Branden

All posts tagged Branden

It was Branden’s birthday! My baby was growing up and going out into the world. I couldn’t believe it.

Deanne began to the special day by making waffles for everyone! And there wasn’t even a fire. How nice.

Though a fire would have been fun too.

As I sat munching my breakfast, I thought about what I could do as a birthday present for my youngest and most ambitious son before he went off into the world.

I remembered he’d been mumbling about wanting a rainbow gem for his favorite doll Glenda. Sure, he was about to graduate from high school, but who was I to criticize someone having a special doll? I decided I’d go out and find one for him.

So I headed out in the rain in my trusty souped up fire engine. Because I’m a great mom.

It shouldn’t be too hard to find a rainbow gem, right? Especially since I bought this nice guide to all the gems in town.

Well, that wasn’t it.

And that wasn’t either.

While I was away, the family had a nice leisurely Saturday.

Christof practiced soccer tricks. He’s such a sportsman.

\

Hetal and Caitlin got their dominoes on.

Branden was sweet on the kitties.

And talked to his “best friend.”

Deanne fished.

And caught us some plump juicy frogs! 
Those bring in a nice price at the consignment store. I’m not going to wonder about what people buy frogs for.

Erin took out the trash. I’m starting to like Erin.

She also had some pretty involved conversations with her “best friend.” I will say that my kids never get lonely. If they don’t have a friend, they just make one up.

I trucked back at dusk.

THERE ARE NO RAINBOW GEMS IN MOONLIGHT FALLS.

I don’t want to talk about it.

With the whole day wasted, we just had to offer Branden our love and a cake for his birthday.

He’s such a sweetheart that he didn’t seem to mind.

I don’t know about you, but I think he’s a hottie! Especially in that form fitting spandex.

Yes, he’s my son. I just appreciate what other people will be thinking when they look at him.

We sat down over cake and talked a bout Branden’s big plans now that he was going to go out into the world to make his mark.

Hetal of course wanted him to go into politics. She said there was a lot of money to be made there. Though I’m not quite sure what she’s talking about — she doesn’t bring home all that much money from her job.

Branden appreciated her suggestion, especially the money, but he said he had something else in mind.

While we older folks were talking about serious things, Erin scolded her “friend” Bungle. Apparently Bungle hates Deanne for some reason.

Then the kids got into an argument about who would clean up the dishes. I love my kids!

During all the shouting and commotion, I didn’t notice a newcomer to our private party.

Branden was dumbfounded when he saw her.

The unknown girl gave him a crooked smile. “Branden, it’s me!” she said. “I’m a real girl!”

“Glenda?” Branden gasped.

Branden dragged the girl out on the front porch to have a long talk.

Apparently it went pretty well.

They sure did look cute together. I really wish Branden the best.

I wanted to give the two lovebirds their privacy, so I decided to make a diversion.

Someone (*cough* Amhranai *cough*) sent me this potion, and I thought I’d throw it at Erin to see what it did.

Erin yelped and snorted a bunch of glowing green smoke. It was pretty fun to see.

And then she started doing magic! We have another witch in the family! I’m so proud.

Also I’m glad the potion didn’t turn her into a frog or something.

That talk with Glenda went very well, because she decided to move out with him. And that’s a good thing because I hope some strange girl didn’t expect to live with *us*.

He took the savings Hetal and I had set aside for the kids and got a small home for himself and Glenda. He also took Raspberry, Strawberry, and Plum with him. I’ll miss the kitties, but he’s very good to them.

It was rough saying goodbye to Branden. Hetal and I consoled each other by reminding ourselves of what a good boy we raised.

Hetal admitted that she missed the pitter patter of little feet.

I told her there was no way in hell I was having another kid.

But I’d love to practice.

I hope Christof was really interested in his homework.

Branden called every day after he moved out, so we got lots of news on how he was doing. His career is going fabulously! My boy is going to be a doctor!

Unfortunately, his love life hasn’t gone well at all.

Those girls just don’t deserve him, that’s all. Someone is going to be very lucky when they land my Branden!
———-
Thanks to Amhranai for the witch potion! Now our Gen 2 heir is a witch. I’m really looking forward to playing that.
Sorry I’ve been so long posting over here. I have a lot of gameplay stacked up now. In game, Erin’s just waiting on Allison’s LTW to age to YA and take over the challenge 
Seriously, there are no rainbow gems in Moonlight Falls, at least during the day when I was playing Allison. She now has a whole lot of gems, though, so hopefully the Wonderlands will not be so money-crunched, even with the cost of buying Branden a starter home.
I finally decided to cheat since Branden was leaving the challenge anyway. Turns out you can make an IF real in MasterController by going to Intermediate->Occult:Remove and removing the Imaginary Friend occult type. That turned her human and added her to the household. Then I added the occult type back, and she stayed human.
I let Branden use a friend potion on her and flirt her up to romantic interest, but then she decided to do something else after she moved out. Awww. And Lacey Boyles found someone else too.
At least Branden’s a paramedic!
And no fails. We’re on a roll :).

