Dog paddle

Round 34: October 2040 (Spring)

last update/next update

Jonas Lachance is 62, Tatiana is 57 and Brendan is 17. 

(Corbin and Pamela are 55, Dominic is 30, Leslie is 29, Jack and Audrey are 28, Edward and Lucy are 25, Georgina is 16 and Oscar and Stella are 8 months old.)

Narrated by Jonas Lachance

Tatiana and I became grandparents in February, when Dominic and Leslie welcomed Oscar and Stella into the world. We were so thrilled to become grandparents at all and then to get two grandchildren at once was almost too much!

Oscar’s middle name is Liam and Stella’s is Arianna, after Tatiana’s mother and stepfather. Tatiana was very touched by that gesture, I know.

We are really enjoying this new phase in our lives. Oscar and Stella are both such sweet babies. 

Leslie and Dominic have been very lucky in that neither baby has been too troublesome. They’ve had the usual sleep deprivation that is inevitable with infants but nothing you wouldn’t expect with twins. 

We were very quick to offer our babysitting services and we love having Oscar and Stella to ourselves for a little while.

I think Brendan enjoys the opportunity to play uncle for a bit as well. He’s very good with little children. 

It’s nice to know we can give Dominic and Leslie some much needed recharging time as well. 

We can’t wait for more grandkids. Our eyes are on Audrey and Jack next.

Every time they come over, I promise myself I won’t say anything about starting a family but somehow, the topic always comes up anyway!

I don’t think I’m going to get any hints from them though. Jack is extremely private and he’s not the type to share that sort of information.

Left to her own devices, Audrey would probably tell us if they were trying but out of respect for Jack, I know she won’t. 

They’ve both said they want children eventually, so I think we’ll just have to wait for the inevitable announcement. 

Tatiana and I are both so relieved that Brendan seems to have grown out of his moody phase. It was making him quite difficult to live with at times!

He got worse when Liam died. Brendan, understandably, took it pretty hard but after a while, he began to gradually pull himself out of the funk he was in. 

He’s back to what we always thought of as his real self now. I was afraid we’d never see him again! We can actually talk with him again, which has made things so much more pleasant for all of us. 

Brendan is set to go off to college next year and with the end of this year not far away, it’s been the main topic of conversation around here. He earned a 54 on his SAS which gained him admission pretty easily, though not quite enough for any scholarships. He missed out on those by just one point.

Brendan wants to join the SCIA when he’s older, so he’s looking at Political Science as a possible major. It’s not something we would have chosen or even something we expected Brendan to choose but he’s very enthusiastic about it. 

We’re happy as long as he is. It’s hard to believe we’ll be alone in the house soon though!

Brendan and Georgina are still together and she comes around here quite a lot.

She’s shy, just like Brendan and is also planning on heading to university.

She won Tatiana over right away when she told us she wanted to become a teacher.

She’s a year younger than Brendan and I have to say, they seem to be a good match.

I’m not positive their relationship will survive the year apart though. Georgina’s mother is quite strict and she won’t want her daughter traipsing up to the university to visit Brendan all the time.

I'm sure Brendan will visit but he’ll be in an all new, exciting environment and it might be tempting for him to just stay up there more often than not.

Stranger things have happened though, I suppose. Tatiana and I were away from each other while I was in college and we made out okay. We’ve been married for 31 years now.

And then of course, there’s Lucy and Edward. They just got engaged, so they’re obviously doing well too. 

I’m sure you can imagine how excited Tatiana and I are for them at the moment. They’ve set a date now and we’ve got a wedding to look forward to in December next year.

They shared some early planning details with us over lunch recently, with Lucy’s parents.

They want to choose a venue first, which both sets of parents have offered to pay for. 

It’s likely to be their biggest expense and we’d rather they put that money towards a deposit on a house. 

I was worried they’d refuse us but they very graciously accepted. They can consider it a wedding present, if they like.

It was great to catch up with the kids, as always, but it was also nice to get to know Pamela and Corbin a bit better.

Tatiana has worked with Pamela for years, so they’re very well-acquainted, while I’d met her a few times.

I’d never met Corbin before though, despite our wives being so close. 

He seems like a nice man and he likes Edward a lot too, which wins him some points with me.

We’ll be family soon enough, so I’m glad we all get along.

Extras:

Tanja was extremely awesome a few months back and rebuilt a pseudo-Claudette for me. I love this shot of it where you can see a bit of the upper floor. I originally got the restaurant from the Exchange and seeing that's gone now, I had no idea how I was going to get it again. I told her not to worry too much about the decor, as Sophie will redecorate once she takes over. I haven't done that yet but it's lovely looking and totally playable as it is, so I'm not in too much of a hurry!

Also, I always thought Lucy was a clone of Pamela but I snapped this picture of them at lunch and maybe not? Different nose, different eyes. Mind blown. 

Notes:

• Title is from Dog Paddle by Modest Mouse.
• Catch up with the Lachance kids! Do you know how desperate I am to age up Stella and Oscar? I am dying to know what they look like!
• I'd have to go back and check the wedding post to see if this is new but Audrey has a baby want! Jack doesn't...but I'll wait until I get around to playing them to see if I'm going to listen to his nonsense. ;)
• You may notice some of my sims gaining freckles. Tatiana, Jonas and Brendan all have them but they are quite subtle - even more so because they're all quite dark. But I'm using a genetic system for freckles now (which allows for lots of freckles, some freckles and no freckles), so I'm adding some to some sims in accordance with those rules. I'll link to the Sim Daily post where I read about it if I can find it again!
• Yeah, no one was eating at lunch. You can blame EA's slightly buggy restaurant system! I could not get all six of them to sit down, although I have done so before (in this restaurant even) with no problems.