Winter in Riverview: File Lost (Failed)

[Tilia]

Elise and Simon aged up into toddlers before I even had time to process their arrival.  Here they are:




They've both got green eyes, but Simon's got the full spooky shade while Elise's are a lovely, deep hue.  She and her daddy are inseparable. 



I spend a lot of time with Simon.  He is a sweet little bug and he loves when I carry him around.



Liam aged up to adult right after the kids were born.  He's having a midlife crisis and if I'm honest, it's incredibly hurtful.  I caught him flirting with that awful maid.  I think it's time to fire her.

He also did this while I was at work!



It's a dragon.  Or something.  I sent him off to the hospital's new therapy program as soon as the kids blow out the candles this afternoon.  I've seen it work wonders before and I'm terrified that if I age up before he gets past this, he'll divorce me.

Luckily, the kids are adorably oblivious.  They really love spending time together and now that they can both talk, they chat up a storm while playing with our block set.



As you can see, little Elise has a touch of the artistic genius, just like her Mommy and Gran. 

Anyway, the birthdays!  Here my little ones are aging up and leaving Mommy in the dust.

Elise insisted Daddy carry her to the cake.  She somehow did her sparkle spin gracefully.  She is the most ladylike child I've ever seen.





Simon made huge, goo-goo eyes at the cake, knowing he'd get some as soon as he went through his sparkles.  That kid is going to have a sweet tooth, I'm willing to bet.




Mom was right.  Annabelle appears to be gone.  I'm really glad I wrote down what I knew before I got pregnant.  I just sent the kids off for their first day of school, and I think I'm going to rest. 



One day soon, I will have to explain all of this to Elise.  I'm not sure how to approach my days now that part of me has left.

[Tilia]

My favorite thing that Mom and Dad have ever bought for us is the costume chest!  Simon and I always choose the same costumes.  Daddy says we make a funny pair, but to me, it makes perfect sense.



I'm Elise Winter, and I love dressing like a princess.  Sometimes I go looking in my real clothes for dresses like that one, but there never are any!  It's weird, because I'm sure I remember having some like that.  Oh well.

Simon and I love it so much that we fall asleep in our costumes all the time, and Mom has to wake us up and tell us to put on pajamas!



Simon and I are twins, which means that we were born right at the same time!  It's funny how different we are.  I always get up early to do stuff.  I love being outside and writing on the computer (I'm writing a story about us!  It's called The Princess and the Astronaut).  Anyway, I never wake him up because he's such a heavy sleeper. 



We went on a field trip to the Bistro at school.  I had a lot of fun, but oh man, Simon REALLY loved it.  He got Mom to give us some simoleans so we could go have dinner there like grown ups.  It was really fun!



Simon said, "I bet I could cook like this!" and Mom thought that was adorable, so she bought him a little oven.  Now he spends all weekend selling the delicious cookies and muffins he makes to people in the park (the ones I don't steal anyway!)



My story is really good, I think.  I read some to Dad yesterday and he said it was the most original thing he's ever heard!



Mom kept her birthday a secret.  She said she promised herself a long time ago that she'd never have another birthday party.  I think that's silly!  Anyway, now she looks old.



But Dad doesn't seem to mind.



Gross.

[saltpastillen]

Things are moving so fast! I'm looking forward to more details about Annabelle.

[Tilia]

Things are moving so fast! I'm looking forward to more details about Annabelle.

Thanks Salt!  I'm so glad someone is enjoying the story

[Tilia]

Daddy likes to joke that we play musical beds in this family.  It's true!



Simon and I fight over the pink room a lot.  I want it because it is mine.  He wants it because I want it.  I let him win sometimes because he is my twin and we should win around the same amount of times.

We're getting bigger, but I'm still a Princess and he's still an Astronaut.




Mommy enrolled us in scouts.  She was super surprised that I would rather be a scout than a ballerina, but I didn't want to be different from Simon.  Plus, I really, really love being outside.  I love flowers and birds and apple trees.  We both got badges on the same day.  Mine was for gardening and Simon's was for campfire cooking (of course).



