Returning to the Gavigans' house on Monday morning, we find the school bus waiting for Isaiah, Gerlinde and Gesine.
When they are gone and Nathan is busy looking after his customers, Mary spends a quiet hour doing yoga in the girls' room.
Isaiah brings home classmate Melrose Moonbeam.
Two hours later, the school bus pulls up again, dropping off the twins - and Gesine proudly brings home her first A+ report!
Isaiah knows it is important to keep the yard in good shape if they want to offer their customers a good time, and he helps by raking the leaves.
At bedtime, Mary congratulates Gesine for her good grades.
Early on Tuesday morning, the business has received a positive review and is now on Rank 8 with Bianca Capp and Tara Gieke (née Kat) gaining customer stars.
Isaiah is doing his homework for the last time today!
Charlie Cho comes home with the girls from school today (he is Etsu Cho's and Hal Capp's son).
Mary and Nathan wave their son good-bye - Isaiah is on his way to the taxi that is to take him to college, where we are soon going to check on him.
The girls know how busy their parents are, and usually do their share of the housework without grumbling.
"Now that Isaiah is at college, only our two little girls are left," Mary sighs - half happy, half nostalgic.
On Thursday morning, while it is still dark, Nathan offers free entry to Kevin Beare and rises the business to rank 9.
Later, he finds several jars full of butterflies in the back yard again, but this time, they are all still alive, and Nathan hurries to release them.
Christopher Capp, one of Miranda's sons (his father is Tank Grunt), accompanies the girls home from school today.
Mary prepares a special dinner: Salmon. Why?
Because it is the twins' birthday! First Gesine grows up into a pretty teenager. Her aspiration is Fortune, and she dreams of becoming Space Pirate one day.
Gerlinde follows a little later. She turns out to be a Knowledge Sim and sees herself as a future World Class Ballet Dancer - and that while the family have never owned a stereo, and she has never been dancing in her life!
Friday finally sees the Gavigans' home business on Rank 10 - that is four more to go for Nathan.
The girls' room gets a little makeover.
Today, it is Mary's turn to release the butterflies captured in jars by some customers.
Nathan has been working on his paintings for a long time, and kept them all in his inventory.
Now he is ready to start his next business, "Gavigan's Gallery". He buys an appropriate property, and the entire family travel there by taxi to have a look at it.
It is the Maxis-made community lot known as "Van Dough Gallery".
There is a grill, table and chairs in the backyard.
Many paintings and some sculptures are already there, as well as the magazine shelf and the counter and cash register. Nathan puts up all the paintings from his inventory as well.
A view across the gallery.
There is a room with a TV, bookshelf and two armchairs at the back of the gallery; paintings are put up for sale there as well.
Being a Fortune Sim, young Gesine is happy to try out her talent for selling. She soon gets her Bronze Sales Badge; I think it took her only three or four sales conversations!
Gerlinde does not want to stay behind her sister and tries her luck with Gunnar Roque.
It seems only logical that Gesine is the one to be in charge of the cash register, while her parents show paintings to their customers.
The day ends with Gavigan's Gallery receiving a "Best of the Best" award, proudly displayed by Nathan on the wall in their living room at home.
On Saturday, everyone is back at the Gallery again. Today, Mary (not pictured) makes her Gold Sales Badge.
Don't think there is only work and no play for the twins! They are fun-loving teenage girls, after all, and that side of their life is not neglected.
With Isaiah's bed gone, the empty space is used for a sewing machine, and Gerlinde starts making potholders instantly. Nathan's plans for the future involves a third business, "Gavigan's Garments", and if Gerlinde can learn how to sew clothes by the time her Dad will be opening his clothes shop, she'll be happy to help.
On Sunday, the gallery makes Ranks 1 and 2. One of the visitors is a Vampire - she looks funny, walking in the characteristic Vampire-manner but wearing normal winter clothes.
For the Sunday morning shift, Nathan and Mary left the girls at home to have a well-deserved rest, and so it is Mary who has to work the cash register today. Beatrice Monty and Ashley Pitts have to wait a while, but in the end, she manages to handle their purchases without either of them leaving in a huff.
Back home, the girls have not been idle. Gerlinde makes her Bronze Sewing Badge, while Gesine works on another painting to be sold at the gallery.
For the Sunday afternoon shift at the gallery, Gerlinde stays home and keeps sewing, while the others make sure everything is in good shape. Last night, a bad witch summoned an infestation of bugs on the lot, and Mary is quick to get rid of them. Her efforts are rewarded when the business reaches Rank 3.
Sunday dinner sees the family (minus Isaiah) gathered around the table.
Quite late in the evening, Nathan feels like having another snack - and sets the kitchen stove on fire. Oh no, not another fire, I hear you say! Don't worry. There is a fire alarm behind the fridge, and the only harm the Gavigans come to is that everyone needs a shower.
Next time we'll come back to this busy household, Mary and Nathan will turn into Elders. The girls will keep helping their parents until it is time for them to go to college, too. But first, it is their brother's turn; we'll see how he is settling in there in the next chapter.