We are here at last! Who shall carry on the Wonderlands in Generation 2?

Branden and Caitlyn are the inborn witches, but I’ve decided that if the winner is not a witch, we will fix that with a witch elixir.

Remember, we’re looking for interesting faces!

Shall it be….

Branden

Good, Insane, Ambitious, Vegetarian
Favorite Color: White
Lifetime Wish: World-Renowned Surgeon

Christof

Athletic, Friendly, Vegetarian, Insane
Favorite Color: Blue

Caitlyn

Good, Insane, Cat Person, Great Kisser
Favorite Color: Green

Deanne

Clumsy, Angler, Insane, Animal Lover
Favorite Color: Yellow



NOTE: I posted the poll last night, and I now cannot edit it, but Deanne’s not eligible to be heir due to being a face clone. If she wins, I’ll do something fun with her and make the runner-up the heir.

Erin

Insane, Schmoozer, Perceptive
Favorite Color: Lime Green

The poll is in the sidebar. If you’re reading through a phone or can’t reach the sidebar for some reason, please leave a vote in the comments. If you vote in the comments, please say “I can’t reach the poll. This is a vote for…” someplace in the comment so that I know which votes to add to the poll count as opposed to the rest of us chattering about who we voted for :).

Thanks!

Jin called to check up on us after the party. I’m not sure, but I think she wanted to make sure that nobody was going to burn the house down. I mean, really? With me in the house? 
I did get to find out what had Hetal so mad that she missed her youngest kids’ birthdays.
I appreciate her wanting to stand up for her mother’s husband, even if the timing was a little bad.
Also, in the name of shameless gossip, Chauncey’s ex-fiancee has taken up with a college boy just out of high school. 
And I guess our pack of kitties really rubbed off on Jin because she has one of her own now!

Erin was spending more and more time hanging out with her “best friend” Bungle. When she talked about him, I just smiled and nodded. I mean, it’s not like it was unusual for people in this family to talk to things that weren’t there. I just hope she doesn’t forget to spend time with real people too.

Branden, on the other hand, seemed to know what she was talking about. He asked Erin a lot about Bungle. He seemed to want to know if Bungle knew where Glenda was. Glenda who? Wait, wasn’t that the name of his favorite doll when he was a kid?


Erin seemed to understand, though. She said she’d try to find out for him.

In less confusing news, Caitlyn was being very scholarly these days. Deanne was jealous, but not jealous enough to do her own homework.

She didn’t take it very well when Branden tried to be helpful and offered to help her with her math. Sometimes big brothers just aren’t appreciated.

Then, while Branden was cleaning up after breakfast, he saw something that made his face light up.

I don’t completely understand, but I think he found his old doll? I didn’t realize it meant so much to him.

There wasn’t much time to talk after that because the school bus arrived. For the first time *all* my children were headed off to learn.

With Hetal also gone to work, I got to have a peaceful breakfast at home. Alone.

The silence was golden.

Then I had to head downtown so that the mayor could give me a medal.

Pretty nifty, huh?


And while the medal wasn’t worth any money, it also came with a promotion!


Now that’s more like it.

I wonder what I should do with my new-found fame and fortune?

Not long after I got home and finished fixing the shower that Hetal broke, I got my first home call.

It was at the grocery store.


It was a very weird call, let me tell you. Much stranger that swearing gnomes. But we did get the clanker pinned down and shipped off for repairs.
When I returned, everyone was already home.


Caitlyn arrived home with her phone stuck to her ear. She can’t stop talking to some admirer.

Deanne has a new crush. She can’t stop talking about some Weaver fellow. I’m pretty sure he’s Ayden van Gould’s love child with that psycho chick Echo he was dating for a while.

I think Esteban may be a bit difficult for Deanne to catch, though.

Erin took an interest in our new stereo, which was a sort of housewarming gift from some people I’m pretty sure we don’t know. Hodginses, I think?

But she didn’t like the song that was playing.

Kitty break!

I got the kitties a new present. I don’t think they know what to make of it yet.