Mom took a super embarrassing picture of me in my scouts uniform and hung it up in the kitchen.



I'm not sure why she did that.  Surely Simon should be the one who's always in the kitchen, forever and ever.  Oh well.  Tomorrow is our teen birthday (finally!)

Simon asked if he could throw a slumber party, and Mom looooves Simon, so she said yes.  I asked Daddy if we could go to France.  He said not until we're older.  I don't think that's fair.  I miss France.  Daddy, of course, says I've never even been there, but he doesn't know.



Simon and I came home to play for a little while for the last time before being all grown up.  He asked if I wanted to be the Princess and the Astronaut one last time, but I said, no, let's try something different.



Simon went to bed first.  He loves to sleep.  I tried my hand at being a raging dinosaur on the patio for a while, but it just didn't fit.  I will always be a princess.

[Tilia]

I was really excited to bring our friends over for the first time.  Simon and I were so busy with scouts and always did our homework together that we never had friends over before!  Here we are arriving from the school bus.



Some of the kids are younger than us, but that's okay.  Simon wanted to show off what a big grown up he was about to be, so he ordered a pizza and got it from the pizza man and everything.



I had told him a batch of his blueberry muffins would've been better, but now I'm not sure.  That pizza was super good.  Here's Simon checking to make sure Liza Crowley likes it.



He went upstairs to pillow fight with Liza and make goo-goo eyes at her probably.  Yuck.  I stayed downstairs and hung out with the other kids. 



Mom stayed out of the way, playing chess in the red room while Dad was out playing his big baseball game against the Broncos (they won!).



We got our sparkles at almost the same exact time!  But me a little earlier because I AM a little older.






Simon and I shared the pink room for our first night as teens (but I took the bed.  Ladies first!)

[Tilia]

I decided to join the newspaper club at school.  I have to read a lot of newspapers to make sure I'm doing it right!



Simon doesn't want to join an after school class.  I think he'd rather spend all his time trying to be best friends with Liza Crowley (ha ha).

Last night, mom finally agreed to make the pink room "mine."  No more musical beds.  Though Simon complains CONSTANTLY about the lack of room in a two bedroom house.  I don't understand why no one wants to use the basement.  I mentioned that to dad and he stared at me blankly and said, "there is no basement," but there is too.

a-ny-way.  I slept in my pink bed all alone and dreamed about being prom queen.  I guess I'm still a princess at heart.



But, I woke up, really cold.  I went downstairs to warm myself by the fire and I noticed something was weird.  I felt ... different.  My hair was so, so long and I was floating.  I went to check myself in the mirror and almost had a heart attack.



A dream!  This had to be a dream!  But it wasn't.  I knew it wasn't.  This was Annabelle.  Me.  She missed her old house and wanted to look around.

I let her have me ... or the ghost of me, or whatever I was.  She gathered her skirts up and walked upstairs, stopping in the pink room to take it in.  She looked curiously at the photo of my parents' wedding.



And then she glided, ever so gracefully, out onto the terrace.  I felt her heart speed pick up as she looked out onto the town.



I have to go back to France.  My mind said.  Or hers.  it doesn't matter.  I did have to go back.

I don't know how long I (we?) stood there, gazing out at the vista of Riverview, but I woke up in my bed still just plain old Elise, no ballgown, no glorious, waist-length hair.  I still don't know if it really happened or not.

[Tilia]

Prom is coming!  I am SO excited.  I've been searching everywhere for a pretty strapless ball gown.  One that looks like Annabelle's, honestly.  I think it'd suit me.  My brother is trying desperately to ask Liza out for prom.  He asked me first to hold a slumber party with the girls so he could ask her.  I obliged.

However, Bernadette Jung appears to be ob-sessed with Simon and wouldn't give him even an instant to talk to Liza.  Here she is walking past them while Bernadette begs Simon to take her to prom.  He isn't amused.



