Medina-Britt: A New Home

Returning to the Medina-Britt household, we find that most of the household is asleep, though Adrianna is awake and teaching Edita how to walk.

Before I unpaused things, I first went into the family inventory and sold off a whole bunch of junk that they'd somehow accumulated, mostly a ton of different paintings and other decor items, but also a few large ticket items as well. All told, it added up to around 60,000 simoleons I think, not that they need the money. I did it mainly to clear out the junk so I'd have less to sift through coming up. The next thing I did is go through the house and take down all of the sim-painted paintings, most of which were done by Byron Medina, though a few were done by Carolyn (Medina) Britt. I also removed all of the electronic items that Rigoberto had upgraded in some fashion, along with the two teleporters, the body sculptor machine, a collection helper that was laying around nearly forgotten, all of the graves out back (except Jeanna's because she was out haunting), and anything else unique I saw like cut gemstones and the like. All of this is in preparation to move them to the new house I built for them a couple months ago now, and had intended to move them to the last time I was playing them, but never got around to doing so. This time I decided I'd just go ahead and move them first thing and be done with it (only I had to wait until Jeanna had gone back into her grave before I could pick it up). While I was waiting for an opportune moment, I got a cuteness photo op when I had Eugenia play peek-a-boo with Eldred.

Then, just as I was about to have him make the call to move the family to their new house, Grim suddenly came for Charles. That sound you hear is me muttering about it because I'd hoped/planned to have him get some cheese, egg, steak, burger, and omni plants started at the new house before he keeled over. Not sure if any of the others can plant any of that yet, but oh well, I guess I'll find out (It turned out that Carina's already done all the opportunities too even up to the Omni plant). Charles died having contributed 8 points to the challenge.

He was inside the nursery when the scene started, then popped through the wall to meet with Grim who was outside

Once the death scene had finished, I collected Charles and Jeanna's tombstones and put them in the family inventory with the others, then had Damien make the call to have the family move. Despite the fact that they own a couple of vehicles (which I inadvertantly sold), they all piled into a taxi and headed across town to the mansion on Summer Hill Court that awaited them. One nice perk about this lot: it gives everyone the +30 Beautiful Vista moodlet when they're at home.

Here are several shots of the house that I took after I finished building it. Click on the images to view larger.

Front view. Unfortuately, having the enclosed entryway with the arch makes the game see the front door as an interior door and it won't let me set it as the front door. The sims use the door by the rear garage as the front door.

Side view showing courtyard, the "front door", and the garden area. There's a fenced cemetery area in the back corner of the lot off the left side of the picture.

Rear and other side view showing back patio, rock climbing apparatus and pool and spa area. I had to add an extra little room off the back of the rear garage for the Not So Routine Machine. It didn't fit anywhere else in the house.

Top floor view. The large open area at the back center was later converted into a useable room (discussed later in the entry)

Ground floor view. I purchased vehicles to fill the garages after they moved in.

Basement. Currently un-used, I went ahead and added it in when building to have it blocked in for future expansion as needed.

A shot of how the cemetery looked after I got all of the family tombstones placed. I might at some point borrow ASimWen's idea of building a mausoleum to house the dead instead of the cemetery with tombstones.

At some point surrounding the  move, Eugenia spun up the want to be a Star News Anchor like her father aspired to be. Since he's already working on that one though, she's won't be allowed to take it. In general, my policy is that I accept whichever unique LTW the sims roll up a want for first to try to keep it random. Eugenia has plenty of time to pick something else.

The day after the move went by fairly routinely as the family settled into their new home. Damien got a promotion at work that day and is now only one level away from achieving his dream of making it to the top. Adrianna had had to go to work immediately after they'd arrived at the new house the night before, and she came home and went straight to bed. Eugenia went to school and then took some permission slips by the City Hall, then took a logic class at the science facility. Finally, in the evening, it was Eldred's birthday. The family gathered on the back porch with their new maid to watch as Dylan helped him blow out the candles and he transitioned to child. He picked up the Daredevil trait. Poor kid grew up bald, but I took him to the mirror and fixed that.

Life started to get back to normal for the family, with Edita learning to talk and use the potty as anyone who was available when she was awake did their best to teach her her skills. The day after Eldred's birthday, Carina spent much of the day planting the new garden.

Some of the moodlets that Twallan's Woohooer mod gives are really hilarious. Below are some examples. What's really funny? Dylan had all three of these on him after he and Carina woohoo'd that night, lol.

