she'd love her relationship with them even more once they were grown and on their own.

Getting pregnant all those years ago had been a shock and having twins and even bigger shock, but Alexis thought it worked out for the best.  She was glad Geneva and Owen had each other and that they were so close.

"So do you and Charlotte still keep in touch?" Geneva asked her brother.

"Kind of.  I wish she didn't have to move all the way back to Eden.  She could have stayed here and raised the baby together."

"How?  You don't have a job.  Neither does she and mom certainly wouldn't let you both stay here.  She doesn't want another baby in the house."
"Yeah, I know . . ."

"And you wouldn't want to miss out on college."

"Definitely not.  I know it's for the best, but it's still really hard . . . I called dad and he said he'd pay for us to fly out to visit him during summer vacation and Charlotte said her parents would let me come and visit the baby."
"Hang on," Geneva said as she got up and went to her closet.

"Give this to Charlotte for the baby from me.  I saw all these cute toys in the shops and I couldn't resist buying something for my nephew."

The twins weren't just entering a new stage in their lives, Alexis was as well.  She was about to become an empty-nester.  As much as she tried to deny it, she was changing too.  She was trying new hobbies and becoming interested in studying nature of all things.  She'd never been even remotely the outdoorsy type, but things change.

"Bye, tell mom I'll be back."

"What?"
Alexis even had the desire to adopt a pet.  Her kids could only laugh.  They hadn't even left for college and she was already preparing not to live all alone.

The trip their mom had talked about taking over the summer was cancelled in exchange for the twins paying a visit to their father and Owen getting the chance to meet his infant son, Noah.

The trip had made him realize how difficult it would be to maintain a long-distance relationship with Charlotte, so when he got home, he started looking around for a new love interested.  The high school was planning a year-end dance and he didn't want to be stuck going alone.

Trying to kiss Violet Cormier in his basement was not a good idea. 
"Sorry, I'm taken.  You know Bryan and I have been going steady forever."

"It's been hard for me since Charlotte had to leave the hood to have the baby . . .

I miss having someone to make out with."
"Yeah, sorry, but it isn't going to be me."

Geneva was also working on improving her love life.  She'd had a strong attraction to Augustus Thaytowski for a long time.  They never really got together, because he was a few years younger and she was more into older guys, plus she was put off by him last year when he caught him flirting with her brother's girlfriend.  But Charlotte was out of the picture now and this was her last year of high school.  She didn't want to miss out on her chance to get to know him better before she went off to college, so she invited him over to the house for a date.

Nothing too serious, she told herself.  She just wanted to have a little light-hearted fun before graduation and then college.

He seemed very impressed by her, but as she'd planned the date was very casual.  Augustus spent most of the time playing pool with her brother in the basement.

While Geneva chilled out with the girls in Owen's room.

Even though it wasn't the most romantic date ever, it was fun and Augustus was enough of a gentleman to bring her a flower after the date was over.

Owen was nervous one evening when he got a call from Miss Miguel.  He hoped he wasn't in trouble again or there wasn't any problems with his grades.

She just wanted to give him a friendly reminder to make sure he finished his senior project on time and started chatting about the weather. It had been really stormy this year and the weatherman was predicting that come this fall, it would only get worse . . .

Summer 2011 - Huffington

Summer 2011 - Heather (34), Lance (7)

Heather was starting to have doubts about choosing a career in the slacker track.  The hours were terrible and the pay even worse.  She hated getting up at the crack of dawn, counting on a nanny to get Lance up for school in the morning, but the measely pay was better than nothing.

The nanny was attentive to Lance, even though he didn't care much for her "old people's" jokes or her chatter about "boring, old people's" hobbies.

Heather didn't appreciate her wasting her food supplies, but cooking a full plate of pancakes that no one was home to eat.  But at least she didn't burn down the kitchen as some nannies have been reported to do.

With the nanny leaving food out to rot, it was no wonder that Lance got food poisoning.

On her afternoons off, before Lance got home from school, Heather enjoyed meeting new people and kept her eye out for sims who were walking by.

James stopped by and they had a long chat about the struggles he's had with his love life.

Having experience with heartbreak in the past, Heather offered the consolation that there's always someone new to meet.

James was grateful for her understanding.  She was a sweet girl.

And a cute one too.  Not even Alon could deny that she was a hottie.

Lance's teacher had sent a note home indicating that he was falling behind on his homework and in danger of failing and repeating the second grade.

Heather sat down with him to help him get caught up.  She hadn't realized how much homework had piled up unfinished.  She was outraged that a child so young should be given so much homework to do.  It was ridiculous.

Even though they worked late into the night, Lance was still falling behind and was getting discouraged.

Heather received a promotion at work that meant worse hours.  She had to work nights.  She hated leaving Lance with a nanny all night, but she had to make money somehow.

After traveling for a few weeks for his job, Neil was back in town.  He knew just how to raise Lance's spirits and cheer him up so he could keep working to get caught up with his school work.

Heather still called up Jimmy when she was feeling lonely for a little male company. (A little more privacy when they tried to get together would be nice.)

Jimmy was her go to guy to take care of her physical needs, but James was quickly becoming her man for intellectual conversation.  She was glad to be forging so many new friendships.