His NEW plan was for me to go to prom with Scott Crowley, Liza's twin brother.  "Double twin dates!" He said, like it was the most brilliant thing in the world.  I practiced my newfound charisma skill on Donnell Martin first.



he seemed to go for it.  Then I sought out Scott Crowley, whom I hadn't seen since we were kids.  Ugh.  It was not pretty.



Of COURSE he jumped at being my prom date.  He's not so bad, really, but he needs to get on a treadmill and lose the creepy-uncle unbuttoned shirt.  Simon owes me big. 

Well, prom rolled around, and Simon still hadnt' managed to seal the deal with Liza OR just give in to Bernadette.  He took his sweet time getting ready while I waited, blissfully imagining a night on the sparkly dance floor, all dressed up.




Scott tried to pick me up in a limo, but I wouldn't leave without my brother, so Dad had to drive us.  Here we are waiting for Dad to come downstairs so we dont' miss our own prom.



Simon doesn't NEED those glasses, by the way.  He only wears them with his formal clothes because he thinks they are sophisticated looking.  My brother is sometimes an idiot.

Anyway ... prom!  Well, Scott kissed me on the dance floor almost immediately.  It really wasn't so bad.  Then he asked me to be his girlfriend, which ... momentarily horrified me, but Simon was standing nearby, nodding so emphatically, that I reluctantly agreed.  I can always dump him after Simon seals the deal with Liza, I guess ... even if we're elders by that point.

When it came time for prom royalty to be announced, we had quite the surprise!  Simon and I were king and queen!  We had a royal dance and giggled all the way through it.  We really do share everything equally!

I ignored Scott, I'm afraid, after that point, because Simon got in a fight over some bully harassing one of his friends.  We ended up leaving late and had to rush home.  I was really worried about breaking curfew, but Simon was mostly just proud of himself for decking that bully.



He went immediately to bed (of course) and I laid out our crowns and photos on the coffee table in the red room.



I walked back into the pink room, floating on cloud 9, thinking about my night of royalty, when suddenly a voice in my head sharply reminded me, France!

I glanced over at the chest sitting innocously in the corner of the room.  I knew it was French and I knew it was full of adventure tools grandma had left behind - tents, showers in a can, dried food, and some keystones.  I had never looked in it before, though.  When I did, I suddenly felt a flash of inspiration.



I was getting us to France before we were young adults.  And now I knew how.

[saltpastillen]

Can't wait to find out!

And I was so surprised to see the ghost/Annabelle.

[Tilia]

I asked Dad if I could start a garden by the garage.  He seemed surprised that I'd want to get my hands dirty, but when I explained to him that I loved green, growing things and I found gardens romantic, he seemed to get it and relented.   I've been collecting seeds around town with this collection helper I found in grandma's chest.  Some of the seeds are gigantic and too rare for me to plant yet at my skill level.



But my little collection of apple trees and assorted veggies is coming along nicely, and has given me a chance to dig into the earth around the garage (this is important!)



Dad is right that I don't much like being dirty.  Every night after I finish tending my new garden, I take a nice, long bubble bath, and work on The Princess and the Astronaut (yes, I'm still working on it).



I also obsessively do my homework, and often get help from Dad so he knows how hard I'm working.  It is essential to be on honor roll before I execute my Plan.



I make sure Simon also gets Dad to help.  It's important that we BOTH get honor roll.  He was hesitant at first, but I made him a deal.  Homework:



And I'd arrange for him to "run into" Liza Crowley in the park this week.  I held up my end of the deal, and he FINALLY got to talk to her.



They went on their first date, to the movies.  And Simon admitted to her that he thought she was "wicked attractive."



The sooner he gets this overwith and makes her his girlfriend, the sooner I can stop making up fake plans to avoid Scott.  I went with my mom to one of Uncle Fisher's parties on the night of their second date.  Uncle Fish has gotten pretty old and eccentric in his old age.  Mom doesn't approve of his new hair.



And I don't approve of the fact that Simon still hasn't kissed that poor girl.  Maybe she is playing hard to get.  He has no complaints, though.



Now that everyone was happy and Simon and I had been on honor roll for two days, it was time to execute my plan.  I woke everyone up early on Saturday morning and told them I had a surprise for them.  Digging around int he garden, I had uncovered an old spiral staircase.  It was about to solve our space problem!