There wasn't a whole lot of note going on here by now. Edita had learned all of her toddler skills, and was just waiting to age up. She had plenty of skill toys to keep her busy, and learning, and Carina found time to read to her at least once to help out as well. Damien and Adrianna were going to work. Damien was one promotion away from getting his LTW now, and while she did get a promotion or two, Adrianna was still fairly low in the Criminal field. I doubt she'll max it before she dies, but it's not her LTW, so it doesn't really matter. Sooner or later I'll get a sim that has it as their LTW and get it done.

Anyway, partly out of boredom, and partly from wanting to try out some of the stuff I'd gotten from the Store, I did some renovating and purchasing for the lot. First, I decided to make a room out of the big empty space on the second floor where the living room below had 2 story ceilings. While that might be nice in a real house, I decided for a sim house it was wasted space, so I put in doors, flooring, a fireplace, etc., moved the chess set up from the room below, added a couch and another bookcase, and got them the cauldron and spellbook pedestal.

Outside, I added a basketball court, an outdoor shower by the rock climbing walls, a chicken coop, and the gardening station that came with the greenhouse lot. The greenhouse lot got placed on a little hill near their house, though not without terrain issues. It's accessible though, and I've sent Carina over there a few times already.

The basketball hoop was placed on the far side of the house by the pool

Outdoor shower on the back of the teleporter room, garden station, and chicken coop

The stereo upstairs broke, and I sent Adrianna up to fix it when she got home from work. She got zapped, but didn't die from it.

The next day was Eugenia and Edita's birthday. Well, ok, I caked Edita up a day early. Figured I might as well do both birthdays at once instead of messing with two parties. Dylan had spun up wants to throw a party for Edita, hence why I went with the full birthday party for them instead of just doing cake with family. Edita went first and aged up to Child. She gained the Good Sense of Humor trait.

Eugenia went next and aged up to teen. She gained the Ambitious trait.

Of course, the first order of business was makeovers.

The following day was Monday and the kids all went to school, Eugenia to her first day of high school, and Edita to her first day of elementary. Damien went to work, and it proved to be a very good day for him, because he got the last promotion that he'd been working for and became a Star News Anchor, fulfilling his LTW. Hooray for getting to count all his points now. When he arrived home, he had a small celebration in the kitchen with Adrianna. I'm not entirely sure what I'm going to do with him now.

Later that evening while he was working on his ninth novel, Dylan mastered writing and completed his LTW to be an Illustrious Author. He's spun up a lot of writing wants now, so probably I'll try to have him focus on that and try to complete some of the writing challenges I still have uncompleted.

Other happenings of the evening included the birth of some chicks in the coop outside since they'd forgotten to collect the eggs.

Carina and Dylan sort of tried for another child since Carina's been wanting another (risky woohoo - I don't particularly want them to have another child, but I'm leaving it to the whims of risky. Carina only has a few days left before she'll be too old, so it won't be an issue very soon.) She was wide awake after that, and because I was bored, I had her try out the magic items I'd put in the new room upstairs. She tried out the cauldron, then learned the Summon spell at the spellbook.

And I think here is where I'm going to end this entry. All of Gen 4 has completed their LTWs now, and Gen 5 hasn't even picked theirs yet. Carina's rolled a 2nd want to have a child (she's had "Have a Child" locked in for awhile, and now spun up "Have a Child with Dylan" as well) so I might have to decide if I'm going to indulge her or still just leave it to the whims of risky. I'd intended to have Eugenia get a part-time job  at the spa to become a Spa Receptionist since it's the last part-time job I have to do (aside from one that will come with a later EP), but forgot to, so I'll have to do that next time I play this household. Other than that, it will be waiting for all the kids to grow up and decide what they want to do. Hopefully I'll get something different instead of the same ones that seem to keep coming up repeatedly.  Here's how my score stands at present with Damien and Dylan having finished their LTWs:

All EP total only includes points through Supernatural. I haven't added Seasons or University points in yet

Next up, I'll be going back to the Frasers to work on World Adventures stuff more. Until then, Cheers!

