From Pool Halls to Parks

This has been some kind of long boring day. It's rainy outside, and I'm stuck here at work, and I'd much rather be watching the rain at home. Oh, well...tough life. I guess it could be worse, though. I could have an outdoor job and be watching the rain falling down on my head while I try to work (been there before, and it's no fun).

It will be a bit before we get to them, but here's a very brief preview of the Jackson family members:

From left to right, we have Leon "Ladies Man" Jackson, Kareem "Moon Dawg" Jackson, Kevin "Sunshine" Jackson, and Chester "Pug" Jackson (so named because he happens to be a pug). Unlike my other families, I used only heads that were already in the game for this crew. No sense in having so many added by all the expansions if they never get used. We'll look at them a bit more, mingled with our other families, after a few more Wilson posts.

When we last left our beloved Wilsons, they'd decided they needed to get out of the house again. Geez, guys...you've only had one entry at home since you're extended family vacation...what's wrong with you? Anyway, they called up the Old Town trolley and headed off into the unknown. Kevin suggested they hit a local pool hall he'd heard a lot about. I guess Mia Kay didn't have any say in the matter.

No outside lights? Thank goodness there are no sim muggers!

The gang hung around for a little bit, and shot some pool, and also spent a lot of time running up and down the stairs for reasons I couldn't quite fathom (maybe exercise?). It didn't take them very long to realize that they were doing pretty much the exact same things they did at home, only in much more cramped quarters, and it was decided that maybe they'd better try some place else...without Kevin's input.

Kitty: "This is just like being at home...only more expensive!"

Mia Kay suggested they go to a park, and this time the family listened to her. Most likely, she thought that there would be other kids at the park, but it didn't seem to be a very popular place when the family arrived. Only vendors and an ancient sax player were there. At least the park had some attractions that were new to the family, though. Kitty was quickly drawn to a Cockatoo sitting by itself on a perch in a far corner of the park.

I don't imagine that bird enjoys having a Kitty that close to it...har har...

Marty was a little ways away, checking out a giant cage full of much smaller birds. Maybe these guys are trying to hint to me that they need a pet at home. Well, considering there are already seven family members, and I've seen the mess the Millers' pets make of their house, I don't really see that happening any time soon. Sorry, guys. Guess you'll just have to visit them here (or play with the strays, like Julie does).

Marty: "Wow...it's just like the White House...if the White House was made of metal bars and was filled with birds!"

J.D. was off spending time with Mia Kay, just like a good father should. She'd apparently found the little spring mounted horses, and was practicing her riding skills. J.D. seems quite enthusiastic about the whole thing, though probably not nearly as thrilled as Mia Kay is, since there's nothing nearly this fun for her to do at home (hint, hint, guys!).

JD: "Way to go! You'll be riding the mechanical bull in no time!"

J.D. heard some strange sounds coming from further away in the park, and went to investigate. It was the ancient sax player, wheezing away on his instrument. J.D. didn't seem terribly excited about the performance, but before we go blaming the musician, we might consider the fact that J.D. was standing right on top of one of the fountains all the while he was listening. Genius...

JD: "We'd better go...I think it's starting to rain!"

Kevin and Marty were apparently the most easily amused of all. When I went to check on them, they were contenting themselves with standing in the flowers around the fountain in the middle of the park, watching the water flow. I thought that only cats were that easily amused. Here the family spent all that money on pool tables, big screen TV's, and other gadgets, when all they really needed was a fountain on their property to occupy these two.

Kevin: "It's so...so...bubbly..."

Well, that didn't keep Marty occupied for all that long, though. I went to go check on the rest of the family (just because there were no muggers at the pool hall doesn't mean there were none at the park), and when I came back to where Marty had been, he'd ditched Kevin and the fountain, and was making out with Kitty. I won't fault him for that...it's got to be more interesting than staring at water.

Marty: "Okay...the fountain was getting a little boring anyway..."

The park wasn't completely devoid of weirdoes. No sooner were Marty and Kitty starting to enjoy the freedom of having no non-family sims around than the biggest weirdo of all, the obsessed fan, showed up. This sort of ruined the mood for smooching, so the pair broke it up, and moved on to other less exciting activities.

Kitty: "This is it? This is the exciting thing you wanted to show me?"

It started to get dark, and the family decided it was time to move on. No, they weren't ready to go home, but you know how dangerous it can be to be in a park at night, especially when the lights aren't working (that was my fault, I realized later). They decided to hop on the trolley and take a trip to somewhere a little safer and a lot more interesting...fountain gazing and bird watching was starting to get a little bit old. Actually, Marty wanted to call the trolley so they could go elsewhere, but he was trapped on the bench with Kevin and Kitty yapping away in front of him.

Kevin: "Forget the fountain...did you see those flowers?!"

There's more to come next time as the Wilsons continue their outing so be sure to check in tomorrow (or whenever the next time I post is). Otherwise, you might have to read it a day or so late...oh, the horror! See ya' then!