disclaimer.. this post is image intensive, brief nudity, and a swear word or two. enjoy

I’m ashamed to say Pandora it’s been a YEAR! wow a whole Sim Year, give or take a season, since I’ve last written in my diary. So much has happened it’s unbelievable. As I write this, Riverview is gearing up for the Summer Season. When we last left off it was Winter.

Typical Winter weather in Riverview last year. No snow days like the previous year and per usual the kids spent a lot of time at the Winter Festival, enjoying the ice skating and snowboarding. Even Hartford played out in the snow.

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Winter just so happened to be the same time that Mariah went into labor!. If you recall I gave birth to Conn,years ago (ok technically decades), right after the Gift Giving Party.

BABIES BABIES BABIES! yes intentional emphasis on the word BABIES! Mariah didn’t give birth to one baby, not two babies, but THREE babies. Triplets. OMG! As a doctor, now Neurosurgeon, I’ve delivered my fair share of babies during residency; however, never triplets. Mariah and A wanted me present when the babies were born, so off we all went to the hospital.

2 boys and a girl! A and Mariah named them: Kodiak, Fairbanks, and Jeanu (the girl).

Ok I recall hearing from somewhere, and no I don’t remember where,: never let them outnumber you. Them being babies/toddlers; you being the adults. One word: TRUTH.

3 screaming babies, albeit cute; 1 toddler, also cute; spells exhaustion. Everyone in the house is exhausted. Cribs were placed in every available space. So in addition to the nursery a crib was placed in mine and Pat’s room; the atrium upstairs; A and Mariah’s room. So the only people getting a decent nights sleep were Conn and Cosmo!

I must admit having the babies there definitely added joy to the family. Everyone participated in caring for them. Although everyone chipped in, Mariah and A still insisted on doing most of the work, seeing as how they are their children. I don’t think I’d ever seen my brother so exhausted and happy at the same time.

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I think everyone lived in sweats, grunge clothes, or pj’s. Conn escaped the madness of crying children by visiting and staying with his dad and step-mom. Wuss.

We all stole small moments to have to ourselves as well. I do not recall Conn being so exhausting, but then again he was one. We are talking about 4! Patterns and I stole moments whenever possible, including bringing Mark along for date night; and letting him watch movies with us at night at home.

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This went on for too many Sim MONTHS! stolen dinners, movies, chats, SLEEP! Honestly I was tired of seeing Mariah in either work clothes or sweats. Honestly I think she’d started to ‘crack’. I mean lack of sleep does that to a person after a while.

Imagine my surprise when Pattern’s surprised the entire family with a vacation to Isla Paradiso! All he told everyone to do was to only pack summer clothes and beach wear; we were Island Resort bound. Sun and her husband had agreed to watch the babies; Mark would be spending the two week vacation with his mom Sunny. *How I love this guy!*

So the day arrived for us to fly out to IP. Paradise indeed. Prior to leaving I braided Cosmo’s hair, and Mariah went to the Salon and had her hair braided and beads applied. Said she was “going native”. I admit she looked cute with her hair braided.

First half of the vacation we stayed at this really ultra modern resort. The pool was definitely the best part. The Buffet left much to be desired; however we did love the fire pit and the hot tub too. The remainder of the vacation we stayed at a more island themed Resort which had a buffet that dreams are made of! It was amazing; almost every food item you can think of was on there. It was great.

can I just say POOL SLIDE! Man that is so lacking at the pool club back home in Riverview. Okay Okay laugh if you want; yes I was scared to go down the slide the first time. But after conquering that fear, I enjoyed the slide.

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SHOCKED is one way to put it. We went out to dinner at the Bistro one night; and guess who I saw. Arizona and Jasper. Pattern’s said it was his gift to me. What kind of family vacation would it be with my big sis Arizona. I cried a little.

Imma tell ya right now, IP was the best vacation ever. There was

Playing in the beach

Relaxing

Fun in the Sun

Snorkeling

Windsurfing

Waterskiing

Fishing

Boating! (the way Ballers do!- nah they were rentals)

Everyone did so good snorkeling we signed up for a Night Dive Session! at a group discount rate of course! We saw a Mermaid- how amazing

Of course we had to go back during the day and see if lightening would strike twice and it DID! we got to see the male Mermaid again. And this time Cosmo communicated with him. Boy is she brave.

And what would be a vacation with your boo without Romance and WooHoo!

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Now hindsight is 20/20. What I mean is, when I saw my sister I should have known something was up. Pat planned this “family” vacation for a little “R&R” especially since the birth of the triplets; when then were Ari and Jasper there? I mean I love my sis and all but THEY weren’t helping care for the triplets, my household was. But I didn’t question it. My sister was there enjoying the holiday with me.

One night while hanging late night at the pool, goofing around and flirting Patterns got all serious. *sorry I’m tearing up just writing this part* Pandora, he PROPOSED! Honestly I was living in the moment. I can’t recall his exact words; all I remember is thinking “damn another State proposed to in a bikini”; nah I was just really surprised and happy. Admittedly I’d been dreaming of being married, adding to my family and legacy. Would he, wouldn’t he, I knew Pat loved me and I loved him; I just didn’t… it was completely unexpected.

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Haha. The game was up. Family vacation for “R&R” my ass. This was a destination wedding and I’m the only fool that didn’t know it! Patterns had everything planned. EVEN MY WEDDING DRESS! He had rented a private beach that we as a family would have for the entire day and night.

I know some women would be mad they didn’t pick their wedding dress. But me, no. I was blown away. He had done all of this for ME. He’d gotten THE most important people in my life together on a beautiful island. The vacation was already one I would remember until the day I died; had just become the vacation I would remember beyond death.

Our wedding day shined bright, not a cloud in the sky and my family, sans the cousins, were there to witness me marry the love of my life. What’s to be mad about?

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Not necessarily mad but bummed. As they say “All good things come to an end”. It was sad to leave paradise, yet leave we must. The other newlyweds, A and Mariah, were missing their children and admittedly I was even missing the crybabies. So back to reality we went.

And reality it was. I was out one night at a club, and I could have swore I saw Tom Wordy. YES! my THE TOM WORDY! and sure enough it was him. He had the nerve to come by the house. Of course I had to let him know “I’m married now!”. I was nice about it though. I asked about him and his lady love. They were still together, and had 2 children. Said he was doing a concert in town and wanted to come by and see how I was doing. I let him know I was better than great and politely escorted him out the door. You had your chance buddy!

Once back from vacation, A and Mariah started aggressively house hunting. A had saved more than enough money to buy a nice home, not to mention he had his inheritance from mom and dad. He wanted to buy Mariah her dream house.

Actually a lot happened after vacation. Having long ago reached the pinnacle of the ghost hunter career and now with 3 toddlers to care for, A gave up his night job for a day job in the Science career. Mark started elementary school; gosh that brought back memories of Conn’s first day.

The day finally came for Alaska, Mariah, and the kids to move. Honestly I didn’t think I would be so emotional but I was. I mean, although A is my brother, he was more than that. He was my rock. He’s been there for everything in my life, and vice versa. He was both my mom and dad after my parents died; he was co-parent to me parenting Connecticut; he comforted me after the lost relationship with Tom; he walked me down the aisle for MY wedding. He is more than a brother, but I know they needed their own place.

So he now lives across the street, literally, from Ari and Jasper. Its across town but no hardship to visit.

That pretty much sums up the past Sim Year more or less Pandora. Sorry it’s been ages but we States have been busy.

As a matter of fact it’s now summer and the kids are out for a few weeks before school starts up again. So of course they are taking advantage of the great weather

One last thing…