Saturday 24 March 2012

A comet appears

Round 33: August 2037 (Winter)
last update/next update

Trent Kirby is 67, Megan is 65, Claudia and Jacob are 36, Daphne is 6 and Iris is 3.
(Liam is 74)

Narrated by Jacob Kirby

Claudia and I haven’t been away anywhere since our honeymoon, so seeing I had some vacation time to use up, we decided to change that.

Seeing we wanted to stay at their vacation cabin in Three Lakes, it seemed only right that we ask Trent and Megan to come along.

They both want to get away for a bit but Trent didn’t want to leave the farm unattended and Megan didn’t want to leave him at home on his own.

That meant Trent and Megan wouldn’t be using the second master bedroom at the cabin, so I asked Dad if he wanted to join us instead.

He’s never travelled at all and I knew it would be a good chance for him to spend some time with us and the girls.

Dad wasn’t too keen on the idea at first. As he’s got older, he’s become less and less fond of any changes to his routine.

He does love seeing Daphne and Iris though and in the end, that’s what won him over.

Daphne took the trip quite seriously. She insisted on packing her own suitcase and carrying it out to the shuttle all by herself.

The “cabin” is not quite a cabin - it’s more like a chalet. Megan and Trent did a major renovation on it a while back, so it’s much bigger than it used to be.

We were all starving when we arrived, so I cooked us up some chili…

…Claudia went to relax on the couch and looked as if she was about to fall asleep…

…and Dad played around with Daphne and Iris.

Over lunch, Daphne told us all how nice it was to be on a break from school, after working so hard this term.

That was pretty funny. Her school work is fairly basic at the moment but I guess when you’re six, it’s still the hardest work you’ve ever done!

There’s not much room on the farm for a swing set, so Daphne went nuts over the one in the side yard. Daphne loved Three Lakes. Everything about it was the best thing ever.

Well, except the fact that we were staying in a boring old house, when there was a campground nearby.

Claudia told her Grandpa Trent had a tent at home and promised she could camp out in it once we got home.

That seemed to satisfy her.

Claudia and I have visited Three Lakes once before, when we were dating, so we already knew our way around town and what we wanted to show Daphne.

As predicted, she loved log rolling. Daphne is a really active kid (takes after her dad!) with a lot of energy to burn, so she’s all over anything like that.

She would have gone all day if I’d agreed to it.

And once she actually managed to knock me off the log, she loved it even more.

Claudia prefers less tiring pursuits, so she sampled the local cuisine while Daphne and I exhausted ourselves.

We also did a little fishing. It was Daphne’s first time ever but she still managed to catch quite a large catfish without much help from me or Claudia.

Claudia is quite good at it too, so maybe it's genetic.

I’m not quite as into fishing as my girls are but I did have fun with the axe throwing, which Daphne also enjoyed watching.

Dad was happiest hanging around with Iris back at the house. I think all the walking we did during the day would have been too much for him.

Just to give me and Claudia some time to ourselves though, he took the girls to a souvenir shop and let them pick out some gifts for people back home.

He said he didn’t help them at all, so I’m guessing he let Daphne spend way too much money but it won’t hurt just this once.

I couldn’t be too upset about that; living with Trent and Megan, it’s so rare that I get time alone with Claudia.

It’s even rarer that we’re alone without the possibility of me being called into work, so we were sure to make the most of it.

I work such weird hours that I miss out on a lot with the kids as well as with Claudia, so I wanted to spend plenty of time with Daphne and Iris too.

And I did get to do that too. We had plenty of time together as a family.

The trip was so relaxing. Any time I get to sleep in past sunrise is relaxing to me.

Increased relaxation time is actually one factor which is swaying Claudia towards not having another baby. I’ve only ever wanted two but Claudia wasn’t quite as sure our family would be complete with only two.

Now that we actually have two though, we both feel like we might be done. It really feels like two children is the number we’re meant to have.

Megan’s not making any secret of her desire for another grandchild but we’re not going to let her influence us.

We keep joking to ourselves that if we wait long enough, Claudia’s sister Rebecca might let us off the hook with that anyway.

Not that we’re going to suggest that to Megan; Rebecca would murder us both!

Maybe Claudia and I will change our minds about #3 when Iris starts school. Maybe we'll start to miss having a little one around the house again.

At the moment though, we’re happy as we are and I can see us remaining that way for the forseeable future.


Notes:
  • Title is from A Comet Appears by The Shins.
  • The "cabin" was my contribution to N99's log cabin makeover challenge. It was over a year ago now and I'm only just sending Claudia and Jacob on a proper holiday here! I love how it turned out though, so I might put up a lot tour here, because I just realised I never did.
  • Daphne was really gabbing about school at the lunch table! I love her, she's such a lot of fun.
  • Gameplay-wise, everyone in this house wants Claudia and Jacob to have another baby. Jacob has reached his IFS of 2, Claudia's is 4, so she's not quite there. Story wise though, I just do not get the feeling that either of them genuinely want another child. The house is full and they both seem so content with their two girls that I don't see them wanting to disrupt that. It's much the same feeling that I'm getting from Ethan and Maia, though I'm going to wait until River is a little older before I decide that for sure. Likewise, I'm not closing myself off to the possibility of Claudia and Jacob having another one but I'm 99% sure they're done.

16 comments:

  1. Their family really seems complete with their 2 girls. But it's just like Jacob said, they might change their minds when Daphne starts school.
    I think it was a wise decision not to mention Rebecca to Megan in a conversation about kids, I'm pretty sure some one wouldn't survive that, lol!