World Adventures Sneaks In With Birthdays Galore

This entry sees the installation of the first game expansion, World Adventures. I have played with this expansion some in the past, though not as much as I might have wanted to, and things were severely buggy last time I played it. I *think* most of the bugs with traveling have been resolved now from what I've read, but we shall see. I've also installed the High End Loft Stuff pack. After giving it some thought, I decided that when I install an expansion I'll also install any of the stuff packs that came out after it but before the next expansion. Installing these two packs hasn't had any immediate impact on the Medina-Britt household, but hopefully it will start to figure in soon.

Returning to the story, the day after Carolyn's death passed fairly uneventfully. Damien had the day off for some reason (His work schedule said he was supposed to work, and I got a notice about the carpool, but it never showed up and when I clicked the "go to work" button it told me he doesn't work for 2 days yet), so I had him working on his writing skill. Charles tended the garden with a little help from Carina (forgot to send her out to help until he was almost done) then spent most of the rest of the day crying about his sister's death. Dylan worked on his current novel some more, and when the laptop broke, I had Jeanna fix it (she still didn't get zapped). Adrianna went to her first day of work and ended up working late, and Carina spent most of the day out socializing after going to the bistro to turn in an opportunity (i.e., I sent her out then left her to her own devices). Benito finished one painting, sold it, then puttered around the house most of the day doing little. He had just started working on another one when Grim came for him around 6PM. He died having contributed 3 points to the challenge.

Benito Britt's Achievements

• Traits - Brave
• LTW - Chess Legend
• Skills - Logic: Grand Master

Damien consoled himself about his father's death by making love with his wife Adrianna. The next morning, she wasn't feeling so well, but she went to work anyway. The day passed fairly routinely with Dylan and Damien both working on writing novels. Damien had the day off again and apparently this is some new "personal time" feature because around the time he would have gotten off I got a message that he'd received his pay for personal time off. Jeanna passed the time on the treadmill then later coached Charles on it.

When Adrianna got home that evening she headed out to the hot tub to relax for awhile. She sat out there for a few hours until a sudden odd feeling in her stomach made her get out. Once she had, her belly popped out and she realized she was pregnant.

Another ho hum day after that. This family is really pretty boring right now. There was this awkward moment though when Adrianna went up to talk to Charles right after he and Jeanna had been making love. She just walked right in before he'd had a chance to get dressed again and he just stood there in the nude talking with her like it didn't bother him at all.

The following evening, Adrianna went into labor. She and Damien rushed to the hospital, and she gave birth a baby girl they named Eugenia. She got the traits Absent-Minded and Athletic, the hidden trait Makes No Messes (daughter of a maid), and her favorites are Chinese music, Vegetarian Lobster Thermidor, and Black.

Chatting with Charles must have made an impression on Adrianna, for after she got home with Eugenia and put her in the crib, she flirted with him a bit while Damien was getting something to eat. Jeanna was nearby, and wasn't pleased about it, but the incident didn't cause any major strife and it only took a little bit of Charles talking with her before they were on very good terms with one another again. The next day, however, I discovered that for some reason Dylan is pretty put out with Adrianna. No idea what that's about, but when she tried to talk to him he really gave her some attitude.

I think they're sending each other some mixed signals here...

When Eugenia was born, Adrianna decided that she wanted to quit work. Since her LTW is finished, I let her. As soon as she'd made the call to quit her job in Law Enforcement, she rolled a wish to join the Criminal career. Since I found that amusing, she'll be taking that job. Damien also rolled a wish to quit his job, but since his job is part of his LTW he won't be allowed to quit.

That same day, while she was working out in the garden, Carina realized that she was pregnant. This came as a bit of surprise to me as well, because while I did have her and Dylan have risky woohoo a few times, I hadn't heard any chimes and didn't realize it "took". I could well have missed it in the midst of other things going on though.

Adrianna started her new job in the Criminal field the next day and ended up getting herself arrested on her first day on the job.

The next day was Eugenia's birthday, and Charles called around to invite people over for a birthday party. Maybe I shouldn't have had him do so because about the same time Carina came home from the library and went into labor. I also got a notification that Adrianna had been arrested again. Carina left for the hospital about the time the first guest was arriving. For some reason Dylan didn't go with her. She gave birth to a baby boy she named Eldred. He got the traits Easily Impressed and Evil, the hidden trait Can Catch Burglars (passed down from his great-great-grandfather Hank Goddard), and his favorites are Egyptian music, Crepes, and Black. Amusingly, Damien threw a wish to interview him when he was born.

