Before They Were (In)famous - the Class of '00 (May 14)

[MarianT]

Thank you! Incidentally, if the print seems larger, it's because a certain person (my husband) complained that it was too small for him to read.

[Granny Lawlor]

Thank you! Incidentally, if the print seems larger, it's because a certain person (my husband) complained that it was too small for him to read.

I hadn't noticed but now I realise I don't need to expand your posts to read them. I've got used to just doing that but then I have to scroll sideways to read it all. Your posts are easier to read - thank you 

[MarianT]

19. Freedom Day

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"I want to make a suggestion about Freedom Day," Bob said. So Sofia gathered the children and sat down in the living room with them.

"What do people do on Freedom Day?" Vincent asked.

"Well, before I had children, I went --" Sofia was about to say "streaking," but that wasn't something she wanted to share just yet. "They appreciate the things that freedom makes possible," she told him. "And they watch sports on TV sometimes..."

"And they light fireworks!" Vincent interrupted.

"And sometimes they go on vacation," said Bob, joining them. "We're leaving for Granite Falls first thing in the morning."

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That turned out to be around 3 am. "The best time for fishing," said Bob.

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Unfortunately, their cabin didn't have any accommodations for toddlers, but luckily Sofia had brought a sleeping bag for Anissa.

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But the only potty chair was in the campground. "No like trees," Anissa declared firmly. "Too tall and scary."

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Bob might have hoped that the rest of the family would join him in fishing, but Sofia had a different idea. "I'm still working on a plucky tune on the guitar," she told him. "I'll just scare the fish if I go with you."

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Vincent did go with him and began practicing the violin to develop his creativity skill. Bob suggested that he return to the cabin, but "Mom said not to play the violin around her when she's trying to compose something," Vincent told him.

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"So how's it going?" Bob asked when they gathered around the campfire. "I caught a trout and a yellow perch."

"No like trees!" said Anissa as she scrambled to get down.

"I've caught some fireflies and gathered up some plants that I've never seen before," said Vincent. "I'm pretty sure that I've earned another Scout badge."

"Still working on my song," Sofia said with a yawn. "This forest air is making me sleepy."

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So Bob and Vincent were the only ones still awake when it was time to enjoy the fireworks.

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Anissa was too young for sparklers, but Vincent had fun with his.

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Upon their return home, Bob discovered that he felt more invigorated than he had since Vincent was born. Sofia felt pretty invigorated, too.

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A couple of days later, there was another holiday -- Talk Like a Pirate Day. Bob took the children over to the park where Anissa played with the water sprinklers.

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Vincent met a couple of his friends from school. He played chess with Bethany Hastings, who beat him.

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His good friend Theodore Goth played chess with Heather Landgraab.

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And to celebrate the day, Vincent and Theodore pretended to be pirates in the treehouse."Walk the plank, ye scurvy scum!" Vincent shouted. "Aargh!" Theodore responded.

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The next morning Bob left the house early to go fishing. By noon, he had completed all the requirements for his Angling Ace aspiration.

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Returning to the house, he gave Anissa some outpost popcorn. It was the last time she would sit in a high chair, he thought sadly.

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A little while, and a strawberry birthday cake later, Anissa quit being a toddler. She had maxed all her skills and had picked up 16 milestones, including ones for studying her numbers, letters, and shapes.

[MarianT]

20. New Schedules

Now that Sofia was working as an entertainer, Bob had to be more flexible with regard to his work schedule.

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The first time he arranged to work from home, he was asked to lecture to a class on Mechanical Engineering. "But I never finished my degree," he said. "Oh," said his boss. "Well, do the lecture anyway. And finish up your coursework."
The class met at night. On his way over, Bob encountered a werewolf. It did nothing more than give him a wolfish grin, but it was still terrifying.

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Bob wasn't fishing any more, except for fun, so he decided to complete his frog collection. There was a spot fairly close to his home where he could find them.

