The Vincis (C) - Round 13

Starring:

Caitlin Vinci, Elder Family Sim, 2nd LTW Raise 20 Puppies or Kittens (LOL)

Paolo Vinci, Elder Family Sim, LTW Have 6 Grandchildren

Leo Vinci, Adult Family Sim, LTW Become Captain Hero

Doyle Vinci, Teen Family Sim, LTW Graduate 3 Children From College

Mario Vinci, Child Family Sim, LTW Grow Up Well

Luigi Vinci, Child Romance Sim, LTW Grow Up Well


~*~*~*~*~

Last round at the Vinci house, things were crazy as usual. This house is never boring. Caitlin reached her lifetime want while Paolo found that it was harder to raise toddlers the older you got. Gina and Giovanni helped their parents out with the younger kids as much as they could. Mario and Luigi aged well into children, and Doyle aged well into a teenager. Gio and Gina eventually went off to university near the end of the round. Caitlin aged well into an elder (finally, her childbearing years are over, woot!), and everyone was generally content, as is the standard in this house. Let's check in on them this round, when Leo rejoins the household after graduating uni.

The houses in the Vinci house were constantly morphing due to the changing family dynamic brought upon by Caitlin and Paolo's constant procreation, but this time, everyone felt excitement and even relief to see the nursery torn out for good and an adult bedroom take its place. Leo now had a place to rest his head in his own, old home.






The first thing he did as soon as he moved in was to call Michelle Kearney, his first (and only!) love, so he could pop the question.




She said yes, of course, and joined the house, bringing $12,000 with her. Here are Michelle's stats:





Plus, she cleaned up quite nicely.

Michelle was now part of the madness that was the Vinci household, and Leo and his parents couldn't have been more delighted. He'd half-suspected he'd remain a bachelor his entire life, after remaining a virgin until he graduated college. But Michelle was the answer to all that, and she happily settled in to a life with lots of children running around, sweet elderly in-laws, and LOTS of grilled cheese.



Not wanting to wait, they got married in a very informal ceremony on the front lawn in their everyday clothes over a steaming pile of dead cockroaches. It was SOOOOOO romantic. :p




Leo was delighted to be back home. Home was his comfort zone, and he dove back into family affairs as though he'd never left. He'd missed his parents and set about renewing his friendships with Caitlin, Paolo, and his siblings.




A true family sim, he also took an interest in the welfare of his younger siblings. His parents were getting older, and Leo was more than happy to take over the more unpleasant tasks, like going through the tedious application process to private school.




With three adults in the house, it split up the responsibility into manageable chunks. Paolo cooked, Doyle gave the tour, Caitlin schmoozed, and Leo provided appetizing background music for their dinner.




With all of the Vinci children having been accepted previously, the whole affair was more for show than an application process. The headmaster knew that the Vinci children had always been valuable additions to Rosebud Academy, and he was sure this final generation would be no different.




There was definitely a little celebration going on that night in the newlywed bedroom. "I can't wait until we have kids of our own," Leo said wistfully, his poor attempt at pillow talk succeeding nonetheless.





Paolo and Caitlin found that with two more adults in the house and children who were getting older and more self-sufficient, they had more time to focus on their own romantic relationship...even if it did take place in some unlikely places.




I mean, so what if they had a fascination with bathrooms? They were as in love as ever.





With the house filling up again, Doyle decided it was time for him to follow the family tradition and head off to college at a fairly young age. He had already racked up a lot of scholarships anyway, so why postpone it?




Bye, Doyle; see you at uni!





In fact, Doyle left just in time to spare his parents the torture of three teenage boys in the house at the same time. That week was the birthday for the youngest and final Vinci twins.




Hahahaha, oh, Mario....



The boys chose their aspirations and decided what they wanted out of their future potential mates. Mario liked tough girls who didn't remind him of his mom, and Luigi only wanted the prettiest princesses.





Mario finally got his unfortunate skin tone issue solved and got a fancy new CC haircut since I felt guilty for being too stupid to fix him from a two-toned freak into a normal boy earlier.




As for their career choices...well, they were as opposite as they boys' aspirations.




True to form, responsible Mario got a job right off the bat. He wanted to get some experience in his future life career so he could really shoot up the ranks once he got back from college with the necessary degree.




Aaand, it looked like Leo would get his wish for children sooner than he thought when Michelle's belly popped into her new maternity pajamas.




When she popped again a few weeks later, the only major difference was one thing:



The teen boys knew they had to speed up their progress so they could get out and go to university before there was another crying baby in the house.