I can not remember whether the Gavigans came to our game with the Apartment Life or Freetime expansion, but they have found a home in New Maximiliania just like all the other Maxis-made Sims. This is where they live: a cube-shaped house in Maximum Shopping, New Maximiliania's business district.
Isaiah Gavigan is a typical Family Sim: he wants to marry off six children. Right now, he is still a teenager and does not even have a girlfriend yet.
He is not the Gavigan's only child anymore - during their previous week, the twins Gesine (left) and Gerlinde (right) were born.
Mary Gavigan was anxious to have at least one more child after Isaiah, as her lifetime want is to have six grandchildren, and she did not want to put that burden on her son alone - that was before he turned into a teenager and ended up with just the perfect lifetime want for that himself! You guessed it, Mary's aspiration is Family, too.
Nathan Gavigan's goal in life is to own 5 top-level businesses. For lack of money, he opened a home business by installing an axe-throwing game where other families have a drive for their car. On the Monday of this week, the business is only at rank 3.
Bringing up two demanding little girls is no easy task, as Mary feels time and time again, with having to make sure the home business AND the household are running smoothly as well.
Oh, by the way, this is Nathan. He tries to see the positive side of everything and is often the one to cheer up Isaiah when the boy is a bit down in spirits after an exhausting school day... and then no peace at home, without even so much as his own room where to retreat.
Overall, Nathan and Mary are a happy couple, with their only problem being not having enough time to themselves, which is probably the fate of most families with young children.
On Tuesday, Mary gets her Bronze Sales Badge. The business is now rank 4.
Isaiah needs some time alone with his mum, too; only because the twins are there does not mean he is all of a sudden totally grown up, and Mary makes sure to sit down with him for a meal when the little ones are asleep.
On Wednesday, he reaches maximum enthusiasm for Arts & Crafts and is rewarded with a special plaque by this lady.
Nathan has just received his Golden Sales Badge.
Later the same day, first Gerlinde...
...turns into a child...
...and then...
...Gesine. (Note: I have changed Gerlinde's hairstyle, as it was the same as almost every girl seems to get at the time of their age transition; it was too boring).
Now things need re-arranging at the Gavigans' house. The girls get the nursery to themselves, and it is now all done in bright colours with a lot of pink.
Isaiah does get away from his little sisters - but still does not have his own room, the house simply is not big enough. Instead, he now has a corner of the living / dining room, which means he has that area to himself when his parents and the twins are in bed. He is going to move to college at some stage anyway, so there is no need to invest hard-earned money into an extension to the house. The business has reached rank 5 today.
Gerlinde discovers that skunks do NOT like to be petted!
Now that all three of their children are at school for a good part of the day, Mary finally has the chance to breathe and get some time and space to herself. She can not remember when she last sat down in a peaceful, quiet living room to do the crosswords.
After their first day at school, both Gesine...
...and Gerlinde learn to study from their parents.
They make sure that the family share at least one meal every day.
I quite liked this line-up of the kids for the school bus :-)
Peace and quiet, when all three of them are gone and the bus has left... peace and quiet?! Only until Mary tries to repair the telly and gets electrocuted!! Thankfully, she manages to finish the repair and then hops into the shower immediately.
Nathan has not had time to go for a run in ages, and while the kids are still at school, he makes use of the fine spring weather. He can trust Mary to look after their customers in the mean time.
On Friday, Gerlinde proudly presents her first A+ report. Gesine is a bit behind at "only" a B+ at the moment, but I am positive that she'll catch up with her twin sister in no time. The business has now reached rank 6.
Saturday morning, Mary learns everything she'll ever need to know about Fire Safety.
In the evening, suddenly many customers start complaining to Nathan about the "filthiness" of the place. Nathan is puzzled by the complaints - there is no garbage around, no old newspapers, no homework sheets of his children, no unpaid bills or heaps of dirt and holes dugs by stray dogs. He has no idea what his customers are on about, until...
...he walks to the back of the garden and discovers an assortment of several jars with dead butterflies in them. How sad! Some of his earlier customers must have caught them and then forgot about them. Nathan cleans up all the jars, and the complaints stop.
Isaiah may not always be so keen on the presence of his exhausting, lively pair of little sisters, but he loves them dearly nonetheless - at night, he goes to their nursery on his own accord and tucks them in.
The next day, Sunday, he makes his Bronze Sales Badge. Mary has received hers in Silver today, and the business is now at rank 7. The Gavigan's bank account shows an impressive 92.595 Simoleons - that's mostly due to the business perks earned, but of course also due to the steady flow of customers who pay 13 Simoleons each for having a go at the axe throwing game. (By the way, it obviously has not occured to the Gavigans that an axe throwing game may not be the safest way to earn money, with three children around...)
The girls have been studying diligently - they were fed smart milk as toddlers and have an impressive learning speed, something I took advantage of. But sometimes they just want to be kids, and when I let them, they play together with the toys from their toybox. Typically for little girls, they have chosen the horse.
Let's end this busy week with a picture of the family at their Sunday dinner table, enjoying the hamburgers Mary made.
When is Isaiah going to college? Will he meet someone there who shares his lifetime want? What sort of business will Nathan open next? Is Mary going to keep supporting her business-minded husband?