The party went on, though judging by what the guests were doing you'd have thought it was a much different sort of party than a baby's birthday party.

These folks were just one of at least three couples that tried out the beds during Eugenia's party.

It was getting late by the time I finally managed to have Damien take Eugenia to her cake, and most of the guests had left by then, but we got it done. She aged up to Toddler and, I was happy to see, she has her grandmother's red hair. I was afraid the red hair would be lost from the family with all of the black haired people in this last generation.

The next day things were largely back to normal. In the afternoon, Charles spun up a want to visit the graveyard, and that prompted me to have him take Morganna and Beau's graves over there, something I'd been planning to do for a bit. His visit there was uneventful, and he headed home shortly after completing his task.

The next day was Carina's birthday, and though she did get a cake, it was just a small affair with the family present. While the family generally loved throwing parties, Carina decided to be a bit more low key with this birthday.

The birthdays kept coming, with Eldred and Damien both having birthdays the following day, Damien to Adult, and Eldred to Toddler. Charles arranged a party for the two of them and they each took their turn blowing out candles in the back yard.

While cleaning up from the party, Carina realized that she was pregnant again.

Still the birthdays weren't finished here. The following day was Adrianna's birthday. She had the day off and slept for much of the day since she'd been up most of the night taking care of Eugenia and Eldred. Then she spent some time working on her Athletic skill for her job. By evening, it had almost been forgotten, but they quickly got a cake and set it up out back so that she at least got to blow out candles with her family around her while she transitioned to Elder.

The next day started out fairly ordinary, but by evening became quite eventful indeed. The evening was going along normally, Carina had woken Eldred up from a nap and fed him some mushed up waffles, then was teaching him how to walk when she went into labor. She left for the hospital, and shortly afterwards Dylan followed her there. While Carina was at the hospital giving birth, Grim came for Jeanna finally. Charles was devastated as they had been practically inseparable since she'd retired. She died having contributed 5 points to the challenge.

Jeanna (Whitmore) Medina's Achievements

• Traits - Athletic, Lucky, Mooch, Party Animal
• LTW - Become a Superstar Athlete

Meanwhile, back at the hospital, Carina gave birth to a baby girl she named Edita. She got the traits Clumsy and Hates the Outdoors, the hidden trait Can Catch Burglars, and her favorites are French music, Stir Fry, and Yellow.

The next day passed uneventfully, then the day after that was another double birthday day. This time it was Dylan aging up to Adult, and Eugenia aging up to Child. Eugenia went first, her great-uncle Charles taking her to the cake and helping her blow out the candles. She transitioned to Child and picked up the Computer Whiz trait.

Once everyone had a chance to enjoy some of Eugenia's cake, Dylan blew out the candles on his cake. His transition was less dramatic, but everyone still cheered him on.

Another birthday the following day, this time for baby Edita. Since they'd just done a big party the day before, we opted to keep it small and just do a cake in the backyard with the immediate household. It took a bit of doing to convince someone to take her out to the cake, but eventually Charles paid attention to me and took her out and she transitioned up to Toddler. Sadly, without red hair.

And that's where this entry will end. I'd been intending to play a bit more to add on to this post, but that hasn't happened, so I decided to just get this up for now. Hopefully I'll be able to get some more play time in with this family soon. What lies ahead for them? Well, I expect Charles to die any sim day now (I'm surprised he's lasted this long frankly). Dylan is closing in on his LTW I think - he's maxed writing already and is more than halfway through painting. Damien is making slow but steady progress toward his LTW, though I forget how far he has to go offhand. There will also likely be a lot more birthdays and toddler training and all of the kids deciding what they want to do with their lives as well. And who knows, we might even get more kids if risky woohoo hates me decides we need more.

Besides all of the family events to come, I have a new house built for them that I'll hopefully get them moved into before to much longer. I would have moved them in the course of this update, but I got lazy about it. I'm also considering borrowing ASimWen's idea and splitting the two families up and sending the Britt family to live in another neighborhood. With so many sims in one household I find I get so caught up with just keeping everyone healthy and happy that I forget to have them work on completion challenge items a lot, especially the elders which end up being left to their own devices most of the time except when I need them to train a toddler in something or some other such task. I think splitting them up into smaller family units would help me focus on challenge progress more and less on simply trying to keep up with everyone.

So, lots of things ahead still for the Medina and Britt families. Thanks for reading, and I hope you'll continue to follow along with them.