Family Jewels Name Game, Chapter 1-12

Hi! Well, it's been a minute after last time's double update, but I'm back with more Family Jewels Name Game. The Cabochons added the last of their children for this generation, the Z twins, and they are joined in the house by Topaz. We just need to get those three grown up with the rest of the kiddos and we can have an heir poll. Let's see, what else? Declan got old, Quartz finished her horrible first aspiration (Master Maker), and the house is coming along really nicely. Let's check in...

It's Winterfest in the game, and since this will be the last one where Quartz and Declan are raising children, I thought we'd go all out. They decorated a room very thoroughly, and although the yellow walls kind of detract from the Christmas spirit, it's very festive. They got dressed up nice for Winterfest morning, and judging by this look, they both like what they see.

The kids are also excited when they come downstairs. I thought maybe they'd still be able to gather around the presents in the corner, but no dice, so I stuck a sad little pile in the middle of the floor for them to open.

Wow! Cool gift! The kids got a foosball table! Just kidding - it's been upstairs the whole time, but no one ever notices it despite the fact that they're all rolling whims for it 24/7, so I sent the kids to play together for a while after present opening.

Meanwhile, Declan got started on a lovely grand meal for their lunch/early dinner. I had also decorated the dining area of their eat-in kitchen for a nice meal.

Of course, we couldn't have a nice meal since Declan elected to eat at the counter by himself. Sigh.

While the kids scattered to the winds to work on their aspirations and Quartz was. . .somewhere (???), the older kids started filtering over. Axi was first, and once she was done saying hello to her secret best friend (despite her aspiration), Declan gave her a Winterfest gift.

Ru came over next. Although I would love to invite all the older kids over, Ulex is a kleptomaniac and I don't want her to steal from the house, so the older kids are not allowed in a group because then I would feel bad not inviting Ulex. Strangely, she never comes to visit so I haven't had to feel bad about turning her away at the door. All the others that come over get greeted, however, and today they get a gift too.

Zoi made best friends with Zircon for her aspiration. Being the youngest, these two are pretty close, but they're both great friends with Topaz too.

Checked on the front door again, and looks like poor Ru got trapped in story hour.

Then Declan took a nap on the actual worst place to nap in the whole house. I put this bench down for décor reasons but everyone sees it and is all...

The evening fell, but everyone was still having a good time, so I took them to the park for the kids' traditional outing plus aspiration completion. Zoi needs to meet a few more people, and one of them may have needed to play on a jungle gym while playful, but I can't quite remember.

The grownups had a good time with the playground, at least.

However, no one was around so it ended up being a bit of a bust. Plus I felt bad because I realized I took everyone but A Rock, and there was dog training equipment at this park, so I really ought to have taken him. Next time.

Then I was also feeling bad that we didn't see everyone for Winterfest, so to keep the night rolling, we invited everyone out to a restaurant that I had just placed. People showed up in various moods (who hurt you, Ru?), but all five of the older kids showed up...I think. Where is Axi?

Ah, she got a little waylaid playing with a toy on the sidewalk. Of course. My family is so normal.

Now, I maybe possibly didn't choose the best restaurant and should have scoped it out beforehand, because not only was most of the dining outdoors on this winter evening, but the tables are in separate rooms and only seat four, so our party of ten could not even pretend to eat together and two people got left out of the whole thing.

 I also couldn't put everyone in the same dining party for space reasons, so Quartz took Ulex, Axi, Topaz...and Ru, who was not allowed to sit out here unfortunately. Everyone got a meal that I thought was appropriate for their personality, but it turned out I wasn't paying as close attention as I should have.

Declan sat with the Q twins (well, Qusong at least...Quetzal drew the short stick) and the Z twins. I was patting myself on the back for remembering that Qusong is vegetarian and I got her a cheese pizza.

Quetzal, although she did have to eat by herself, at least got to eat indoors, so she might have been the real winner of the night.

And that would make Ru the loser, since she had to eat outdoors AND alone.

You know when I was pleased about Qusong's cheese pizza? Yeah, well, I forgot she has a withered stomach due to being a vampire, so she took one bite and was immediately sick. Oops.

And despite all that back-patting, I totally forgot that Topaz is also vegetarian, even though she can eat food, so she got really nauseated but luckily did not throw up. What a disaster this dinner was.

Back home at mumble-mumble hour in the morning, the kids are rudely awakened by a monster, which we have been having a ton of. I finally guessed that these Eco Living lights are not actually nightlights, despite sharing the mesh with the actual nightlights. Once I replaced them with actual nightlights, the monsters calmed down quite a bit. In the meantime, Zoi decided on her own to befriend the monster, since she's just that much of a social butterfly. Luckily A Rock is there to supervise, so I think she'll be safe.

Uh...so he's kind of there to supervise. I'm sure he's keeping one eye open. Regardless, Zoi did befriend the monster all on her own and felt rather good about it.

The kids were already working with not a lot of hours of sleep because of our excursion, so I woke Declan up from the one time he actually found his bed in order to get them tucked in and back to sleep.

