The Riley Household - Week 3

Week 2 with the Rileys since their return from uni is here.

Hello, dear Rileys! I always enjoy playing this particular household, because they carry my surname, and any children that are born in this family are given a name out of the pool of real-life Rileys :-)
But wait a minute - that in the background does not look like the house where we last left them, does it!

You're right, it is not their old house. I have decided to rebuild the real-life house I live in, as close to the original as possible. The original is a semi-detached house, with an identical house attached on the left. Also, the real life house has an attic flat and two rooms in the cellar (don't ask!), but I do not need that for the Rileys in my game, only two flats for Steve's and Meike's households.

The view from the back shows the small patio/terrace. In real life, the tree is a mulberry tree, and the windows behind the tree are my bedroom windows. The row of three windows is where my living room would be (and where the Sim-Meike's living room is, of course).

The top-down view of the upper floor is as close to my real flat as I was able to make it, down to the colour scheme in each room. You will see more of it in the course of this week, I suppose.
Clockwise from the top left corner: Meike's bedroom (including a desk with computer - where the real Meike plays this game), living room (actually, I have a padded foot stool matching the yellow armchair, but there is nothing like that in the game), Alan's room (in real life, my guest room / home office / study), hallway (actually separated from the staircase, but it would make the hallway almost unplayable), kitchen with dining table and two chairs, and shower room with toilet.

The ground floor is very different in real life; an elderly couple live there and I know their flat to be of the exact same layout - their kitchen is where mine is, their bathroom as well, but I need the flat to be fit for Steve, Wilma and their daughter Mary.

You remember the family, right? If not, let me quickly re-introduce you: Steve Riley married Wilma Williamson. As you can see, he is currently expecting. Their first child, Mary, was given birth to by Wilma.

Here is Meike. She looks only remotely like me; my chin and nose are not as pointed, and my eyes are blue (the Sim-Meike has brown eyes). You will see her son Alan in a bit.

On this Monday, soon after having moved in, Steve greets the paper boy, Amin Fleig. Fleig? Yes, there are already two Fleigs living in New Max, Jill and Cole - here is another member of their family.

Because the household has moved, they have a visit from the Welcome Committee. It consists of Candice Walter and Cole Fleig (both newcomers) as well as Jared Starchild, who is now an elderly man (he started out as one of the original students).

Mary returns from school and plays with her wombrat Panda - her mother Wilma had it already when she was young. The longevity of these animals in the game never ceases to amaze me!

Here is Alan, looking for Mary. Both kids have come home from school in need of some fun before they can think about homework.

A quick round of Red Hands does the trick.

It is almost 8:00 pm when Steve wakes up from a nap with a tummy ache like he's never known before.

Thankfully, the pain is forgotten when minutes later, his half-Alien daughter is born. Welcome, Jean Riley!
The family tree in this household is complicated - Wilma Williamson and Jean Riley have the same Alien father, who is Mary's grandfather. Steve and Meike are cousins - or half-siblings... Their parents were a mix-up of Sally Riley, Hal Capp, Etsu Cho and Timothy Riley (see end of this post for details).

Mary (whose huge bulging eyes look a little less scary behind glasses) is happy to have a little sister.

Here is Meike in her kitchen very early on Tuesday morning.

She has been having a late dinner and goes to bed straight afterwards.

In the ground floor kitchen, Wilma feeds her baby half-sister and cuddles her before putting little Jean back in her crib.

At 3:00 pm, Mary and Alan return from school. Param Patel gets off the bus with them.

After she comes home from work, Meike helps Alan with his homework.
Yesterday's birth of baby Jean has upset the household routines somewhat, and both school children have not done their homework; now they have to catch up on things.

Steve wakes up on Wednesday morning with the bad cough he brought home yesterday still with him.

A quick look upstairs: Here is Meike's living room, rather similar to the real one.

The other side of the living room.

The Sim-Meike is raking the first batch of autumn leaves today - unlike the real Meike, whose downstairs neighbours take care of the garden behind the house.

Wilma returns from work with a promotion to Theorist. I believe that is one step short of reaching her lifetime want of becoming Mad Scientist.

The ladies are not in the habit of drinking champagne on a weekday early afternoon, but Wilma's good news certainly call for a small celebration.

When the children come from school at 3:00 pm, Paul Patel is with them. He is Param's brother, who accompanied Alan and Mary the day before.

Time and time again, I have noticed that Thursdays often are the most eventful days of a Sim's week. It looks like the Rileys are no exception!
The day starts unremarkably enough with Mary having a "chat" with her little sister.

Steve's work starts in the early afternoon, and so he is still around to greet passers-by Vyn Scott. Scott? Yes, like Travis Scott in The Sims 4. Vyn is eligible for full citizenship in New Maximiliania, and Steve will now try to befriend her.

At 3:00 pm, two happy children jump off the school bus with their first A+ reports: first Mary...

...and then Alan.

Not far behind him, their classmate Chris Capp gets off the bus, too.

Alan and Mary's fun level is rather low after school, but there are plenty of ways to get their fun up before having them sit down to do their homework. Alan's room upstairs has this stuffed giraffe, a toy he particularly likes. (Sadly, not really a toy - just a piece of decoration. But it does the trick.)

