The Journal of Phillip Grant - April 1

The girls are still working on their charm. Penny and Nick are rarely apart these days. It looks like she was pretty serious when she said he was the one.

"Hey Dad, can we borrow the car? I want to do some shopping with Nick."

"Shopping? Does that poor lad know what he's in for?"

"He made me swear to keep it quick and as painless as possible."

"Ok then. Don't stay out too long."

Since breaking up with James, Ronnie has been experimenting a bit.

She's decided to flirt with an old friend of hers, I think that one is Kyra Pendragon. I can never keep the Pendragon girls straight in my head. There's several of them.

So far, no one has been back for a second visit with Ronnie.  James must be hard to replace.

Corey and I decided to do some laundry. He supervised while I used the machines.

While the laundry was going, Vanessa and I made a little trip across town. We haven't been to see Vincent or the baby for too long.

Miriam is growing so fast. Just yesterday, she was a baby. Look at her now.

Isn't she just the cutest thing?

Our first and so far only grandchild. Vanessa and I keep hoping for more grandchildren. But Vincent and Kari haven't said anything about a second child and Stephen has yet to officially settle on a life partner.

So that's why Penny wanted to take Nick shopping. I see they made a pretty thorough job of getting Nick a new look. The stylist must have been very busy.

Damn, he looks a lot like his dad now. The resemblance is more obvious with that new hair cut.

Penny seems to approve of the new look quite a lot. The two of them kept that up for hours.

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So I wanted to go to China. Vanessa was offered cash to smuggle one of her books to China. Penny wants to work on her martial arts in China.

So we decided to take a family holiday to France.

No, just kidding, we were off to China.

It's always a long tiring flight, but it's always too exciting when you finally arrive to pause to rest.

I checked the notice board for adventure.

This guy was offering rewards to retrieve items from the Temple of Heaven.

If memory serves, that's going to be interesting since it's supposedly has quite extensive tunnels, labyrinths and traps underneath the main structure.

The girls went off and did some sightseeing first. First was the Forbidden City.

While Vanessa delivered the extra copy of her book.

The shopkeeper paid her an extra 1,000 Simoleons for it. That alone paid for her airfare over.

Ronnie still isn't too sure of the training dummies. She's getting better, but she's better with her books than with a physical activity.

Penny, on the other hand, is making excellent progress toward her next belt.

She's been training hard. She's preparing for her first ranked match.

Vanessa and I both warned her that ranked matches would be tougher than what she's used to. Don't get expectations too high.

I was having a great deal of success exploring the Temple of Heaven. I managed to find some places that no Grant has ever entered.

This is so worthwhile. I've been finding some great artifacts.

I found the key to the inner portion of the temple.

Only one way to get anywhere in life. Dive straight in, head first.

Especially when you need to enter a dive well.

Dripping wet with bugs all over me. Why the hell do I do this again?

Oh yes, the thrill of the treasure. That's why. I should find quite a bit of treasure. There's been no one here for centuries.

The Journal of Phillip Grant - March 27

Ronnie tried a bit of relaxation and nearly talked the ear off the bartender.

I believe that after a bit, he offered her a free drink just to distract her.

Penny decided to try making friends again with Nicolas. She asked him to meet at Stephen's pub for a nice long chat.

Oh, god, not again!

Apparently my daughter was not happy with just a chat. She was after him to break up with his new girlfriend.

I was at home, finally working on the garden. My poor garden gets neglected more than it gets tended.

With a little help from the gnomes, they were self appointed supervisors.

After a couple of hours, Vanessa came out. She thought it was far too late for any more gardening. My dearest wife wants me in bed, who am I to deny that request? Especially when she promises a little action before we go to sleep. Mrrrwww.

The next morning and Penny asked Nicolas over first thing.

We have to have a chat with this girl, that's for sure. It won't be fair to Nicolas if this is just to keep him in line while she goes back to flirting with every boy in school.

Nothing like some martial arts practice to work off tension. I'll need to be calm before I chat to Penny.

Ronnie went next door to chat with James.

It seems that the two of them have broken up.

They seem to have stayed friends though.

Vanessa? Do you want to have a chat to our daughter that just broke up or the one on the prowl again?

Phillip! That is a rather rude thing to say about your daughter.

Have you seen Penny intent on a boy?

Not yet dear.

Trust me on this one.

Your father wanted me to check on you. You ok after breaking up with James?

Yes Mom, I'm fine. James and I just don't get time together any more. I have school all day and he has a job in the theatre which keeps him busy most of the night.

And?

Well, he's an adult and wants to hang out with people his age. I'm still in school and I want to hang out with a younger crowd.

So you both wanted it?

Yes, Mom, we were both ready to move on. We're still friends, he's a nice guy. But that's it, he's just another one of the nice guys I know.

I'm glad for you both then. You'll have plenty of time to meet a new boy and fall in love.

We'll see, Mom.

Penelope Grant!

Dad?

Penny sounded a bit nervous but both girls do if they hear their full name.

What, exactly, are you doing with the Kane boy?

Dad, I admit that I was visiting lots of boys and flirting with most of them. But the moment I heard that Nick was dating, that's when I realised something important.