He then went out to work in the greenhouse for a while since he wasn't sleepy, but he got an early morning call from Ru to gossip about Axi. The older kids are always calling their dad to tell him juicy tidbits about each other, and considering they all live in the same house together, I find this dynamic hilarious.

I started having Quartz work on some candles before remembering that she finished that horrible aspiration, and we didn't have to make anything ever again. She's made good progress in Eco Innovator and just needs to get far enough in the Civil Designer career, so once I remembered that was our plan, I had her rejoin the career. Unfortunately, she started back mid-career, so she's got a lot of promotions to get.

Quetzal was visiting one day, along with Dana, who we haven't seen a whole lot of. Zoi was able to corner them to get all of her adult friends made for her aspiration. She just needs child friends now.

Topaz, meanwhile, has finished Creative Prodigy, in addition to her first aspiration of Rambunctious Scamp. She took on Whiz Kid next. She's already a Whiz Kid in my eyes because this girl skills so fast.

Found A Rock guarding his own poop again. WHY is this dog so weird?

He's evidently getting a little stir crazy, so we brought him and the kids to the park.

A Rock successfully got through the training course despite having limited obedience training (I think he knows one command?) with a middling score, but it was good bonding for him and Quartz. The kids played on the playground but only one child showed up for Zoi to befriend, so we needed a change of venue.

I know what you're thinking: "Classic A Rock, guarding his poop. She just made this joke a few pics ago. Is this really necessary?" And I'm here to tell you it is, because notice that that is a small pile. A Rock produces large pet poos. He has graduated to guarding other animals' poop, and I'm frankly quite worried about his mental wellness.

He also wouldn't leave Zoi alone in the park bathroom, so our dog may just have an unhealthy fixation on bodily functions.

There was one kid at the park, but she left before Zoi could finish befriending her, so we invited her over as soon as we got home. She's one of the Snowy Escape premades, so she showed up on this cool evening with a ski helmet...in the middle of Oasis Springs. Yeah, okay, honey. Not sure you need that in the desert, but you go on.

Zoi made friends with the girl and completed her aspiration of Social Butterfly, just in time for all of them (including the new friend) to celebrate New Year's Eve. Happy New Year, Cabochons!

The next morning, Zircon completed Rambunctious Scamp. I don't currently have in my notes what I gave him and Zoi next, so I'll get back to you on that.

The sun rays in this town are getting a little excessive. If I scroll out just a bit too far, it looks like we're in the middle of a nuclear blast.

And on that note, our Eco Living gameplay continues with Quartz heading off to her first shift of her second career as a Civil Designer. The broken hat chops are back, and here to stay this time, I suspect.

Although she's a little embarrassed by how easy the questions are, Topaz has completed Whiz Kid without breaking a sweat. I gave her Social Butterfly, but I don't think I'll complete it, since three aspirations is really quite enough for one kid who may or may not even be heir.

A Rock got old again. It pains me, but I think we'll let him live out the rest of his life naturally this time.

One day while everyone else was at work or school, Ru invited Declan to the Geek Festival.

She promptly bailed on him and Declan didn't win the gaming competition despite spending A LOT of time on the mat at home, so it was a disappointing outing all around.

On a very hot spring day, three of the girls are visiting. Declan is almost always the one playing host since he's not very busy anymore. Quartz is spending a lot of her free time upgrading all the plumbing, appliances, and electronics so she doesn't have the free time to entertain.

Meanwhile, the kids except for Topaz are busy skilling. Zoi completed Artistic Prodigy, which is apparently what I gave her next.

They take a break from skilling to celebrate Topaz's birthday, however.

Nice. She even grew up in a hat. Classic Topaz.

So here's the first baby born in my game after the skin update. Haleigh (MeadowThayer) told me when she saw this pic that Topaz doesn't look like she aged at all, and I totally see it. She's got such a baby face that she basically just got taller. She adds Dog Lover to Vegetarian, so now every child except Axi has fulfilled their destiny. She wants to be a Master Chef, which is a bit disappointing because that's one that I can't complete in her teen years.

She's got plenty of hats in her outfits, as is usual for her, and she's still rocking the blue and yellow combo that is her signature. I actually redid her makeover a few times trying to get it right, but I'm finally settled with this one.

With Topaz on the cusp of adulthood, the countdown is on. The Z twins will be teens soon too, since they weren't born very far behind Topaz as I'm trying to rush the end of this dragging-on gen.

Even though she can't complete Master Chef until she's an adult, I let Topaz work on the early stages. She cooks her first meal immediately upon growing up.

And Declan took one for the team and ate it, since Topaz wasn't hungry. What a good dad!

And that brings us to the end of the chapter. We're so close, you guys. Just need to get these last three to adulthood, and then we can have a tally of the points and an heir poll. I'm in finals currently and I'm hoping to get these guys finished for this gen on my spring break next week. Thanks, as always, for reading, and hopefully I'll have some more updates for you soon. Meanwhile, check in with me at Boolprop! Bye!