06-07. Honeymoon: Beach, Drinks, and Song

Al Medina Day 1

On first arriving in Al Medina, Piers and Hera had the Hotel Excelsior to themselves. They took advantage of that opportunity to enjoy the hot tub ... doing what honeymooners do best.

After donning their new warm weather clothes, the next attraction they wanted to see was the beach, just a short walk from the hotel. Most of the time, though, they only had eyes for each other.

But it was a beautiful day.

A stroll down to the water's edge ...

 offered a lovely view ...

 quite inspiring for the usually Unflirty Hera.

They explored the Arboretum nearby.

 It was a pleasant, cozy garden.

The moment was perfect for a romantic photo.

Back in the Foreign Quarter, Hera and Piers discovered the Secret Nectary. Not so secret really since the place was crowded with locals and tourists. They both learned a French song each from new acquaintances.

Of course, they tasted the nectar. They would definitely come back to purchase a few bottles for their nectar cellar back in Rinn Fada.

By then it was dinner time. They ate outdoors at the bistro. Neither was very hungry after the nectar, so they just chose simple fare. They'd try local cuisine another time. 

 Hera wanted to capture the effects of the sunset on the nearby gardens and buildings. While she did, Piers walked around critiquing various things that caught his eye.

 Unfortunately, he also decided to critique his wife. They both were left with a 3-hour,  minus 15 Upset moodlet from this thoughtless blunder. Honestly, Piers! 

Luckily, he realized his mistake and quickly jumped to a flirty joke. Hera forgave him.

Then I had them teach each other the songs they'd learned until their bad moods passed.

The Quarter didn't have a lot going on entertainment-wise that night, but Piers and Hera visited the tea house and sipped pick-me-up ginseng herbal teas.

 But before heading back to the hotel, they checked out the opera house. No performance was scheduled, so the couple just ordered nightcaps in the refreshment lobby.

 The bartender appeared to be new, but they both enjoyed their romantic Cherry Casanovas.

By the time Piers and Hera got to their room back at the hotel, it was after 1:00 in the morning.

 But they weren't quite ready for sleep just yet ...

1. The Miraj Family Ideal

The last couple of days, I'd been checking on Imaginary Friend dolls, choosing which ones to keep, which to get rid of. I already had a story in mind for the IFs in Hidden Springs, so knew I'd be letting them stay in the family.

But there was something else I wanted to do in HS. I'd been thinking about changing Abu Miraj's skin color from his original genie blue to a natural skin tone.

After creating and playing the genies in Rinn Fada, I wanted to also strengthen Abu's personality, try to make him seem more realistic. So I decided to give him a dark brown skin color.

Abu lives a modified Eastern world lifestyle and his new look fits his story.

He's still a genie, of course. 

Abu is an Animal Lover, and spends almost as much time with their horse Zanita as his Equestrian wife Sofia does. He's made friends with the Hidden Springs unicorn too, but still needs to earn the unicorn's respect in order to adopt him into the family.

Sofia is a Hopeless Romantic, but she's also a very good mother and enjoys her time at home with the family: taking care of her sons, gardening, working on her nectar collection, and riding Zanita. She only works part time.

Kahlil and Finnegan both have the Athletic trait and love to play catch. It's usually the first thing they want to do when they get up in the morning.

The whole family enjoys warm summer days together outdoors.

The youngest son Jahan is now a toddler. He's very close to Cara, his favorite toy, but he's also learning new skills for his age. 

Jahan will drink milk from a bottle for a quick snack though he eats solid food in his high chair too. 

But Sofia prefers to nurse him in the rocking chair. She often chooses to do this on her own.

Though Abu is an Alchemy Master, he's Family Oriented and a stay at home dad. For him, family is everything. 

