Tunnels

Round 20: Autumn 2011

last update/next update

Brandon Kirby is 76, Leontine is 69, Trent is 41, Megan is 39, Claudia and Victoria are both 10 and Rebecca is 2.
(Tate is 41, Zelda is 36 and Josie is 9)

Narrated by Megan Kirby

Rebecca is 2 now and she's been walking for a while now so we're working on talking. I'm proud to say that her first word was "Mama" and she followed it with many more!



I came home from work to find Trent eating bowl after bowl of soup. He insisted nothing was wrong but he told me later that he'd come down with that dreaded flu bug and didn't want to worry me! Thank God he's feeling 100% better now. I don't know what I'd do if I lost him.

Brandon finally got around to getting Trent started at the farmers' market. When Brandon goes, he wants Trent to take over for him.

Trent's never had any particular career aspirations so he found running a business a bit overwhelming, especially seeing Brandon was pretending to not be there, so he could see how Trent handled things. Well, Trent handled things by running back to ask for his Dad's advice every two minutes.

He did eventually get the hang of things though and told me sales wasn't too hard. He uses the time-honoured method of sucking up to the customer.

Driving home with Brandon that afternoon, Trent was absolutely exhausted. He's really glad that they have a manager (Arianna) to run the market day to day because he doesn't think he could keep up that pace all day every day.

Claudia and Victoria are 10 years old now. I can't believe they'll be in high school in a couple of years! Claudia is very social and brings home different friends from school every day. Lately, she's taken to mothering the little kids at school, so we often have 5 and 6 year olds running around the house.

Victoria is more reserved so far and prefers hanging out with her grandmother. I hope she branches out and makes some more friends, as nice as it is that she and Leontine are so close.

Brandon officially handed Kirby Market over to Trent, so Trent is now the owner.

I think he must have known he didn't have long left and wanted to get everything in order.

Even though he was 76, I wasn't ready for him to go. It was almost like he was my father too.

Claudia was especially upset, because she was very tight with her grandpa. He was teaching her to look after the garden and she'll really miss that bonding time.

Trent hasn't said anything but I know he misses his dad a lot too. He's not the type to talk a lot about anything emotional.

Tate and Zelda came over a few days after Brandon's death - sort of like a wake, I guess.

It was a pretty joyful atmosphere, considering the circumstances. With 4 little girls around, you always get at least a few smiles.

Gosh that Josie can be nasty though! She took Rebecca's toy car away, just to see her cry and whine for it.

The poor girl wanted to go back to her crib upstairs after that.

Trent and I were both really excited to hear that Tate and Zelda had some good news for us. After trying for another child since Josie was a toddler, they've decided to try adoption. They've been approved and now all they have to do is wait to be matched with a child! I'm so happy for them and thrilled to have another niece or nephew!

Random pics:

I am really happy I let Trent and Megan try for another baby because Rebecca is just too precious! I'm also really glad I stuck it out with the lighting mod, because it makes everything so pretty.

The family dinner, minus Leontine and Victoria, because the Kirbies need a bigger table in the worst way!

Notes:

• I've decided that Tate and Zelda have just started the adoption process officially and that it will take one game year to obtain a child. So in the Autumn 2012 birthdays post, we'll meet whoever this new child turns out to be. So yay for them!
• I've also been thinking about my aging system and I'm going to take one day off the child stage and add it to the teen stage, meaning Sims will age to teen at 12 and not 13 as they currently do. It won't affect anything this round but it'll mean Claudia and Victoria (along with Finn Romilly and Jacob Weaver) will age to teen in Summer 2013, instead of Summer 2014. It doesn't change anyone else's age, it just gives me a little extra time with them as teens, as it's a stage I really enjoy.
• Brandon's death feels a bit like the end of an era to me! He wasn't the first baby born in Sullivan (the first babies born were the Clarke twins, Xanthia and Drusilla, if I'm not mistaken) but Nathaniel and Joanne were the very first Sims I created for Sullivan, so the Kirbies always feel like the "anchor" family to me, being a pretty stable family and usually drama-free.
• I forgot to check Brandon and Leontine's chemistry before he died but Megan and Trent have 3 bolts, 129 raw and 234 total. The only couple even approaching Anna and Emil's 301 total is Max and Zaria at 269.