The Beaumonts (C) - Round 8

[[Apparently, I sucked at capturing family portraits in round 8. Bleh. Sorry, no photo.]]

Starring:

Alain Beaumont, Adult Family Sim, LTW Reach Golden Anniversary

Meadow Beaumont, Adult Family Sim, LTW Raise 20 Puppies or Kittens

Marc Beaumont, Infant Popularity Sim, LTW Grow Up Well

~*~*~*~*~

Last week at the Beaumont house, three new puppies were born: Gretta, Libby, and Chester. Also born was the first baby of the house, Marc Beaumont. Alain worked in the architecture career to support his family, and he used one of his bonuses to build a basement garden area for Meadow that was perennially green. Let's see how pups, kids, and parents do in round 8!

Alain, hoping to learn how to make some things for his now-infant son Marc, purchased a toymaking bench to keep in the basement with Meadow's garden, so he could work on his toymaking and keep her company while she raised her plants. His hard work was rewarded with a bronze toymaking badge.



Meadow still spent loads of time with their plants. After all, they were a single-income family, and they needed to economize as much as possible. Growing some of their own food helped make sure there was enough money to take care of dogs and children alike.



After all, Marc was a growing boy, and as if in proof of this, it was soon time for his birthday.



He grew up well into his toddler years with a fantastic personality: neat, outgoing, active, and nice, his only area of weakness was in playfulness. He was a surprisingly somber little boy.



Despite this, he was handsome and wonderful, and Meadow and Alain couldn't have been more proud or in love with their little boy. They couldn't wait until he'd gotten old enough to really enjoy doing things like fishing with his dad or playing with the dogs with his mom.





Before he could do that, though, he had a rather steep learning curve to face. Walking first. Fishing and playing later.




Alain was high enough in his career that he had more than two days off a week, and that helped out a lot around the house. Between the dogs, normal housekeeping and cooking duties, and taking care of Marc, Meadow had been struggling to find time for her hobbies. With Alain home, she managed to finally get her gold gardening badge, and her produce was as delicious as ever.



She could now talk to her plants, which really seemed to perk them up, but she wasn't sure what a plant might want to hear about, so mostly she talked about the weather. "It's a bit cloudy out today, but you don't have to worry about that. You're safe here in your little indoor sun room, where it's all nice and toasty and moist..."





Unfortunately, something seemed to have happened with the dogs while Meadow and Alain were distracted with the birth and aging of Marc. Cleo and Blix's relationship had devolved into a situation that involved active fighting, and Meadow and Alain couldn't allow this to go on. Not only was it disruptive to the other pets, they knew they couldn't have a dog who fought in the house with their tiny child.




Since Blix was the instigator, they felt they had no choice but to give him up for adoption. It broke their hearts, as he was their very first dog, but they had a child to think of now, and they couldn't take any chances. Meadow cried when the time came for the adoption service to pick him up, but after he was gone, the fights no longer occurred.




Happily, the pups grew up soon. Chester, Libby, and Greta became very gangly adult dogs...resembling their mother, Cleo, in coloration and facial structure, and their father, Darcy, in body structure. They were still young dogs, so Meadow thought they might grow into their looks.




They were very charming and well-behaved dogs, though, and though Meadow was fond of them, she knew that she had to let them go. There simply wasn't space for all those big dogs! Later that day, the three now-grown pups went off to find new homes.




Though Meadow had a hard time saying goodbye to ANY of her pets, she thankfully had other things to distract her. Marc had learned all the things toddlers learn in their youth, and it was time for another birthday for him.




He grew up into a handsome young boy with loads of potential. Meadow and Alain hated seeing their baby grow up, but they couldn't wait to see the sort of man he would become.



[[Author's Notes: I'm still getting the hang of this 20 Puppies or Kittens LTW. I don't know if any of this generations sims will achieve it because it really takes getting the hang of it to figure out how to get there. Pretty much all these little simmies do is skill in their respective hobby areas and take care of the dogs and Marc. Now that Marc is a child, I imagine he'll take up a hobby as well, being serious but outgoing. He can join Meadow and Alain in the basement garden working on his skills. Not much else to report. This is a pretty quiet house, despite all the doggies. :) No bloopers this round; stick around for Amber and Diego!]]