Dear Mom & Dad,

Even though I saw you just last week (and I’ll be seeing a lot more of you now that I’m back in Rosebrook), I thought I’d write to you about our senior year at the Académie. Whenever I get together with you guys, there’s always a million other people around, so it’s hard for us to have a nice, long talk. I’m selfish that way, you know. The other kids may be used to sharing you, but I remember what it was like to be the only kid for awhile, and sometimes I really miss it! Writing this letter lets me tell you all the things that I wanted to tell you about but haven’t gotten the chance to yet.

I don’t know what Trent told you in his last letter, but I spent most of my junior year and part of my senior year in a rather pathetic state. I was so sick of seeing my little brothers going out with their girlfriends all the time while I stayed at home, bored silly.

I was truly happy for them — don’t get me wrong — but you know me, I’m a hopeless romantic. I wanted to be part of a couple, more than anything in the world. I wanted someone to take me out to dinner and propose to me, like Trent did with Tristen. If I couldn’t have that, I would have settled for a fun fling, like Ethan and Kaylynn had. But it just wasn’t happening, so I moped around the house feeling sorry for myself.

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Hey Mom and Pop,

You guys are pregnant AGAIN? Whoa. I guess you’re getting a lot of mileage out of that Love Tub. (Sorry, I couldn’t resist.) Seriously though, congratulations. I’m looking forward to another little brother or sister I can torment. :-D

Actually, I think they’re doing most of the tormenting — one of them in particular — and I’m sure you can guess which one. But more on that later. I first want to reassure you that the new batch of Ravelo freshmen arrived safe and sound at ALT. To welcome them, we took them out on the town, filled them with espresso and other questionable beverages, dropped them off at Baguette Hill and let them find their own way back to the townhouse. Cady and Arielle made it back OK — only a few scratches and some dehydration, but Darren passed out halfway down the hill and was carried off by pack of prairie dogs.

I’m kidding, of course — Ethan made hamburgers and we all had a nice little dinner, the kind where everyone tries to talk at once. There were no questionable beverages, prairie dogs, or dogs of any kind.

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Kid #10 was born today! I just wanted to share since I probably won’t post that update in awhile (Trent’s letter is next, then maybe Marlee again for their senior year, then back to regular updates). I am happy to report that Kid #10 was a girl, so that makes 4 girls and 6 boys. Here’s a rundown of all ten kids:

1. Marlee – Young Adult, Family (5-9-2-5-6)
2. Ethan – Young Adult, Fortune (I rolled a new aspiration for him when he became a junior, and it’s perfect, since his Lifetime want is now “Become a Hall of Famer” and he has a 10 in Active!) (1-6-10-4-7)
3. Trent – Young Adult, Family (2-10-2-10-7)
4. Darren – Young Adult, Family (6-3-6-4-10)
5. Cady – Young Adult, Fortune (10-1-8-8-1)
6. Arielle – Young Adult, Popularity (5-9-2-5-6)
7. Ron – Teen, Family (6-3-9-5-7)
8. Johannes – Child (1-6-6-4-8)
9. Stephen – Child (6-6-9-4-7)
10. Leda – Baby

So far the only clone in the family is Arielle (clone of Marlee), so the “create a random Sim before birth” method seems to work pretty well. They are all very similar in appearance, of course, since it’s 1st gen, but I’m thrilled that they have such different personalities.

To see pictures of the kids (except for Stephen and Leda), you can visit this page of my Ravelo family tree on Tribal Pages. I know it can be hard to keep track of who’s who in these legacy families, so I try to keep my Tribal Pages family tree fairly up-to-date.

So anyway…bring on the “Have 20 Grandchildren” want! ;-)

Dear Kids,

I can still call you kids, right? At least until you graduate? You know, even though I have all these other kids to keep me occupied here at home, I miss you guys like crazy. Whenever I open the mailbox and find a letter from one of you in it, I do a little dance on the curb and clutch the envelope like it’s a winning lottery ticket (I’m sure neighbors think I’ve gone cuckoo).

I’d call you on the phone more often, but you know we have to watch our expenses, and the long distance bills are so high. Maybe by the time you guys are seniors I’ll be able to come visit you at school. Wouldn’t that be nice? I promise I won’t scold you for having a messy house or playing video games too much, because…well…I’m guilty of those things, too!

Hey, even Mom has to chill out once in awhile. Besides, SSX3 is highly addicting. Well, you’ve probably heard all the big news by now, but it seems like the few times we do talk, we never catch up on everything. That’s why I love those letters you send me — it makes me feel like I’m right there with you at school, laughing and crying and cramming for exams.

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Dear Mom and Dad,

Whatever Marlee told you in her last letter, don’t believe any of it. It’s all lies. Especially the bits about me. Unless she said I’m well-behaved and studying hard — then it’s true. Sophomore year was especially difficult for us, since we weren’t in the dorms anymore and didn’t have other students around all the time to write our term papers help us out. Sometimes I stayed up all night in the townhouse just studying away while Marlee and Trent dozed upstairs.

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Dear Mom,

We’re finally done with our freshman year at Académie La Tour. Woohoo! I mean…um…yippee? It was a tough year, full of homework, video games, homework, macaroni and cheese, and homework, but we all pulled through with a 4.0 and made the Dean’s List, just so you could be proud of us (though the scholarship money doesn’t hurt). I’m sorry I didn’t write to you more often — the year went by so fast. And since at ALT freshman year rolls right into sophomore year without so much as a cappucino break in between, I thought I’d better write you before the homework piles up again.

I’m sure you remember from my last letter that things started out pretty slowly here. We didn’t know anyone except each other, and there were so many new faces…it overwhelmed me sometimes.

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After I decided to have Lauren Ravelo go for the “Have 10 Kids” want, things changed drastically in my Nightlife Legacy household. Suddenly it wasn’t so easy to keep Simon and Lauren in platinum — they didn’t have as much time for dream dates or fulfilling their wants. Instead, their lives were taken up with the feeding and care of children, and in Simon’s case, skill-building and working as much as possible to bring in money. Since Pleasure Sims aren’t really into building skills or going to work, I was lucky if I could keep Simon in the green, let alone plat.

They were still a happy family for the most part; I had them eat meals together whenever I could to save money and keep their Social scores up…

“She gets that from you, right?”

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Here in Minnesota the leaves are slowly turning gold and orange, so I was inspired to do a Ravelo family portrait with an autumn feel to it. Marlee has a goofy expression, but I had a tough time trying to get everyone to look right (I wish I had the camera reward!), so I decided it was good enough. ;-) Following the portrait (and a few outtakes) are some pictures of “Smustling”, for those of you who were wondering what the heck it is. I think the word “smustle” is probably a combination of “Sim” and “hustle”; the hustle was a song and a line-dance from the disco era. I remember my mom doing the hustle!

Anyway, here’s the portrait:

Simon, Lauren, Marlee, and Ethan Ravelo

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