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One evening, Sofia's sister Elsa came over. "I bet if you moved in with us, you could do something about your hair," Bob suggested. "I'll think about it," said Elsa. "Are you sure you don't want me just so you'll have a free baby sitter?"

That was a consideration. Now that Sofia had been promoted, her work began at 5 pm and Bob's started at 3. Although Vincent was a very responsible child, they didn't want to leave him and Anissa at home alone for much of the evening.

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Even with working, Sofia found time to help Anissa with her homework.

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With Bob's help, Anissa soon mastered the art of bicycle riding.

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She enjoyed playing as a space explorer, too.

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One day she had a funny feeling in her mouth -- a tooth was loose!

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Anissa yanked it out. "Let's see what it looks like," Bob and Sofia suggested. Anissa felt embarrassed, so she gave them a goofy grin.

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The next morning she found a couple of stickers and some simoleons under her pillow. Even though her mouth was still a little sore, she went to school happy. Best of all, though, her older brother Vincent was a little jealous. "How come you lost a tooth first?" he asked. "Maybe because I brush my teeth," she told him.

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Vincent took the hint, and the next day, he, too, had a gap where a tooth had been.

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Vincent was an A student now. To celebrate, he had a slumber party, inviting Theodore Goth and his uncle, Timothy Bjergson, over. It was not as much fun as Vincent had expected. He lost at Don't Wake the Llama.

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His Uncle Tim spent the rest of the evening playing on the computer.

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And Theodore just wanted to practice the violin.

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But at least he wasn't making noise on the piano as he usually did, so Vincent was able to get some sleep.

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Besides getting an A, Vincent has almost completed his Child Prodigy aspiration.

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Meanwhile, Bob has been studying for his university classes. Enrolling for four might have been a mistake, but he only has to go to two classes each day.

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But going to class reminds him of his encounter with the werewolf. Is it true that they only assume wolf form when it's a full moon? Bob isn't sure and decides to make himself some protective clothing.         

[Sonshine]

Hi Marian and Granny! I'm enjoying your story Marian! Just a note here though about your hubby's complaint, (this might be helpful for Granny also as well as for all of us "oldsters") there is a very simple solution to it. You might have to reverse it or put up w/it, but tell him to press ctrl and the plus key at the same time. This makes the font bigger. Pressing ctrl and the minus key makes it smaller.

[Granny Lawlor]

Hi Marian and Granny! I'm enjoying your story Marian! Just a note here though about your hubby's complaint, (this might be helpful for Granny also as well as for all of us "oldsters") there is a very simple solution to it. You might have to reverse it or put up w/it, but tell him to press ctrl and the plus key at the same time. This makes the font bigger. Pressing ctrl and the minus key makes it smaller.

Thanks- I'll try that 

[MarianT]

Thanks, @Sonshine! I think the 12 pt font works or him. But also you can press the 3 dots in the upper right corner and then go to zoom to make the words larger.

[oshizu]

This challenge of your has worked out so well with the release of new packs.
First, you got to play your chosen sims as teens then, when they became grown-ups, have been enjoying all the new features of Growing Together with their children!
I've only played an infant for a sim-day before the Growing Together release, so have yet to experience that pack at all.  Rather nervous, to be honest.
What a great idea to add a treehouse and water sprinkler to Desert Bloom Park! *takes notes

[MarianT]

@oshizu, the treehouse is squeezed into the back yard of Yuma Heights. But the water park (minus Whalebert) is at Desert Bloom, next to the water slide I put in earlier. The infants are fun, so don't be nervous. I don't know whether you can get them to the crawling and eating finger food stage when playing on normal, though.

[oshizu]

@oshizu, the treehouse is squeezed into the back yard of Yuma Heights. But the water park (minus Whalebert) is at Desert Bloom, next to the water slide I put in earlier. The infants are fun, so don't be nervous. I don't know whether you can get them to the crawling and eating finger food stage when playing on normal, though.