Everyone is back to being very responsible.

Branden in particular has been working hard on some kind of after school project. He’s hoping it will help him in his future career.


He hasn’t even been taking breaks to get something to eat.

I hear the project went very well, though! I wouldn’t expect anything else. Branden is such a hard worker.

Erin came and asked Caitlyn to read her a bedtime story.

Caitlyn is such a good big sister.

Erin went right to sleep. I swear that never happens when I do it!

Meanwhile, Deanne was hard at work at some kind of secret baking project. What could she be making?

It looks like we have another birthday coming up….

———-

No fails!

Note: I missed a fail in the last chapter and went back and edited it. If you don’t feel like going to check to see if you missed it, Branden peed himself at the party.

This is the last post before the heir poll. I’ll put that up shortly.

The big event in this post is that I discovered that the MasterController Reset Sim command is much stronger than the resetsim cheat, which is what I usually use. Branden’s IF doll wanted to “come out to play” when he was a child, and I pulled her out onto the ground while he was napping on a park bench at school. I didn’t know you had to pull out an IF *at home*. So Glenda disappeared, and I hadn’t been able to find any way to get her back. MasterController Reset Sim did it. I’m sure Branden wishes I’d figured that out a LONG time ago….

Oh, and well, Allison reached the top of her career, which would be far more exciting if that were her LTW. She only has rescued 10 people, and she needs 30. I missed several emergencies early on because I didn’t realize what a short amount of time you have to respond to them, and then she just hasn’t gotten a lot of rescue opportunities. It seems unlikely that she’ll be able to finish it, but I guess we’ll see.

Now that there are no toddlers to watch, I do get a little extra time for myself.

Sometimes I like to imagine I’m a submarine, looking out through tiny portal windows into the deep water.

Wow! They ought to warn you about water! It’s hard to breathe!

Caitlyn is spending a lot of time with the kitties. I’m so glad one of the children really understands what’s important in life.

I mean, when you look at these tender souls, how can you fail to love them?

Cat can see right into the depths of your soul.

Branden was the next of the kids to try to make peace with the refrigerator.

He told it not to feel so bad that the girls were ganging up on it. It’s hard for a guy to get a word in edgewise with so many girls around.

He suggested that the refrigerator join him and Christof for some guy time. The fridge could bring the snacks.

Erin slept sweetly in her new bad.

Until Christof and Branden showed up, trying to find the new bathroom.

It’s not that hard, guys. The door is behind you.

Today was Spooky Day, and it was time to party Wonderland style! I called everyone we knew and invited them to a big costume party.

Branden was really worried about what to wear, poor guy. His crush said she would come.

Hetal didn’t have nearly so much trouble.

Or Christof.

You could guess what Caitlyn was going to be, couldn’t you?


Deanne.

Strawberry particularly liked Erin’s costume for some reason.

Or maybe she just really liked picked on Erin.

Here came the first guest with some food to share! That’s a neat trick!

It turned out to be Larry Pierce. Branden was not impressed.

The chainsaw murderer costume turned out to be extra popular. I don’t want to know why.


I went for a different style. After all, I do my best to bring a bit of magic to everyone around me. Now where is that snack?

I was going to ask Larry if he brought any more treats when a screech went up from the kitchen.


Christoff set fire to a pot of macaroni and cheese. For heaven’s sake. We HAD enough food!



Everyone came running in their costumes from all over the house to stare and the flames and panic.

This was my chance to show my stuff. No magic ice spells here! I can put out a fire underneath some other girls armpit. I’m that good.

In no time, I had reduced the kitchen to a black smoking mess that was at least not on fire. Christof decided he was better off eating salad.

Vegetarians.

Everyone settled down to eat and chat. We know how to make a recovery here at the Wonderland household.

Except for Branden, who missed his chance to talk to his crush Lacey Boyles because he had to dash upstairs for a shower.

Well, it WAS a pretty exciting afternoon. I guess he got carried away.
At least Lacey had fun.

Well, of course the party was a hit. Tell me that this wasn’t the most creative entertainment you ever saw.

Absolutely everyone thought the party was beautiful, even folks who didn’t attend.

When the guests left, I decided to show Hetal some of my magic tricks.

Erin came upstairs to find someone waiting for her.

Or at least she told me she welcomed her best friend to live with us. I never saw the guy.

I’m just glad to know she’s making friends.

———-

Self-Peeing: 8 + 1 = 9
Fires in Home: 1 + 1 = 2

When I said a couple of posts back that we’d soon be reminded that this is an ISBI, this is actually what I meant :). I’m not sure how much I conveyed how hilarious this was while I was playing.

