Sand on her Knees
Zara knew that she would have sand on her knees by the end of the day. How did she know this, you ask? Why, I told her of course! Apparently, she did not approve, and ran herself into a corner before making the phone call I wanted to screenshot. This backshot was the best I could do in the circumstances. I would've thought she'd be more excited about the whole affair.
But before any of this happened, Zara went to her graduation at City Hall. Not only was she Valedictorian, (which I expected) Zara was also chosen by her peers as the Most Artistic. (which I also expected)
In proud Rao tradition, of course, they left somebody behind. In the warped logic that Sims are infamous for, mothers are apparently uninterested in watching their daughters graduate. Fortunately, this is not the case in our own world. Mia does eventually get her act straight and head over to City Hall.
To celebrate, the Raos head over to the Summer Festival. Roger and Mia sign up for a Hot Dog Eating Contest, but Roger runs off to use the bathroom halfway through. Mia ought to win by default, right?
Wrong. Almost immediately after I took the screenshot above, Mia runs off and vomits on the grass, then wants nothing to do with hot dogs. So it was ultimately a tie.
I thought Zelda was being abducted here, since she randomly hops out of the taxi heading home and stares into the sky. I took a screenshot intending to show the follow-up, but nothing ever happened. Eventually, I remember that Absent-Minded Sims cancel their queue bar occasionally. I'll assume that's what happened here, though I'd never seen it happen while riding in a car.
But at least we got a shiny Greeting Card.
Roger
finally maxed out his Guitar skill, earning him a bajillion Lifetime Happiness Points. Once we goes back to work on Saturday, Roger will also achieve his LTW of Hit Movie Conductor. Mia's a bit farther away from hers, and she probably won't quite make it by the time we move to Moonlight Falls. Shouldn't be too hard wrap it up after the move, though.
But back to Zara. Although she annoyed me by putting herself in an inconvenient camera angle, she does manage to invite the recently aged-up Chuck over. I begin to enact my master plan...
... until Chuck abruptly walks out, claiming that, "he needs to get ready for work." Which is rubbish. He leaves at 10:00, and he doesn't need to go to work until 3:00. It should not take five hours to get ready for a job as a
Taste Tester. 
Zander's garden is going well, which is useful for raising his Gardening skill. His Handiness is in pretty good shape too, but his Fishing is pitiful. We'll have to correct that later.
Some burglar decides to take advantage of the lack of an alarm to try to sneak in. Unfortunately, just because he can't see me doesn't mean I can't see him.
Shortly later, a cop is brawling with aforementioned burglar. She eventually wins and returns Mia's coffee maker. Roger's looking rather sullen mostly because he wanted to fight the burglar himself. Mia's just thankful that the coffee maker was saved, or
she'd have to beat him up, too. Poor guy.
Anyway, Zara manages to get Chuck to go to the beach the next day, and he's saying something about the culinary field. While I'm still convinced that Zara has the hidden Natural Cook trait, she doesn't seem terribly interested in the conversation. Perhaps an interjection is necessary.
There, that's better. Still not great, though. What could make this date even better than it already is, I wonder? Oh, I know!
See? I
told you Zara would have sand on her knees! Fortunately for both Zara and myself, Chuck gleefully accepts Zara's proposal. My plan is to have Chuck live with the Raos until Zelda is ready to move on. I'll ensure that Zara, Chuck, and any number of little Rao-Lai nooboos have a good home before I take the rest of the household to Moonlight Falls.
