EPIC Tripp: Garden of Eden – 1.07

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We are starting on the summer season now and Belle is all grown up into a teenager. We discover she’s a bit of a hot-head on top of being a loner, so finding her a boyfriend should be exciting. Not that she has time to focus on boys yet. We have to get her to level 5 in two of the following, gardening, fishing or cooking.

During the first time some people were hanging around the house and this lady came into Belle’s bedroom and started playing her violin, waking her up. Belle listened for a bit before asking her to leave.

Belle and her father have a wonderful relationship, in fact, she is best friends with both of her parents. That’s good because she has yet to make a friend outside of the family.

Johnny: ….and then, wait for it, this is the best part….then he went away. Isn’t that amazing!!!???

Belle: Um….wow, yeah dad, amazing.

Is he telling you about the dream he had again? The one with the vampire?

Belle: Yes, I have heard this story over and over again. It also seems kind of dubious.

I know, but I can vouch for the fact it happened. At least part of it. I have a feeling he’s embellished it a bit.

Belle: Like with the fact the vampire floating through the air and sparkled?

Oh god! Yes, exactly like that. That did not happen!!! The vampire didn’t sparkle.

Kiana and Johnny are still very much in love with each other and autonomously do romantic things with each other, like hug and kiss all the time. They also like to be goofy together, especially since Johnny is a goofball.

Since Belle needs to get a level 5 of a couple of skills she tries her hand at fishing with her dad. Not only does it give him more time to regale her with his stories, just like a dad, she gets some skilling time in.

When they were starting to get tired of fishing Johnny helped Belle with her homework, right there by the river. Why not, it was a beautiful evening, the water was calming and Belle brought it with her.

Kiana is getting closer and closer to level 8 in her flower arranging. This skill feels like it takes forever to get in these higher levels, but she is diligent and working on it using flowers straight from her garden.

She is getting pretty good now. In fact, she is getting good enough that she FINALLY got to level 8 and has been able to start making masterpieces.

Belle comes home angry almost every day from school and she tends to take a jog to collect her thoughts and calm herself down. That hot-headed trait is going to be a bit of a pain to work around, but while jogging Belle seemed to be on the lookout for a guy as well.

Back at home she was needing some fun, BADLY. She was desperate for it, so she turned to her trusty violin to give her some enjoyment. She’s getting good, already up to a level 4, so almost 1/2 way there and she hasn’t picked up the violin much lately, so that’s pretty good in my book, and what she plays at least sounds like music.

Getting tired of standing at her bench Kiana decides to sit and read about flower arranging, learning about other options for her to get better and better.

We tend to let Belle do most of the cooking, since she needs the cooking skills, although I’m not completely sure about the way she is trying to stir this food.

Um…Belle, are you sure that’s the best way to be stirring….whatever it is you are cooking?

Belle: It’s getting stuck on the bottom! I don’t want it to burn more than it is!

It’s ok! It seems like it’s fine.

Belle: Mom makes such good food and I don’t want to waste more than we already do by not having some sort of icebox. Why don’t we have one of those again?

Because, unfortunately, unless your mom or dad manage to get to the top of their careers it will never be available to you.

Belle: Man, you would like they wouldn’t want people wasting all this money on produce, but I guess since we grow it ourselves it’s not that bad.

On Monday, as it typically, Belle brought a project home from school. She was supposed to make a rocket and her dad jumped at the chance to help her. Kiana came and helped out after she was done with the garden as well.

After the project was completed Belle went off to take a bath, but her parents couldn’t resist setting it off. I found it fun I could watch it go up and come back down.

Kiana had to gift a flower arrangement for work and so she greeted a person walking down the street and had a nice conversation with them, handing them one of her beautiful bouquets while she was at it.

With Belle being able to entertain herself, and take care of most of her needs by herself anymore Kiana and Johnny take full advantage of that fact and spend some time being together again.

Belle dutifully does her homework, although we slacked on it a couple of days because she was in such a bad mood. She is still only at a B in high school, but we will get that raised up fast enough soon.

Kiana: The chores never seem to stop around here.

I know, and to think you even work from home all the time. Life will be easier when you finally get a fridge and you are setting your family up for successful through the future generations.

Kiana: I’m glad. I knew I wanted to start from scratch, so to speak. It was important to do things on my own.

The family sits down, sometimes for a full family dinner. It doesn’t happen as often as they might want it to, but everyone is getting to be on semi-different schedules with work and school.

Kiana is starting to get very proud of herself and her flower arranging abilities. She is one promotion away from being the top of her career. Sadly that means she needs to max her flower arranging and that is slow going. I’m probably going to spam her making flower arrangements these next few days, and let Belle take care of the garden.

Kiana decides to try and sell some of the extra flower and produce that she had an over abundance of and man’s a sales table, opening up the farmer’s market. She doesn’t get much, but it is better than nothing and she meets some people.

The hot-headed trait rears it’s ugly head again when Belle gets home from school this day, and she decides to take it out on poor Blaffy, Blarffy, I can’t remember what he’s called.

Once she has calmed down, she joins her mother out in the garden and keeps working on that skill. She is up to a level 4 now, so only one more level to go.

However, as soon as the gardening is done she goes off to destroy her childhood dollhouse. As soon as she’s done, and feels better I have her repair it again.

We are getting close to the end of the season, and in this case, the end of this update as well. The garden has grown some, and Kiana found some additional flowers she had not yet found which will make it easier to make higher level arrangements.

Johnny was up early as he had gone to bed super early the evening before. He was in need of fun in a bad way, so we had him go practice his chess moves before letting him have a bath and head back to bed.

Belle once again cooks breakfast in the morning, and she is very close to a level 4 cooking now. With this knowledge, though she is also at level 3 fishing, I think cooking and gardening will be her 2 skills.

Then Belle heads off to the garden where she actually WHISTLES while she works. Kiana has always whistled while working in the garden, but Belle had always seemed to somewhat dread when I would send her to the garden. It would appear she is learning to enjoy it.

Inside, the ladies both study. They both have a bit of a ways to go on their skills and anytime we can spend studying while also gaining a bit of fun while reading is well worth it.

We end the season with a family meal again. It’s going to be Sunday when we come back and hopefully Belle can spend enough time in the garden with her mom to reach her last needed garden skill. Kiana has a sliver left to get to max her gardening skill and then it will be all about flower arranging.

In 6 days Belle will grow up to a young adult, and hopefully I will have achieved the needed skills to move onto the next generation. Sadly, Belle has no other friends, even though she has spent time in school trying to make friends. She has met a couple of boys, however, so maybe one will be of interest to her. It will take a special person.

Post 1.06 | Rules | Post 1.08