Unfortunately, Allison did in fact invite everyone she could, and they brought friends, and that caused the game to crash just as Allison put out the fire. So some of the shots are from when I played through the party without the fire.

Bungle is my first successful, non-glitched Imaginary Friend. I’m pretty amused, but I hear that pretty much everyone is sick of them after a while. Caitlyn and Christof didn’t receive IF dolls due to the mailbox being glitched. Deanne’s disappeared not long after she received it. So only Branden and Erin even had dolls in this game.

One more post. Then heir poll.

Now that I have the fireplace safely upgraded, it’s the favorite place for all the kitties.

They sleep beside it and play beside it.

I’m so glad I could do something to make the house cozier for them!

Before school, Deanne and Christof got up early to do their homework. Hetal and I didn’t do too bad with our kids, did we?

Erin played sweetly with her doll Bungle the whole time I was at work.

Which was great, because the babysitter stood on the front porch the whole time. I’m sure that coming inside is usually part of the job, isn’t it?

I passed the time at work upgrading my fire extinguisher.

The emergency of the day was a big one!

Sometimes half your job is calming down people who were never in danger.

It was a hard fire to stomp out. As soon as put the fire out one place, another blaze would pop up someplace else. I really need to finish upgrading this fire extinguisher!

Meanwhile, Hetal got into a conversation after work that didn’t go very well.

Branden wanted to meet up with her after work, but since she was caught up in her argument, he decided to sit down and do his homework.

Apparently, both of them forgot they were supposed to be home for something important.

At least Caitlyn, Christof, and I were here for Deanne’s birthday.

Isn’t she beautiful?

She makes me think of someone very important — me.

Four teenagers. I don’t know how we’re going to survive.

The teens gabbed their cake while I headed upstairs.

Deanne had some advice for Caitlyn. Maybe she’s getting a little ahead of herself, don’t you think? Caitlyn is older and has more experience.

Caitlyn suggested maybe Deanne should get some more sleep and see what things looked like at the morning. Deanne took her advice and headed upstairs.

Caitlyn’s such a patient big sister.

I had to get the other birthday girl!

I couldn’t believe that my littlest baby was finally growing up.

What an amazing little girl.

We all had our cake and wondered where the rest of the family were.

Branden made it back just as the singing was done and had a slice of cake with everyone.

But where was Hetal?

I think it suddenly occurred to her that she really screwed up.

We finished our little party and cleaned up. Erin did most of the work!

I just couldn’t believe it. No more diapers! No more potty training!

Hetal finally got home, but she was ashamed to talk to to Erin.

She was so overwhelmed, she fainted dead away!



Poor dear. I think all she needs to do is apologize.

———-
Passing out: 16 + 1 = 17
Deanne grew up an Animal Lover and a face clone of Allison! Argh! I was afraid of that since toddlerhood, but she looked like she might have something different in her face when she was a child. I guess that’s my punishment for replacing a baby.
I got to choose Erin’s trait, so I randomized until something good came up. She’s now Perceptive. She appears to have a face very close to Christof’s but with different coloring.

The next morning dawned with Deanne complaining to the kitchen sink that the refrigerator was such a jerk.

Caitlyn heard the whole story from her sister.

She wasn’t talking to the refrigerator either.

I’m not sure I can handle all this social tension in the house. I may have to stage an intervention and make all three of them talk out their differences.

Christoff was taking care of Erin.

Jin called to say she was just back from a far-flung honeymoon with Chauncey with lots of woohoo!

That was probably more detail than I needed to hear, to be honest.

The babysitter spent all day playing with the kitties.

But Erin managed to entertain herself.

And after a while, he did manage to pay more attention to her than the last two babysitters.

I was upgrading the fire engine when the alarm went off.

An emergency like this couldn’t wait for the fire engine to be ready to go. I decided to get there on foot. I dashed down the street,

Stepped into a phone booth behind a shed in someone’s backyard,

And poof! I was someplace else on the street, and the fire engine was waiting for me.

Magic. What won’t they think of next?

What a familiar house!

I wanted to see the new owners screaming out on the front lawn, but it turns out that it’s empty right now and on the market. I’m sure glad we sold it when we did!

Sometimes you just have to take a moment to stop and smell the burning furniture. I love fire so much.

The owner of our old house has a lot to thank me for, but it’s all in a day’s work for a hero like me.

When I got home, the kids were back from school.

