Ravelo Portrait & Smustling

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:

Ravelo Family Portrait
Simon, Lauren, Marlee, and Ethan Ravelo

Here’s an alternate one:

Another portrait

Those crazy kids.

Marlee & Ethan

I just thought this was cute. I love the new toddler outfits!

Marlee tickles Ethan

(Smustling on page 2)

21 thoughts on “Ravelo Portrait & Smustling

  1. Haha! Great update Jen, I love the smustling pics! My sims never seem to smustle all at the same time, so it looks odd o.O heh

    Looking forward to reading more!!
    Kath

  2. …I was so sure the toddler was female.
    I was like, my god, her outfit is so cute.
    And I adore the fall theme.
    It makes me feel all cozy

  3. What great pictures! I love the family portrait idea, I really have to start doing those. I’ll try to do them with my Crystal Springs families. :D

  4. Very sweet pictures :D
    I love see my sims doing the smustle dance, here in Portugal that dance have another name is the ” Macalouca” O.o
    Well keep on with the good spirit of Autumn, it´s almost my birthday too, day 5 this month!
    My Good i´m getting old !!
    Love everthing you made Jen, kisses and bye bye!! ;}

  5. Well I can still do the hustle …yup I was a disco baby and it brings back memories, when I was small oh ’bout 10 or so me and my older sisters who were already in their late teens , early 20’s would do the hustle.

    I laugh everytime I see the Sims do it because you are exactly right; some moves do mimic the ‘Thriller’ video.

    Love that fall foliage as a backdrop for your family photos, they all look so good! I just wish the new toddlers sweaters would have come with optional gloves but eh they are still cute :)

  6. Oh BTW forgot to mention that I did another chapter for Domino’s family. I ended the cliff hanger :lol:

    Now I need to get to playing my Moonlights and update their story also OY!

  7. Haha yes i did see that “thriller” video and i have to say, it does seem quite similar. My friends and I were talking about the dance the other day, and looky, its so famous its made its way to a sim dance. I cant wait until i get nightlife..the toddlers are such cuties..awwww.
    I can’t wait until the next update! P.S. Where are my bonus points? :D -Eva

  8. I love all of the pictures, especially the autumn portrait of the whole family! The smustling pics are cool, I can NEVER get all of my sims to do that at one time!

  9. Here in Kansas everything’s still bright green! Where I am anyways. Usually it’s more colorful by this time. I can’t wait until I get the expansion pack! It looks so cool from what I’ve been seeing on simmer blogs! I hope it’s as good as it looks.

  10. Gorgeous Jen, I love it :) – ( I wonder why I can’t post on your other entry… I think my stupid browser has a glitch which only enables me to post on your most recent entry!!). Anyway, so this is for your other Ravelo update too – I LOVE YOU FAMILY (ok, guess you’ll have enough of that too soon *g*). But honestly, I do. And Marlee (sweet name!) is of course welcome to join the snow-white-club *lol* – only, she probably should wear brown contact lenses then :). So you wrote you have 4 kids already, I hope following kids might have also blonde hair? At least one of them? That’s why I am not going for the ‘have 10 kids’ want in gen 4 (although both Damian and Lauren are family sims) – my three girls all look the same basically! Need some difference in hair finally *g*. Hope to read more about the Ravelos soon! Keep going :)

  11. I love seeing Nightlife photos. I don’t have it yet, but I definitely want to get it when I can! I’ve just read through your latest entries and I love the Ravelos.

    I also thought of Thriller when I looked at that first photo of the Smustle! lol :D

  12. Nice pics Jen! I love the family pictures! I’m always taking family pics of my sims. But your seasonal ideas is a great one! And nice smustle pictures too! It looks like Joe Carr and that gray haired lady are Smustle Experts!

  13. If Joe and Lady Gray-Hair are Experts, Benjamin Long is an anti-expert. Poor guy. He doesn’t have the spirit… of SMUSTLE!
    That definitely looks like the Thriller dance. My mom used to (probably still does) know how to do that dance step for step. Is it okay if I print these pictures out and show them to her? (I’m still NLless. Maybe I’ll see if anyone is selling it after Christmas on e-bay. Yarr.)
    The little hat Ethan is wearing is just so adorable. Aww! If the clothes he’s wearing are from NL, I think I like the new toddler clothes, too. :D

  14. Hey, everyone! Thanks for the comments! I’m hoping I’ll get a chance to write the next update tonight. Last night my sisters took over my computer to play their Sims families, so I didn’t have much time to work on it. I did play for a little bit, though, and kid #6 was born! So the Ravelos are truckin’ along.

    Scally, to answer your question about the Hustle, it was popular in the late 1970s-early 1980s, when disco music was all the rage (at least it was here in the States — was disco popular in other parts of the world, too? I have no clue). I think it really exploded when the movie Saturday Night Fever came out. I don’t remember the Hustle line-dance moves, so I don’t know how much of it it (if any) was incorporated into the Smustle. The Thriller dance moves (from the 1983 Michael Jackson video) are easy to spot, but they have nothing to do with the original Hustle. Have I confused you now? :lol:

  15. Gorgeous pictures! :D Want more Ravelooooo!
    Re: disco, yup! It was a world wide thing. It actually lasted a bit longer in Sweden, because ‘disco’ turned into the word for dances organized by the middle and high schools even into the 90s.

  16. Ah, thanks much, Jen! I dunno if the Hustle hit it off here in NZ or not, I wasn’t born til 1982, but I think my mum went gaga over Saturday Night Fever!

  17. Sadly, disco is still popular in parts of Eastern Europe. I’m sure they’re all about the hustle. Love the clothing for the fall picture. I’m ready for fall!!!

  18. I love those snaps…

    I have a question. Where on earth did you get that monarch butterfly costume? I’ve seen it elsewhere but I can’t find it. Could you possibly send it to me?

    keely.weiss@gmail.com