When last we saw the McKim household, oh so long ago: Milo was enjoying life with his growing family; his old digs at the bar got turned into a karaoke lounge; and Marian gave birth to baby Ernie. Let's see how winter treats them!





Ernie grows up first thing in the morning... 


... while Milo makes some special Russian dumplings for a celebratory breakfast.


The kid doesn't waste any time. As soon as he gets his crawling legs on, he makes a beeline straight for Yardbird, aka that fluffy thing he's had his eye on for so long.


And like his big sister before him, he decides that It is Good.

With Tabitha taking over child care in town, Milo and Marian head off to spend the day at the yoga studio where they get right down to business.

They might be a little overexcited about finally getting away from the kids. Cool it, lovebirds.


But then they get down to business for real. Milo's a long way off from his LTW of having five top-level businesses, so there's no time to waste.





The hot tub was something I added to try to get more customer loyalty, but so far, almost no one seems to use it. Suit yourselves, suckers. More room for Marian, then.


Getting home after a long day at work, Milo finds a parent's day is never done. Right, Marian?


"Tee hee. What?"


[An aside for BACCers: how do you like to handle genies? So far, I've used them to wish for wealth, mostly to fund the uni. I think my way of justifying it is to say... it's grant money handed out by the SimCity government for resettling abandoned villages? I'm a little bit conflicted as to whether I'm okay with that, but mostly I just like the money to build things. :D]


Orla! Long time no see.


(Remember this face; you'll be seeing a lot of it before this post is through. Just not in its toddler form, because...)


Milo: [telepathically, to Yardbird] Are you thinking what I'm thinking?


Milo: "That's right! It's birthday time!"


"Hi!"
(You guys, I was testing some things in Body Shop and saw what Orla looks like when she grows up. It's not... great. But maybe it'll look better in-game, like Beatrice? She's so pretty now!)

Anyway, Orla's birthday means it's time to do a little work on the house. The upstairs has been fairly empty since they moved in, especially since they spent so much opening their second business. But now (... with the genie), there's money to build. 

The ground floor stays the same.


The second floor before renovations.


And after. The master bedroom gets moved to the front of the house and a kids' bedroom takes its place, while the wide hall at the back stays open as a multipurpose space. The punching bag is for the ladies (Marian has the fitness OTH and Orla has sports). In the bottom corner is a cute little computer desk, which I apparently didn't take pictures of. Next time.

Mini tour:







The birthday girl is too sleepy to take notice of the changes upstairs.


She steals a nap in her parents' bed, while Yardbird keeps her company from his own little bed in the corner.


Dreaming of cheeseburgers! :3






1 Nice point and 8 Neat points, ladies and gentlemen.

Later that night...

Amy Tang!



No! Not the rug! It really tied the whole room together. :(


And the sofa? Ouch.


But she's not done yet...


Amy Tang!: "OH YEahhhhhhhhhhhh!"


I'm a split second too late to capture the epic arm-throwing rage fit that Orla throws when she finds the bathroom mirror gone, but trust. She is not pleased.


And neither are her parents when they see the living room in the morning. Don't worry, kids; the genie money—I mean, the grant money—means you can buy it all back. Still, the robbery puts everyone in a foul mood for the rest of the day.







Orla: "C+? Da eff is this?"


No matter. Business to attend to, and after dropping the kids off at Tabby's, Milo and Marian stroll off to the bar to handle the night shift.






It's a snow day the next day, so everyone spends a leisurely morning at home. 
[See the Batavus house in the background there? For some reason, in neighborhood view, you can see through the front facade into the green bedroom. I don't know why this is, and it drives me crazy!]


I think this is the first mean snowman I've ever seen. 


Milo: "Annnd there you go, your bowl is sparkling clean! Now to get you your breakfast..."
Yardbird: "Way ahead of you, dude."


Orla is totes unimpressed with her mom's table manners. There's an 8-Neat point difference between them!


Milo tries to counter with all of the other wonderful qualities that Marian has to offer.


But Orla is unmoved.


Really, really unmoved. I begin to worry that her face will freeze that way.
Meanwhile, Marian: "See how many fucks..."

Luckily, Milo doesn't have the same hangups about cleanliness as his persnickety little daughter. Marian's been holding onto a Get Married want for a long time now. If you scroll back up to the picture of Main Street from in front of Milo's bar, you can see the newly constructed City Hall building. It's not 100% finished, but Mayor Frida gives them the okay to use the chapel, and Milo and Marian decide it's time to get hitched in front of all their friends.



Milo: "Powder blue for formalwear? Excellent choice, friend."









Everyone has a grand old time, eating and toasting the night away on the rooftop lounge after the ceremony.


By the time anyone makes it down to the dancing, all the other guests have gone home. But the happy couple don't seem to mind.








It's a lovely night, for sure. But maybe the best part is coming home.