Christoff was reading to Deanne, or showing off. I’m not sure which.

Caitlyn was doing her homework.

Deanne was eager to tell me about how she got a chance to brown-nose her teacher at school.

Branden was showing artistic appreciation for our kitchen painting.

The kitties were being cute.

It’s a good think everyone is so responsible because I was called away at the last minute to deal with an emergency that threatened the very fabric of democracy in Moonlight Falls!

The work of a heroine is never done.

When I got back, Caitlyn was getting the house ready for a big celebration. She didn’t want Erin to miss it.

It was Dinah’s birthday!

She’s a truly elegant elder, I have to say.

Branden wasn’t impressed by Erin’s complaining.

But he fed her anyway.

Caitlyn and Christoff finished the evening up with a game of frisbee. I swear, even now that they’re teens, those two have a special bond.

Hetal cleaned. She’s so domestic these days!

Caitlyn really appreciated our old family photographs than I hung in my and Hetal’s bedroom.

Plum finally had to tell her to go to bed.

She always listens to him.

When I got to work the next morning, I met a shocking sight!

William was all right, though. He needs to be more careful about the sunlight!

Caitlyn has been pushing herself too hard. She barely got off the school bus on her way home before collapsing.

I got a call for a three-alarm fire right before heading home for the day. What timing!

It was at a big house owned by the Mai family: Miyuki

Mazuki

And Leah.

It might have used up my evening, but at least they were very grateful.

Caitlyn still wasn’t doing well. Maybe she has a cold, poor dear.

When I got home, everyone had already had dinner and were heading to bed. I took a bit of precious time to play with the kitties.

Then I saw the kids to bed.

After that, I was pretty tired, but there was so much I wanted to do while the house was quiet. So I tried this bottle of stuff that I got in the mail. I think it was a free sample of something.

I felt great! Now I don’t need to sleep! Time to upgrade the dishwasher.

———-

Passing Out: 14 + 2 = 16

This was not my best post, but it’s written, so here it is. I thought those of you who read the Sample legacy would appreciate seeing the Mais. None of them have done any dating in this game, despite the fact that Leah is a Hopeless Romantic.

I take a lot of pictures of the teens loving on their baby sister and doing their homework. I’m sure everyone is sick of it by now. They’ve become so disturbingly responsible. At least Caitlyn spent an afternoon passing out to prove that this is still an ISBI. Also, next post will definitely prove that it’s an ISBI. Take that as a teaser.

Monday was a holiday. Or maybe Friday was a holiday and this was Sunday? Wow, when nobody is working and going to school, you sure lose track of the days.

At any rate, Christof was up early talking to Larry Pierce on the phone.

Not sure how that conversation went.

Branden began a structured morning with coffee and his homework.

Then he took some personal time to call up Lacey, the girl he danced with at prom.

He just couldn’t stop thinking about her since they danced together. It was so sweet.

It appears that she, however, was able to stop thinking about him.

Maybe Branden ought to think about other girls. There are a lot of fish in the sea.
Meanwhile, Hetal thought Christof should have an apple.

A poisoned apple.

She does have some very strange ideas about parenting.

I took some time to practice my heroic firefighting moves.

Um, that one just got a little bit out of control, that’s all.

And Erin needed to use the potty.

At least she tries really hard.

Caitlyn also got a call. This one was from Gustavo Singh, asking her out on a date!

How exciting! My little girl is growing up.

She immediately got out on her broom in the rain to go see Gustavo at a local club.

I do hope I have brought her up right, and she’ll be responsible.

He picked a good place for a date, I’ll give him that.

But then he wanted to stand out in the rain and talk. Perhaps not the best follow-through.

Caitlyn opened up with some smalltalk about crazy things that her baby sister does.

But Gustavo interrupted to talk about me!

He wanted an introduction! And he wanted to know what I thought about men.

I’m not sure what he had in mind, but I don’t think I approve.

Then he left Caitlyn out in the rain to run inside.

Where he hid in the bathroom for hours.

Caitlyn gave up waiting for him and sat down to play Conquer and Obliterate on a club computer.

We had a quieter afternoon at home.

Branden smashed me and Hetal at dominoes.

Deanne watched for a little while and then got bored. She headed upstairs to call a friend from school.

So she could complain about the fact that our upstairs bathroom doesn’t have a toilet yet. Picky picky!

Then she headed outside to our little fishing pond to try her luck, but first she got tangled up in the fishing line.

It didn’t take too much to sort out, and she dressed just right for the rain.

Strawberry appreciated Dinah.