0-Family Members. Hidden Springs

Abu Miraj

Age: Adult
Occult: Genie
Traits: Family Oriented, Brooding, Animal Lover, Brave, Green Thumb
Zodiac: Cancer
Lifetime Wish: The Fairy Tale Finder
Career History: Alchemist (current, mastered)
Spouse: Sofia Miraj
Children: Kahlil (son), Jahan (son), Finnegan (Kahlil's Imaginary Friend)

Sofia Miraj

Age: Adult
Occult: Human
Traits: Hopeless Romantic, Proper, Equestrian, Green Thumb, Perfectionist
Zodiac: Scorpio
Lifetime Wish: Bottomless Nectar Cellar 
Degree: Fine Arts
Career History: Spa Receptionist (current, part time)
Spouse: Abu Miraj
Children: Cruz (son in Barnacle Bay), Kahlil (son), Jahan (son), Finnegan (Kahlil's Imaginary Friend)

Kahlil Miraj

Age: Child
Occult: Human
Traits: Genius, Athletic, Friendly, Pyromaniac (hidden)
Zodiac: Cancer
Parents: Abu Miraj (father), Sofia Miraj (mother)

Finnegan Miraj

Age: Child
Occult: Imaginary Friend (Kahlil's)
Traits: Artistic, Athletic, Good Sense of Humor
Zodiac: Gemini
Parents: Abu Miraj (adoptive father), Sofia Miraj (adoptive mother)

Jahan Miraj

Age: Toddler
Occult: Human
Traits: Brave, Good, Immune to Fire (hidden)
Zodiac: Taurus
Parents: Abu Miraj (father), Sofia Miraj (mother)

0-Introduction. Hidden Springs

My Hidden Springs family has a complicated background, coming from other worlds. First of all, Abu is a genie and began his existence with the typical blue skin. I changed that to a natural color. Must have been those healing waters of Hidden Springs!

I created Abu with the sole purpose in mind of "rescuing" an Imaginary Friend child in my old Riverview save which had become corrupted. He took her to Appaloosa Plains to join her family of origin, the Weylors. So then, what to do with Abu?

Well, Abu spotted Sofia Martingale in AP and the two hit it off. They got together and when Sofia's son Cruz aged to YA and ran off with Ellen Weylor to Barnacle Bay, Abu and Sofia moved to Hidden Springs. They are both Adult age. I did change a couple of Sofia's original traits, but tried to keep her same personality.

Soon after that, Sofia became pregnant and Abu proposed. They had a son, Kahlil. When he was still a baby, Kahlil received an Imaginary Friend doll named Finnegan, who he later made real. The two are children now.

Sofia and Abu wanted another child, so Jahan was born. He too has an IF doll. I named her Holly at first, but changed it to Cara when I created a Holly sim in another world. Neither of Abu's sons are genies but they both did inherit his hidden fire abilities.

The family also has a horse named Zanita. Sofia is an Equestrian and Abu is an Animal Lover.

Datrum is the family plumbot. Abu visited the future and came home with the bot. Datrum is a useful servant.

For personal info on each family member, see also: Family Members

02-10. The Need for Space

I spent a few hours in Roaring Heights today. I didn't plan to, but the building project I started turned into an ordeal! Elliot and Anabel live in the Sandy Shoals Sea Shanty from the Sims 3 Store. I've done a little renovating on it already, but not very much.

The problem is, the home doesn't have a lot of space. And with Merit a toddler now, I decided I needed to make more room. The obvious choice was to knock out the roof and add onto the 3rd floor. That was easy enough, but what wasn't easy was replacing the roof. I ended up having to redo the watchtower and all the roofs.

This is what the store version looks like:

 
The dormer window areas had to be changed when I added the two new rooms. Here's what I finally ended up with after several hours work.

 
And here is the top floor now with the two extra rooms. Before, this floor only had the hallway leading to the one room. I added the two side rooms.

 Now I can furnish one of these rooms with more toys and children's furniture. Merit didn't have enough space for his things in his small nursery downstairs.
Here's a night view of the home from the back yard.

I also remembered that I hadn't gotten rid of Merit's Imaginary Friend doll. I don't want this family to have one. Anabel had just achieved her LT Wish and had enough lifetime points to buy the Philosopher's Stone. But Sono was the only one awake. He tried the transmutation spell.

The Doll: Hey! How come YOU get to stay and I have to go? I'm WAY cuter than you are!
Sono: Just following orders, raggy.

We didn't get any gold, but the doll disappeared for good!

Anabel and Elliot slept through the renovations and the transmutation.

Merit will love all the play areas he has now, and he'll never miss that crazy doll!