This modern villa houses three generations and two families.
Let me give you a brief who-is-who. Left to right, we have Dennis Kim, an Elder who in TS2 would be a Family Sim. In TS4, he has the aspiration of "Successful Lineage". Next to him in the back row is his daughter Alice, the lady with the black hair. Alice wants to be "Painter Extraordinaire". In front of her you see her mother-in-law, Vivian Lewis. She, too, is an Elder, and her aspiration revolves around having a Big Happy Family. Her son Eric is Alice's husband. He sees himself as a Mansion Baron (a "Fortune Sim", you could say). Alice and Eric's daughter Olivia has inherited her Dad's looks and her Mom's affinity to art: Her aspiration is "Artistic Prodigy".
First things first: Olivia does her first homework athe dining table, helped by her Mom and Dad.
Vivian loves to watch cooking shows on telly.
Sometimes her son joins her. Nobody here has a job, by the way; the household is wealthy enough, and they don't seem to be needing jobs to achieve their goals.
After a nap, Dennis wakes up hungry and has a burger.
Eric and Alice love each other very much.
The first homework this morning was already in Olivia's inventory (presumably from the previous week - which I of course never played). This Monday after school, Olivia has to do today's homework.
She thanks her Dad for his help with a big hug.
Dennis has discovered the Bonsai tree and shapes it on his own initiative.
Up on the third floor, Alice is at her easel.
Olivia and her Granddad have a chat before she has to go to bed.
Vivian starts Tuesday morning with a set of exercises. She knows how important it is to keep fit, even more so at her age.
Olivia is a rather independent little girl and well capable of getting her own breakfast of cereals, while her parents are still asleep and her Grandma and Granddad are busy elsewhere in the large house.
It is a beautiful sunny day, and Dennis has lunch with his son-in-law on the patio.
Alice is pregnant, as Eric has just found out!
Maybe it was the big news that made him pay less attention when he was cooking - he sets the kitchen stove on fire (but manages to deal with the flames on his own).
Olivia does her homework on the patio today. It seems far too nice a day to be stuck inside the house in the afternoon, after already having spent all morning stuck at school.
The family members often show wishes about each other, such as "be friendly with..." or "be funny with...". Olivia loves cracking jokes to her Dad.
On Wednesday, Olivia has breakfast on her own yet again. The adults in this household have very irregular sleeping patterns, and I leave them largely to it, since the little girl does not seem to mind spending the hour before school on her own.
Eric has some interesting traits: he often wishes to "rummage the trash", and has even done it on his own initiative.
This looks worse than it is - Alice throws up only once during her pregnancy, if I remember correctly.
The evening is so mild that Olivia can have her tea out on the patio. Granddad is keeping her company, reading to her.
Alice, visibly more pregnant than the day before, is too hungry to wait for a properly cooked meal and has a quick microwaved dessert instead.
It is Thursday morning, and today, Grandma Vivian makes breakfast with Olivia helping.
It is much nicer having company with one's meals, isn't it?
Look at the size of Alice's belly now!
Later, Dennis decides to clean the toilets. There are 3 or 4 bathrooms in the house.
In the evening, Olivia and her parents watch comedy together. Alice is now nearly always hungry.
Friday morning, Dennis is the first to get up - his bladder wouldn't let him sleep any longer ;-)
Today, it is mother and son who enjoy a meal at the breakfast bar in the kitchen.
Alice is still asleep when the game informs me that she has just entered labour.
She manages to get downstairs to her husband, but has to stop every now and then with the pain.
Meanwhile, Olivia gets off the school bus and announces that she is now an A student.
Her little sister, Ophelia, is born just before 4.00 this afternoon.
With the exception of Dennis (who is asleep upstairs), the whole family gathers in the living room to welcome their newest member.
Eric makes sure Olivia has no reason to be jealous of the new baby.
Everybody takes turns in cuddling little Ophelia, changing her diaper and generally looking after her.
It is Saturday, which means Olivia does not have to go to school. Instead, she and her Mom have a cosy breakfast on the patio.
Later, Grandma Vivian reads to her older granddaughter while the baby is asleep.
Remember Olivia's aspiration? Part of being an "Artist Prodigy" was to buy her an activity table, where she spends much of the weekend drawing.
Dennis is a devoted grandfather, as has been obvious all week, not just today (Sunday).
I'm afraid not much happened that day; I left the family members largely do what they wanted, but still made sure they fulfilled wishes such as talking to each other. Sunday evening, Ophelia is "aged up" by her Dad. I don't know whether this would have happened autonomously - I simply did not want to end the week at this household without seeing my first growing up from baby to child in TS4. The game told me on Sunday afternoon that it was Ophelia's birthday today, but then nothing happened. So, before the day was over, I had Eric initiate the process.
Ophelia has ended up with the same hair as her sister, but otherwise looks more like her Mom, while Olivia resembles her Dad.
Nearly there! I have one more household to play in TS4 before I'll get back to New Maximiliania :-)