Chapter 2.7 | Rules for this challenge | Chapter 2.9
Generation Two: Brown Appearance: Brown hair, unkempt clothing style Traits: Loves Outdoors, Loner, Child of the Island Aspiration: Beach Life Occupation: Conservationist House Goal: 20,000 worth
Winterfest dawned with some huge changes. First of all.. we had STAIRS! The house upgrade that I mentioned planning for was complete - or, mostly so. The building was done, at least, but there were some glaring things missing - like furniture. All our funds had gone into the building, though, so we were going to need to spend some time saving to finish out the furnishings. But, first, I'll give you a little tour of the changes:
Alexi's office was expanded, so it wasn't just a glorified closet anymore, and he had room to store some of his artwork, too.
The deck overlooking the ocean was official - you can see we moved the Master Bedroom upstairs, as well. And yes, it's pouring - the weather for Winterfest isn't exactly ideal - but this is Sulani, and winter means storms.
The front of the house also got a major upgrade with another deck - this time, overlooking Alexi's beloved water garden.
And, finally, we had a major surprise for Kali. Today was her birthday, and we'd set up a room of her very own upstairs. She even had her first journal, sitting on her desk, waiting for her first words.
Apparently, Kali had forgotten it was Winterfest, too, and squealed in joy to find the tree had been moved into the living room before she got up.
Before long, Jaye was up, too, and Alexi watched both the kids, who were thoroughly excited for the day - while I worked on yet another surprise in the kitchen.
When the surprise cake was ready, I called Kali, and she came running.
We all gathered around Kali's Strawberry cake and sang the birthday song as Kali blew out the candles. She got them on the first try, too!
Then, because it was her birthday, Kali and I cut a couple thick slices of cake and sat down while she chatted excitedly about school starting tomorrow. I have to say, her new wardrobe looked great on her, and I was glad to see her growing up. She had gained the Art Lover trait, and I couldn't wait for her to find her Winterfest gift!
Kali offered to clean up the dishes, since she could actually reach the sink now - and I tried not to watch for broken dishes while she worked. I swear, the sponge is as big as she is!
Then, I brought out the decorations for the tree, and we all started working on setting it up. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Jayce eyeing the vase on the shelves, and quickly found something else for him to do.
Finally, he settled down and sat quietly while we finished the tree and I scattered the presents around the base of it.
Because it was her birthday, we let Kali go first. Jayce was impatient, but was more than happy to "help" with the ribbons and discarded wrapping paper.
Then, it was Jayce's turn, and he was immediately captivated with the action figure in his present... which gave us time to set up Kali's present in the new activity room.
Of course, she had to try out the art table immediately, and Alexi shuffled Jacye off to his room so he wouldn't interfere.
This gave me a chance to take a much-needed nap in the middle of the day.
By nightfall, the kids were still busy with their gifts - and I woke up to give Alexi some time to go feed his fish. We had installed lights in the garden, luckily, and it looked amazing at night, now.
I made my last grilled meal for my aspiration - a special Fruit Cobbler for Winterfest, and everyone rushed to be the first to get a slice.
The merry sounds of laughter drew everyone outside to meet Father Winter - who had showed up in his swimwear, much to everyone's surprise!
He quickly added some presents to the pile under the tree, and went back outside to hand out the rest of the gifts.
Kali's gift was a new virtuoso violin, and I quickly made notes to sign her up for lessons.
Alexi hadn't expected a gift of his own, but Father Winter insisted.. and I think he was really excited by the gift....
... because he immediately went to set it up in his office. Now that his painting skill was getting so good, I should have thought to get him a real easel myself! After we tucked Jayce in, I sent Alexi to the kitchen for yet another surprise.
I'd made him a decadent coconut cake - his favorite - for his birthday, and we had a quiet celebration downstairs. Wow, it still feels weird to call this the "downstairs" - it's just been "home" for so long, and it's not like the house I grew up in ever had stairs. We were really moving up in the world!
Alexi was exhausted, since he hadn't had a nap, so I offered to tuck in Kali in her brand new room, and she was asleep practically before I could pull the covers up. It had been a long, busy day... and I stumbled off to the downstairs bathroom - since the upstairs one didn't have any fixtures yet - then practically crawled back up the stairs to my nice soft, familiar bed. Even with the nap, the new life in me sapped most of my energy, and bedtime was always the best time of the day. Any day now, however, our new baby would arrive... and I was so excited to meet them!
Chapter 2.7 | Rules for this challenge | Chapter 2.9