[[Author's Notes: I will say one thing about the ten kids ltw: it never allows a house to become boring. I still enjoy playing this house even though Paolo and Caitlin are elders because there's constant new blood in the home. This round was busy but not really difficult, as seems to be the usual. I honestly don't think I could have done the 10 kids LTW with any family but this one. Paolo and Caitlin are natural parents, and their kids have all been really well-behaved. Looking forward to seeing how Leo and Michelle's offspring turn out...and hoping they don't have her mouth. They should have some pretty green eyes, though, since Michelle and Leo both have them. A few bloopers for you...

Bloopers:
Michelle: My foot feels wet. Why does my foot feel wet? Is it raining? // LOL, nice outfit, Mario.So many things wrong with this: (1)They are cuddling and thinking about bathtubs. (2)They are horrendously embarrassing their children in front of the other kids on the school bus. (3)Even the dog is annoyed that they're blocking the sidewalk. ]]

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The Vincis (C) - Round 12

Starring:

Caitlin Vinci, Adult Family Sim, LTW Graduate 3 Children From College

Paolo Vinci, Elder Family Sim, LTW Have 6 Grandchildren

Giovanni Vinci, Teen Fortune Sim, LTW Become Chief of Staff

Gina Vinci, Teen Knowledge Sim, LTW Become Space Pirate

Mario Vinci, Toddler Family Sim, LTW Grow Up Well

Luigi Vinci, Toddler Romance Sim, LTW Grow Up Well

NOT PICTURED:
Doyle Vinci, Child Family Sim, LTW Grow Up Well


~*~*~*~*~

Last round, I was a spaz and completely didn't realize that Fraps wasn't running while I played this household, so there were no photographs. Brief summary of events: Birthdays! Doyle became a child, Gina and Gio became teens, and Paolo became an elder. Caitlin achieved her LTW, but her LTW didn't change; she did, however, become perma-plat. And finally, Caitlin gave birth to surprise twins Mario and Luigi, bringing their total number of children to 11. The twins aged well into toddlers. Let's see how this crazy house will do this round.

Caitlin started off the fall season full of delight. She'd achieved her lifetime goal. Not only had three of her children gone to college and graduated, more than that had and would. It was a happy season for her.





Paolo found that even though he got older, the rigor of child-rearing didn't ease up. It was a constant battle to make sure the toddler twins were eating healthily and learning all their skills.




He wasn't always successful, but the boys never did anything that was permanently damaging, which was a relief. After so many children, Paolo knew better than to worry about a little spoiled milk.





Doyle was a bit better off now that he was a child. Caitlin and Paolo were so proud of their "big boy," who could take care of most of his needs by himself...including baking himself head-sized muffins in his older sisters' left behind easy bake oven.





Caitlin and Paolo were especially appreciative of their truly "big" boy and girl, Giovanni and Gina. As the parents got older, the help of the teenagers in the house with child care really became less of a pleasant surprise and more of an appreciated necessity.




Giovanni even managed to help after he took an after-school job, managing to keep up his grades, reach the top of his teen career, AND help look after the younger kids. He didn't mind. His life was busy, but his parents had been so wonderful that he looked forward to being able to help them.




Gina, too, helped where she could. Paolo was the undisputed chef of the house, but she'd learned a few things from them. The family could always count on hot meals as long as Gina was there in the evenings.




Giovanni and Gina shared a special bond in this way. For some reason, they felt like the last of the "older kids" in the family... Doyle, Mario, and Luigi were all so little, and they were the last children of the family, so Gio and Gina felt more connected to their older siblings. The two of them shared a love of their hard-working and aging parents and forged a strong bond in the process.





All that being said, everyone in the house was relieved when the twins were set to finally grow up into children. A dual birthday was celebrated, ensuring plenty of cake for everyone.





Luigi grew up into a child that was such a good mix of both his parents facial features that he was utterly unique amongst the Vinci children.




Mario, despite his pale skintone, turned into quite a handsome boy who didn't seem to favor either of his parents in any particular way, except for the prominent jaw of his father and his eye color.





Paolo and Caitlin decided that, in order to celebrate the last of their children, they would remodel the house a little bit, or at least get some new furniture. The twins got a new set of bunk beds in the green room, along with all their toys, while Gio and Doyle were slated to share the blue room, complete with a study desk for their homework. The former nursery was to be Gina's alone, as the sole girl, with the intention of turning it into an office once she left for college.





The birthdays weren't over in the Vinci house, yet, though; they never seemed to be. Caitlin was finally joining the world of retirees.



She lost much of her youthful looks as an elder and chose just about the worst outfit ever, but part of that could be remedied.