Thank you for explaining where you placed the Treehouse and the water park.
Since I've only had the Growing Together pack since early April and couldn't get my new computer system working until late April, I haven't even visited San Sequoia yet,
I'm excited about the new pack, though!
About the finger foods, I watched a video of infants trying out different foods, but didn't understand why food preferences matter.
Still a ways to go before raising my first infant. Thank you for your encouragement!

[MarianT]

21. A Slumber Party, Graduation, and Some Birthdays

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Anissa decided to show her older brother how a slumber party should be done. She and her friends (Larissa Bjergsen and Bethany Hastings in back, Heather Landgraab, Hilary something, and Anissa in front) played games and watched television together. Anissa told a long story about a frog prince.

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Anissa was the only one who actually slept, but the next morning, she found that she had achieved a gold party. Congrats, Anissa!

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A few days after the party, Anissa made a friendship bracelet for her Aunt Larissa. To her surprise, she found that Larissa had made one for her, too.

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Bob went to his graduation ceremony, where he discovered that his old friend Bella Bachelor was also getting a degree.

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After the ceremony, he and the others all threw their caps in the air. Bob now has a degree in Physics and no longer feels embarrassed about giving a guest lecture to the Mechanical Engineering class.

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Vincent finished his second school project, a medieval castle. Like his solar system, it was judged excellent. He also earned all his scouting badges and became a Llamacorn Scout.

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Vincent blew out the candles on his cake and became a teen with high self-esteem. He is also headstrong, an idea person, a pack animal, and creatively, mentally, and physically gifted with scouting aptitude.

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Being active and outgoing, Vincent signed up for the football team. His aspiration is the Goal-Oriented one.

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Despite his high self-esteem, though, Vincent felt dissatisfied with his pudginess.

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Fortunately, he enjoyed working on his fitness skill.

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He added wellness to the list, too.

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At school, he met the principal, Ms. Prescott. "Wow, she was our principal, too!" Bob and Sofia exclaimed when he told them.

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But Rita Coombs was no longer the teacher for his class. "Well, she was pretty close to retirement," said Bob.

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With a teen-aged son, Sofia felt that it was high time she stopped thinking of herself as a young adult. Bob had a birthday, too.

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But being adults didn't mean they would stop having fun. "We could plant one of those, you know, woo-hoo bushes in the front," Bob whispered while they were dancing. "Now that the kids don't need to practice bike-riding, there's plenty of room." "Now, now," Sofia answered, "there's always the downstairs shower."

[oshizu]

Congrats to Bob and Bella on graduating from university!
Since Bob's been giving Mechanical Engineering lectures, I wonder if that's his chosen career path, too.
How cool that Vincent and Anissa each resemble one of their parents in terms of complexion and hair color.
Vincent certainly led a productive chiildhood and he's a real go-getter as a teen, too!
When he mentions aspiring to become an over-achiever, does that means he's trying to trigger the addition of that trait?

[GlazeyLady]

Anissa's slumber party looks fun and clearly successful - I haven't done one of those yet, but looking forward to it.
Bob and Sofia make such a great couple! Congrats to Bob on his graduation!
Vincent is well on his way - he certainly seems well-suited to Over-Achiever.

[MarianT]

@oshizu, Yes, Bob is in the Mechanical Engineering career. Both Vincent and Anissa have Bob's complexion and Sofia's blue eyes, but hair coloring favors the parent of the same gender.

@GlazeyLady, I couldn't remember the aspiration, but it's the Goal-Oriented one for teens. My impression is that the Sims don't trigger additional traits until after they become adults. But Sofia picked up over-achiever, so Vincent might also.

What made a difference in Anissa's slumber party was that I had remembered the group function. Having everyone watch TV as a group and eat as a group really helped.

[oshizu]

The Goal-Oriented aspiration's Highflier is one of my top favorite reward traits!
It offers faster job performance gain and, I don't remember exactly know but, at least a 25% gain in career wages.

Thank you for the slumber party update. I devour your updates that features tips and tricks about the Growing Together pack!