Dad and Mom exchanged a look, but the followed me, each taking care down the creaky old stairs.  They were struck silent by the massive basement space I'd known was there all along (I'd just had to find a way down.)



Slack jawed and impressed, they stood there, and suddenly Dad realized what this meant.  The property value expansion meant that we'd reached his Lifetime Wish of being rolling in dough.  He was dumbfounded and I knew this was my moment to strike.

"We should definitely build and decorate down here," I said, casually.  "But we should take a vacation first.  Simon and I have been working so hard and ... a break would be good."

"Yes, yeah honey," Dad said, distractedly.  "You're getting your trip to France.  No need to push it further."

I barely contained my glee.  Instead, I just kept watching my family marvel over my "discovery." 

[Tilia]

I. Love. France.



The instant I got here, I knew it was exactly how I imagined it to be, and it would be the best week of my life so far!  I've met a ton of people. I even talked Mom into letting me buy a spiffy new outfit for French outings!



Isn't it stylish!  That's Leah.  She's a historian researching the history of nectar making in the region.  We became friends really fast, even though she's older than me.  I asked if I could help her with her research and she seemed thrilled to have me!  First she sent me to the nectary so I could understand what nectar was all about.



I made a few bottles and harvested a bunch of grapes from the nectary garden that I can plant when I get home.  It's really fun!

Next, we got into the good stuff.  She sent me to Chateau Laandgrab to try to find some missing documents that would help her with her research.  A dashing, debonair man named James Vaughn had been dragged in there and never come back out a long time ago.  Leah thinks she may have been involved with a woman named Anastasia.



Now that I've been in the chateau, I'm pretty sure her name was Annabelle, not Anastasia.  I haven't told Leah yet, though.  I know my way around the castle pretty well, but I still got caught in a few of Old Man Laandgrab's horrible electricty traps.



The rest was practically second nature.  I used grandma's stores of liquid bravery (not booze, a real thing!) and napped in the opulence of the mansion.




While I was having my adventures in a French mansion, my family was being insistently boring.  Simon went to a bunch of cafes and learned some new recipes.  Not sure what Mom and Dad did.




Oh!  and Simon called Liza four thousand times.  Of course.  Anyway, we're in the airport, about to head home.  This was an amazing trip!

[Tilia]

Guess who FINALLY has a girlfriend?  That's right, my brother, the romancer.



I'm pretty proud of him!  I don't know Liza very well, but she makes him happy, so that's enough.  They just stare at each other for HOURS though.  Hey!  I guess this means I can finally get rid of Scott.



My garden is growing beautifully.  Yes, I'm still doing the garden thing.  I've grown to love it!  I'm even advanced enough now to plant rare and uncommon seeds.  Who knows what I'll turn up.




Mom and Dad have moved down into the basement.  The remodel is piece-by-piece, but their new room and bathroom are pretty wicked looking.



We had a party this weekend.  No reason, just wanted to have an old fashion Winter Weekend get-together.  We put swimsuits on the invitation because people always end up in the hot tub.  However, my cousin Lance showed up in what he swore up and down was his swimwear: a pirate costume.



I was kind of struck dumb by it, but Mom kept muttering something about "Blount genes."

Then my lovely, lovely boyfriend arrived.  He had decided, for some reason, to wear EXACTLY what my brother was wearing.  That was really the last straw.



I mean.  How creepy is that?  Why would you even ... ugh.  Anyway, I told him the news, and he had the BIGGEST tantrum.  People were looking at me like I was the anti-Watcher.




Oh, but it didn't end there.  (Of course not).  Liza confronted me about it and I ignored her.  But I know she still wants to avenge her creepy brother.



Then!  Two nights later, I was gardening, and the creep-oid just shows up in my backyard out of nowhere.  Thank goodness Sims can't come into your house unless someone invites them!



That's right.  He just crept up on me while I was pruning one of my plants.  Okay, obviously the guy is heartbroken, whatever.  I attempted to apologize, and he was so rude to me!