And that something important was?

I've flirted with lots of boys. It was fun but it was never serious with any of them. Only Nick makes me want to grab him in a hug and give him a proper kiss.

Pen, if you are sure he's the one, then you should let him know. But if you start flirting with all and sundry again, while keeping him on a string, you are grounded from here to the end of eternity. Or the end of the month.

DAD!

My poor old heart won't be able to watch you do this much longer.

I offered to train Penny for awhile. She accepted, she does love athletics.

My children's love lives are going soap opera. We've heard through the grape vine that Vincent and Kari are fighting now. Stephen starting dating some random girl which so angered the Sim Goddess that the random girl died almost immediately. He seems to have decided that perhaps Abbey is a safer choice for him. Ronnie broke up.

Did we do something wrong? Could we have done something better? Will none of them find love and a happy life?

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bonus pic

You remember Jerod and his toddler. Poor Dedric must have only had like two days of childhood and now he is a teen. Shortest childhood ever. He has a new baby brother called Alfred.

The Journal of Phillip Grant - March 24

After our visit to our first granddaughter, I took Vanessa to one of the more remote fishing spots. It's a lovely secluded spot brimming with rare fish.

"I wish Kari didn't avoid us like that," I told Vanessa.

"Phillip, I've tried talking to her. It's better that she stays outside, I don't think we'll ever get along."

Sad but true. I don't think we will ever be friends with Kari. She may love our son but she doesn't feel any need to get along with the rest of his family.

Vanessa and I really don't spend enough alone time together. At home; it's all kids, painting, writing, with the occasional romantic moment.

It's good to find such a peaceful spot. On a weekday, there's just no one here.

Vanessa was extremely happy to catch her first piranha. Me? I'm happy if I catch anything at all.

She's mastered the art of fishing, I'm so proud of her.

She's tried giving me some pointers on fishing but so far, it's not helping. Then again, I understand gardening and Vanessa has yet to plant her first seed.

We returned home and I was in a romantic mood.

"You are so beautiful, to me.
You are so beautiful, to me.
Can't you see?
You're everything I hoped for
You're everything I need"

Then it was time for the birthdays. It was the normal assortment of family, friends and the usual party crashers.

Stephen was the first to blow out the candles on his cake.

There was the usual cheering and horn blowing.

Finally he found the right moment to blow out the candles.

I wonder what the boy wished for? We've tried hard to do right by each of our children.

Then our second oldest son became a man.

I think he takes after his dad, don't you?

Once Stephen was done,  it was Abbey's turn to celebrate.

I have to admit, I thought it was a bit rude of Emerald to wait until her daughter's turn to show up to the party. Brad and Nicolas at least came for Stephen as well.

Emerald was obviously proud of her lovely girl.

Quite frankly Abbey looked a bit smug about growing up.

Abbey was smug with reason, she is a lovely girl.

Emerald and Bradley can be as proud of their daughter as they are of their boys. And I know Bradley is quite proud of all of them.

There is always a problem with parties. No matter how many tables and chairs you have already, it still takes forever to find one free when you have cake to eat.

I had hoped that with the other birthdays today, no one would notice mine.

My hopes were dashed, lots of the guests and family realised that I was having my birthday as well.

I've made it. I've joined Vanessa as an elder.

Will you still need me, will you still feed me, when I'm elder too?

Stephen went back to our bar to practice on his mixing skills.

The boy is happier handling a shaker than any other time. He's producing party drinks for our guests.

I spent some time thinking about life. It isn't every day you reach official senior citizen status.

We've had a few downs, but very few downs really. We have never been as wealthy as some of the other branches of the family but we are a very long way from poor.

Stephen and Abbey had a long and serious chat.

I can't be positive what they were talking about but I do have an idea what it might be. We'll have to see if I'm right.

Ok, enough feeling sorry for myself. It's time to get it on.

Get it on and dance with the hottest lady in the city.

After chatting to Abbey, Stephen was back at the bar.

For some reason, he was worrying over something. I'm not sure what he'd worry about. He has friends, family and a home for as long as he wants it.

Vanessa and I had no such problems. We spent the rest of the evening dancing away.

Stephen came to talk to me early the next day.

"Dad?"

"I have a question."

"Yeah boy, time to move?"

"How did you know that?"

"It's just one of those things your dad should know."

"I need space."

"One bedroom, cheapest house in town is all I have to offer."

"What?"

"The pub has been doing fine and there's time before one of your sister's needs a home."

Stephen then rang Abbey with his news.

So that's what the two of them were discussing. They were thinking about sharing a house. Well, at least it won't break their budget.

Stephen left and now we are down to the girls.

My latest painting. It's very cute. Should I sell it or give it to one of the girls? Hmm. I have to think about that.

Penny went home with yet a different boy the next day. This is Charles. It's Penny's second visit to the house, the last time was with Dustin, Charles's little brother.

Ronnie so dedicated to her homework that she fails to have any fun at the pub. Ronnie takes her work very seriously, we need to help her have more fun.

Penny takes fun very seriously and needs to be reminded of other important stuff. I hope we can get the girls to balance their lives a bit better over the next few years.