    I loved the cabin when you posted it on N99 months ago, and I'm still completely in love with it!
    The family seemed to have had a great time, I hope they do it again when Iris is a little bit older and can enjoy everything as well.
    It was nice of them to ask Liam to come along, and I was glad he accepted, spending time with his granddaughters is always nice.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I never say never with my Sims and their breeding (they've proven me wrong so many times!) but I do think Jacob and Claudia are finished. I want to keep the Kirby name going though, so I guess either Daphne or Iris will have to have their future spouse change their name and not the other way around.

      Heh, Rebecca's surrounded by people who want her to start popping out babies! Trent and Megan want another grandkid and Nathan's secondary is Family, so he's keen to start a family as well. I'll deal with that in her next update, because she's really not ready to become a mother yet!

      It was lots of fun to have these guys go visit this cabin at Three Lakes. Visiting the other lots made me want to make over the whole mountain hood though - parts of it are so ugly!

      Thanks for reading!

      Delete
  2. I really thought Claudia was pregnant, eating food, napping on sofa. So I'm surprised they aren't planning to have more but I do think that the girls fit them well. Poor Rebecca, pressure of adulthood and peoples opinions. I think Nathan's matter but hopefully hers matter to him too. The cabin looked great! Loved it back on n99 too! I only played mine once was thinking I need to send the milletts back to it once things have settled.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No, no more babies for these two, at least as far as I can see. I think it's been a while since I've had a family with only two kids, so this might be a nice change, lol!

      Nathan's a traditionalist, so he'd want to get married before having any kids. He might start nagging about that but it would still probably buy Rebecca another couple of years before he'd want her to seriously consider parenthood. She's quite career-focused at the moment.

      Oh, your cabin was lovely too! The Milletts have some things they need to get in order before they think about a holiday though, I guess!

      Thanks for reading!

      Delete
  3. Hi, do you know where you got Iris's crib from? I love the pink/purple theme, it's so cute! Also, I was kind of worried that Liam was going to die, with all the mentions of him getting older and stuff, but I'm glad he's still around. I really like when the grandparents get to spend some time with their grandkids, so seeing him on vacation with the girls was really sweet. :]

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Iris's crib is from the Mere Folly set at Parsimonious and that particular recolour is also from Parsimonious. It's a little too pink for Iris but she's not old enough to express a real preference yet anyway!

      Liam doesn't get much play sometimes, so I wanted to put him in the spotlight for a bit. He married into the hood before I was giving much thought to the townies and he's suffered a bit for that. He's a good grandpa though!

      Thanks for reading!

      Delete
  4. Two seems quite perfect. I was hoping that they weren't pregnant again, strangely enough. I've been wondering about Rebecca too but she still has time. Though with a mom like Megan, she might already be considered a spinster.

    I can't wait to see what kind of athlete Daphne will be.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Two will be nice in terms of my population control as well, lol! Rebecca is 8 years younger than her sisters and seeing Claudia still has the luxury of pondering whether she wants another child, Rebecca definitely has plenty of time ahead of her. Megan was 24 when she got married and Rebecca is 28 and isn't even making plans yet, so her mother would be getting impatient!

      Watching what Daphne does as she grows up is something I'm definitely looking forward to.

      Thanks for reading!

      Delete
  5. What a nice vacation for them! I love the cabin--it's gorgeous! It's too funny that Daphne would have rather stayed in a tent. :)

    I can certainly understand them feeling that their family is just the right size--it will be interesting to see if they roll a baby want later or if there's an oopsie. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I can imagine someone with a job like Jacob really needing a vacation. And kids, huh? Daphne's lucky her mother or grandfather would be more than willing to take her camping another time.

      There's always the chance of an oopsie, even on BC! But Jacob and Claudia feel like they're done, so as long as I have anything to do with it, they will be. I don't know where they'd put another kid anyway! I have no idea how I managed with Claudia, Victoria and Rebecca.

      Thanks for reading!

      Delete
  6. Oh I remember that awesome cabin you built for the forum project. If I had remembered, I would've asked if you could share it when we were all sharing lots LOL. I haven't even used mine yet. The only family that's really interested in camping is way too large to fit in that one bedroom cabin I did.

    So nice to see that they got to enjoy their vacation. Daphne is too cute with the swing and the log rolling. I thought with Claudia's lazing around the vacation home was a sign that she was pregnant, too. But their 2 girls are sweet and they rarely have enough time together as is. So I can see why they wouldn't want to change it just yet.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LOL, oh, your Hu family? Yeah, I guess one bedroom wouldn't quite be enough for them! I might see about uploading this house one day. Anyone who downloaded it would have to get the TSR windows first. I had to use cheats to place them and I'm not sure what the house would look like without them.

      So funny that more than one person thought Claudia might be pregnant and it didn't even occur to me...even though I use that sort of behaviour all the time to indicate a pregnancy! But yeah, I think she and Jacob will be sticking with just Daphne and Iris. They seem like a perfect little family as they are.

      Thanks for reading!

      Delete
  7. That is an awesome cabin. I would love to have a cabin like that, would bet sleeping in a tent any day.

    They are such a cute family. I love the last picture of them, sitting together on the floor.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you and I'm definitely with you there! I've slept in a tent once and will never do it again. I'm not outdoorsy in the slightest.

      I love the Kirby family. Jacob and Claudia get so much joy from their daughters. It's really nice to see. :)

      Thanks for reading!

      Delete
  8. What an awesome place to spend holidays! I love this family! Claudia and Jacob are so loving, Daphne is so adorable, Iris is a little treasure... This story is a cuteness overload!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Claudia and Jacob got to have a pretty nice getaway at the holiday house, didn't they? And I just love the Kirby girls. I think I've said before that I never thought Claudia or Victoria had any chance of ending up with such cute kids!

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

      Delete