Fine!  Have it your way, pouty.

I went up to my room and told Simon in no uncertain terms will his girlfriend's brother be invited to our birthday party.

[Tilia]

I should go ahead and admit I was having a bit of a teen mood swing when I made my last entry.  I was probably harder on Scott than I should have been (during the break up, not when he showed up in my garden). 

I also forgot that I'd rigged the shower with pink dye.  I don't know what I was going for, but Mom was the eventual victim.  Woops.



Calm down, lady, it washes out easy!  Also, I guess mom's mom (Grandma Mia) finally showed up as a ghost while Dad was eating some midnight cereal.  Apparently she plopped right down next to him with a cup of coffee and complimented his physique.  He was pretty alarmed.



I wish I'd seen her!  I have so many questions for her.  Not just about Annabelle, either.  About EVERYTHING.  I also want to hear about Mom misbehaving as a little girl. 

Anyway, things are as they've always been, even though the cakes are baked and the party booked for our young adult birthdays this weekend.  Simon has Liza over almost every day. 



Funny story, he was talking about her yesterday and said her last name was Clary.  I was SURE it was Crowley.  He looked at me like I was an idiot. 

I work in my garden daily.  It is getting so plentiful.  I've started planting some rare and special seeds and am looking forward to seeing what they turn up.



The night before our birthday, mom sought each of us out to tell us how proud of us she was.  Simon ate it up, but I felt a little weepy.  It's an important thing to have a mom that loves you, even if you once dyed her hair pink.

[Tilia]

Our birthday party was sure something special.  The first time we went to blow the candles out, we set the house on fire!



Mom was like, "this is why birthday parties are always a bad idea."  She's so ridiculous sometimes.  We got things put to rights as fast as we could and tried again.  Dad cashed in a "fireproof homestead" reward just to be safe.




Success!  No fire this time.  Here's a quick peek at me and Simon pre-makeover.



Aaaand post:




I put a lot of thought into what I wanted for my final trait.  I already had the Winter legacy traits - artistic, genius, and charismatic.  I love the outdoors, so I was tempted to do green thumb, but, I thought about the Princess and the Astronaut, and how I'd seen a little girl reading it in the park last week.  I chose bookworm.

Simon chose Family Oriented to go with his absent minded, heavy sleeping, family oriented self.  He has another trait, I can just never remember it!  Kidding.  It's natural cook.  Our LTW selections are both career oriented.  He wants to be a World Class Chef and I want to be a Star News Anchor.

Wish us luck!

[Tilia]

I woke up so, so excited to graduate.  I was pulled up with the car, waiting, well before it was time to go.



Mom begged off, saying she'd meet us there, but she was starving and needed to eat first.  So, we took off, planning to see her there.  The ceremony was awesome.  I got voted Most Artistic and Simon got Most Likely to Have a Big Family.  He also got Valedictorian, which was a surprise.  I guess he took the homework challenge seriously!

Mom was super late, and missed the whole ceremony.  We left city hall with our class to toss our diplomas and decided to wait there for her before going to dinner.




Then ol' Creepy Scott shows up, trying to get my attention.  Liza and Scott are a tad younger than us, so they won't graduate for a few days.  Dad was having none of it and was ready to punch Scott in the face.



But then we got the news.  Mom had never shown up for a reason.



Even though Grandma Mia had lived to be nearly 120, Mom died before her life bar even maxed out.  Later we'd hear it said that she worked herself to death.  According to the housekeeper, the last thing she ever did was look at that photo of us as Scouts that she took so long ago.



And then she asked Grim if she could just attend our graduation ceremony before going, but he was not in a generous mood.



Dad hung up the phone with heartbreak etched all over him.  Simon and I somehow intuitively knew.  We no longer had any time to worry about Creepy Scott Clary.



We changed and took Dad home, making sure he got to bed okay and then placed Mom's tombstone outside with her parents.



I went into the red room before sleep and stared at one of the photos on the wall for such a long time.  Graduation is such an important day.  But the end comes for all of us.