Garret's become quite the socialite lately. Sandra was invited to a party at the Tanner's home, and she stayed long enough to be polite, but Garret stayed nearly until his curfew chatting with Yuna. Her siblings, Ethan and Raquel, and her father have long since succumbed to old age, but Yuna and her mother are still hanging around, thanks to the blessing of the fae and the blood of the vampire.
Meanwhile, back at home, Scarlet and Cornelius were having quite the crisis. One would think that nobody here has ever seen a birth before.
Meet Sara. Isn't she adorable?
After Sara was ensconced in her crib, Cornelius had a sudden wish... and apparently, so did Scarlet!
We invited over what seemed like all of the folks who lived here when I first moved in for a quick wedding that evening.
Those two were in such a rush, that not everyone managed to find a seat before they'd said their “I do's.”
Not all of the guests were as pleased with the marriage as the happy newlyweds though. Cornelius failed to mention that he
may not have fully broken off a romance with young Cricket Irwin. She let him know in no uncertain terms that she was finished with him for good (interrupting every attempt to cut the wedding cake for hours).
By midweek, we were gearing up for a birthday extravaganza, with both Garret and Sara set to hit their next respective birthdays by the end of the week. Someone else had another plan, though. Goodbye, Saren. We'll miss you.
Early morning birthdays are pretty much the rule around here, especially when it comes to children and teens, and Garret was no exception.
After Garret's turn at the cake, Scarlet dashed back into the nursery to let Sara have a turn before Hyacinth had to rush off to the hospital. Note poor Garret's terrible luck with his hair and wardrobe.
He made a beeline for the vanity as soon as his cake was finished to find himself something more suitable. He's grown into a fine young man, if I do say so myself.
Sara also toddled off to the vanity, with some help from Scarlet, of course. Such a pretty little thing with her mother's eyes and her father's hair.
After the birthdays, I rounded up Hyacinth and Garret, and we made a family trip to China for 9 days. I asked Garret to keep a journal of his activities, since Hyacinth and I did little more than lounge around base camp the entire time.
“So, a journal, huh? Is this how you've been keeping records of the family and town all this time, Gran? Well, here goes. I spent pretty much the first week just running jobs off the adventure board, most of them involving some amount of tomb raiding. Here's the entry switch to the first tomb I went to.”
“Most of these tombs haven't been maintained in centuries, so there's been a lot of rubble to clear out of the way. Excavation is serious business.”
“Oh, plumbob! Not the hair again!
sigh Some of the 'adventures' I had were geared more toward learning more of the art of Sim Fu. I certainly didn't mind getting some practice in against a much more well-trained opponent. I've been hearing rumors that there's some kind of tournament going on, and I wish I had the experience and time to participate in that. I suppose there's always next time.”
“In the Temple of Heaven, I found the most remarkable talking axe. I'll have to get you to look into its possible sentience, Gran, and see if that helps you with the ghost problem you've been looking into.”
“After a grueling eight days of diving in wells, dodging traps, and digging up treasures, I finally reached the coveted Level 3 Visa in China. I celebrated by buying the family a little vacation home near the market.”
“And what do I find when I finally make my way down there? Is this what you and Mom have been doing this entire time?! Wow.”
Ahem, well, yes. Something he didn't mention is that many of the locals are now calling him a “timber terminator,” presumably because of many hours spent in front of a board breaker while he wasn't busy wandering through the tombs of China.
We arrived home to the sight of Sandra teaching little Sara to talk. She must've heard about Garret's latest martial arts exploits, because she was mentioning that Cousin Garret could find gems in space rocks.
Garret attended another party at the Tanner household, where he met this lovely young thing. Her name's Pansy Northrop, and I've somehow managed never to run into her, despite her being in town longer than me. She lives with Ezekiel Reid, whom I
have met, and she's dating Donnovan Steel.
Garret decided to throw a costume party on the night before Spooky Day – which just happened to be a full moon. Good for ambiance, terrible for taking pictures.
During the party, Ginger had her final birthday out in the backyard.
I'm not entirely sure how they ended up like this, but Clark Bellamore and Addison Ross danced this way for quite some time near the end of the party. Incidentally, Addison
is actually a doctor, so this costume is less of a costume and more of a work uniform.
And, finally, a collection of most of the eligible bachelorettes in Lucky Palms. Not pictured is Yolanda Shaw, who was an adult at the time of the costume party, but aged into an elder before the next week ended. Also not pictured is Kinslee Hudson, who has been ruled out due to being the mother of Garret's half-sister, Carie. Cricket is stuck in the Adult stage, and Emi is a Young Adult (yes, the daughter is older than the mother). Yuna is immune to fire.