Branden cleaned the cat litter.

And I decided that it was time to make this fireplace more safe so that we could actually light a fire.

At the Port-a-Party club, Caitlyn finished her video game and get really interested in the plants.

Gustavo sneaked out while she was looking the other way. What a creep.

Deanne started a long conversation with the refrigerator. I think she was trying to make peace after Caitlyn’s nasty fight with it earlier.

Unfortunately, Hetal was trying to get something to eat!

The whole thing didn’t go over well.

Hetal managed to wrestle some waffles away from Deanne, but I don’t think they were in very good shape.

Deanne’s fight with the fridge wasn’t going very well.

Caitlyn made it home. That date was a waste of her time, and Gustavo was rubbish. My girl can find someone so much better for her.

The kitties were cute.

Really cute.

Hetal had the usual reaction to eating spoiled waffles.

But the toilet had a surprising reaction to her!

Poor Hetal. It just wasn’t her day.

Caitlyn headed to bed so she would be well-rested for school the next day.

So did Christof and Branden. Such good boys!

Deanne, on the other hand, just couldn’t let it go with the refrigerator.

Sometimes you just have to agree to disagree. It’s one of those important lessons of life.

———-

No fails! The Wonderlands seem to be getting better at living life! Also, perhaps the extra space in this house is helping them keep from route-failing themselves into fails.

It turned out that Deanne was stuck in the floor, and all she could do was crazy idles. I had to reset her.

Her backyard fishing was her childhood free action. I keep hoping that an Angler sim will go out and fish on her own, but I provided a fish pond that Jin never used, and so far Deanne hasn’t used it autonomously either.

We were all well-rested the next morning after a good, quiet night’s sleep. Alone. In our own house.

Hetal was up first to feed Erin.

Then I got to work upgrading our appliances to keep them from breaking. With this many teenagers, you have to expect everything to be broken all the time if you don’t take precautions.

I got a little too involved in my work.

Branden and Christof are so picky about their food these days. On the positive side, they’re always making delicious salads for us to eat. Even if it’s annoying, I think we all eat healthier with both of them bugging us.

Caitlin and Christof are still joined at the hip. Or the shoulder. Or something. It’s so cute to see them together.

We’re just a big old happy family!

All the older kids just love Erin.

She is going to be so spoiled when she’s older.

Isn’t she cute?

Today was a Sunday. We were all moved in, which didn’t take much because we had to sell almost all our stuff to get into this house. Work and school didn’t start until Monday. There wasn’t even a holiday festival in town. What were we going to do with our day?



I decided to take the bull by the horns. We were all going to spend some time outside for a while! The fresh air would do us good.

I gathered the whole family together and took us to the playground. The teens protested that they were too old, but I put my foot down. They could find something to do there, and they would like it. Or else.

We took the cab for about two blocks to the elixer shop.

Then loaded up into the local LLAMA to get most of the rest of the way there.

LLAMA: The only way to travel! At least in this town.

Deanne couldn’t cram herself in, but she got in after we were done.

The teens got more cheerful once we arrived.

Branden shot hoops with Hetal.

He had a lot to learn.

Then this waif of a girl showed up and joined us with her toddler.

I swear, she should eat more! You could see right through her!

Deanne played pretend, pretty much the same way she always does when she’s at home, but at least she was outside doing it.

Christof and Caitlin threw the frisbee around.

Hetal and I played on the swings. Whee!

And when a toddler started screaming, it wasn’t Erin.

Erin was playing with her doll like an angel. It’s so nice when the screaming kid isn’t yours once in a while.

Branden was the first one to head home. He was anxious about his grades and wanted to get a good start on the school week.

After a while, the rest of us decided we’d had enough fun, and also the playground didn’t have much in the way of lights.

Christof fed the kitties and then tried to show them what to do about it!

Branden was more direct.

Then Christof and Branden decided to play frisbee in the back yard while Deanne headed to bed.

Branden tries hard. You have to give him that.

Hetal and I settled down to a late dinner. Suddenly, Hetal said, “Do you get the feeling we forgot a couple of kids?”

Ulp.

Where was Erin??

Fortunately, Caitlyn, who we’d also forgotten, took care of the littlest Wonderland.

We have such a responsible family!

All’s well that ends well. Could somebody get that kid a bottle?

———-

I have now played all the way to Branden’s birthday. I can’t wait to know who the heir is going to be, so I’m going to try to power through the final posts as fast as I can manage. The kids head off to school in the next post, so maybe I can manage more then one day in the next post :).