With some new clothes and a new makeover, she resembled the truly happy mother of 11 that she was.




Paolo appreciated his newly gray-haired wife as well. Now it was time for the two of them to finally have a rest from the struggles of having young children and to start appreciating their golden years together, surrounded by their beautiful family.




Their family was not only beautiful, it was also ever-changing, a fact that Paolo and Caitlin had come to accept as the natural progress of things. Their beautiful and helpful older children were finally of the age that they were ready to move on and begin their own lives.






It was summer, and both Gio and Gina were applying madly for scholarships in preparation for the beginning of fall semester at Sim State. Both racked up an impressive array of scholarships and grants, ensuring that they would be in no financial duress at school...nor would they lean to heavily upon their parents for financial support.





It was a bittersweet day when the two teenagers headed off to school in a taxi. Paolo and Caitlin would miss them, but they knew that they'd raised their children right, and that was a great ease to their minds.





Thus, the Vinci family became a comparatively small unit of 5. It was the first time in memory that every single member of the household could fit at the same dining room table for dinner. Though Caitlin was outnumbered by testosterone, she still loved her babies like there was no tomorrow.




The twins behaved, frankly, like twins. They were always together, and their mannerisms were so similar that sometimes it was creepy. Conor and Liam had always been close and were still close, but Mario and Luigi demonstrated a level of mimicry for one another that was almost startling.





Caitlin and Paolo still retained close communications with their older children. Paolo, in particular, kept in touch with Willow, the lone adopted child of the Vinci family. Ever since she was a child, she'd stuck close to her adoptive father, and now was no exception.





The boys, too, became close. Even though Doyle was older, he still enjoyed playing with his little brothers, taking part in their block building and teaching them new things.




In fact, all three boys grew quite close. Doyle had to admit that even though his twin brothers were younger than he was, they weren't so bad to hang out with. Especially now that he was the oldest child in the house. He liked being the one they looked up to!





Caitlin and Paolo found that they appreciated their time together more than ever. For the first time in their lives, there were no crying babies waking them up in the middle of the night or screaming toddlers fighting to be let out of their cribs. Not only that, the chance of more babies was nil, so their romantic activities harbored absolutely zero risk.





Mario!spam. [[ I love that skintone, but it really is too light for this family.]]




Paolo and Caitlin loved their new more-laid-back lifestyle, but they didn't sink into elderly retirement and laziness that easily. After all, there was still money to be made to put the three youngest boys through college.




And there was homework and study skills to be learned! The boys hated doing their homework, but even though their dad was a bit older now, he didn't slack on the sternness when it came to school work. All three boys were put through the same rigorous study time that their older siblings had endured.




And, in truth, they had to admit that the study time paid off. One of the proudest days of Mario's life was when he came home with an A+ to show Paolo, the result of all those hours diligently doing homework under his dad's watchful eye.





The final event of the season was a big one: Doyle was finally about to become a teenager.




Caitlin knew the moment she saw his goofy, sweet, adolescent face that he would be a magnet for the girls, even if they mostly wanted him for a best friend. Her third-youngest was a shaggy darling.




As for Doyle, he had been contemplating family a lot lately, and he thought he might like to be just like his parents: starting a family with charismatic whiz in the kitchen who cared more about the simple things in life (like love and family) than material things like fancy clothes.




He even decided that he wanted to have more than a few children...and that he wanted them to be successful in life. Little did the freshly-aged teenager know that his life goals were precisely in line with what his mother had wanted to do since SHE was a teenager. Apparently, good parenting and family desires could be inherited.



[[Author's Notes: Whew! So this family has finally shrunken once and for all to a manageable size. Caitlin is finally allowed the right NOT to be a baby machine, and she and Paolo will never have to change another dirty diaper in all their lives. Doyle strikes me as adorably scruffy and sweet....the kind of boy that will have a million friends who are girls but will struggle for true love. Mario's skintone, though lovely, seems way too pale to be a combo of Caitlin and Paolo, so he may eventually get a new one in the future. I'll see. Vinci babyhouse is winding down, and I know I'm definitely relieved. Now we just have to work on that six grandkids want for Paolo!

Bloopers:
Your daddy really does care, sweetheart, he's just very tired from being a studhorse his entire life. // The green team. Caitlin looks outnumbered by males, doesn't she? // Huh. Never seen a sim lay a book down like that before. // Doyle's faucet-fixin' face. // That's right, scream at it. I'm sure it will help. // The triumphant face of one who has successfully fixed the faucet? No. The delighted face of a nerdy sim with 10 clean points who thinks mopping up puddles is fun. ]]

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