It seems like everybody brings someone home today. Steve's colleague Gesine Landgraab is with him when the car pool drops him off that evening.

The day's events peak with baby Jean's birthday - not a baby anymore, but a very cute toddler.

Friday morning sees Wilma and her step daughter/half-sister becoming best friends.

Upstairs, Meike and Alan talk about the hobby they have in common - games - before the schoolbus arrives.
(I really have the "Malm" series in my bedroom, the same chest of drawers as this one here, the same bed and same bedside table, and a large wardrobe with a mirror on the sliding door, but I do not have a Dalarna horse like the one seen here on top of the chest of drawers. I have always liked those Swedish folk decorations but have never bought them for myself.)

Steve has the day off and uses it in the best possible ways. First, he teaches his little daughter to use her potty.

Then, he enjoys the beautiful autumn sun while harvesting the delicious apples from the tree at the corner of the house.
(That corner has a cherry tree in real life, but as there are no harvestable cherry trees in the game, I decided to use an apple tree instead.)

Mary is a real Daddy's girl and has fun dancing the Smustle with Steve after school.

Finally, the weekend is here! Steve is woken up at 1:00 on Saturday morning by little Jean demanding attention, but from his face you can tell he doesn't really mind; his work will start at 3:00 in the afternoon, giving him plenty of time to get a few more hours of sleep in before that.

Mary plays with her little sister for a while.

Upstairs, Meike has begun to prepare omelettes for breakfast on her own initiative.

Unfortunately, she somehow manages to set the stove on fire - and there is no fire alarm installed! (In my real flat, I have of course fire alarms installed; they are mandatory in this country. Thankfully, I have never had a house fire in real life - only in my game!)

You know I can not sit back and let things run their natural course with this family - they are special to me, and so I have Steve downstairs (he is unaware of the fire and has not started the panic dance yet) ring the fire station.
Together, Meike and the fire fighter manage to put out the flames before anything really bad happens - just a little boy and his mum desperately needing a shower.

After everything is back in order, I have Wilma, Meike, Mary and Alan take a taxi to Amelia's closet. The state of this family's wardrobe leaves a lot to be desired, plus they have not yet been to a community lot this week.

While Meike makes choices for everyone...

...the kids have a pillow fight, and Wilma is looking for neighbours to greet.

A few times now on community lots, I have observed teenage NPCs such as this paper boy show up - this has not occured in my game before.

After a round of playing darts behind the clothes shop and a hot dog, grilled by Meike, the family head back home. Both children are very tired from the outing and have a nap.

By the time they wake up again, it is late afternoon, and they play outside in the back garden in the golden autumn sunshine.

Alan and Meike frequently roll wishes about swinging round, something I find rather sweet and let them do this whenever possible.

When the air becomes too chilly to remain outside, Mary joins her little sister in the living room, playing with the xylophone.

Upstairs, Meike and her son have a bowl of chili for tea and talk about Alan soon growing up.

Downstairs, Steve has returned from work and joins his daughter at the dining table. Then, one by one the family members go to bed, and the - so far - nicest day of the week is over.

It is Sunday morning, and Alan is allowed to play at his mother's computer to his heart's content.

Mary prefers reading.

Steve dresses little Jean in her Sunday best - the idea is to have a family Sunday, but I discover that Steve hardly knows his half-brother Charlie Cho, and every time he tries to invite him and his wife Tina (nee Traveller) over, Charlie refuses.
(To remind you of who is who: Etsu Cho and Hal Capp had a son together, Charlie. Much later, when Etus's mother Vivian died, Vivian's husband and Etsu's stepfather Timothy Riley discovered his feelings for his stepdaughter Etsu, and they had a son together, too - Steve.
Timothy's daughter Sally Riley was also involved with Hal Capp and had a daughter with him - Meike.
Complicated? Yes, and not what I would have wanted for them, but you know what our Sims can be like sometimes!

After sitting still at the computer for quite a while, Alan needs a bit more physical action and chooses Steve and Wilma's big bed for a bit of fun.

Mary loves Panda very much and can often be seen playing with the wombrat.

All that jumping about on the bed has made Alan rather tired, and he retreats upstairs for a mid-afternoon nap on the settee.

Later, he talks to a friend about how he and Mary are going to grow up soon - just not this round.

I would have loved to play this household longer, but it has taken me long enough as it is! Most of the time, I played the game on normal speed, not daring to fast forward; too easily something can go wrong with a toddler to look after, homework to be done after school and skills to be managed for a promotion. The fire that broke out in Meike's kitchen would have resulted in at least one dead Sim at any other household, but not here!

Playing in "my" house is fun, and I have a few more ideas about how to make it look even more like my real place. Also, I am looking forward to seeing Mary and Alan as teenagers, and little Jean to grow up from toddler to child. Vyn Scott and Amin Fleig are prospective candidates for new residents in New Maximiliania.

It was a bit disappointing that there was no family visit on Sunday, but it just reminded me that I need to have my Sims work on their relationships. Next to be played is Giulianna Riley in TS4.