The Strudels Arrive
October 8th, 2004
The taxi from Sim City dropped the Strudels off at their new house before the movers had even arrived. Art whipped out his cell phone and called the moving company just as the van pulled onto the lot. The movers apologized profusely and unpacked as quickly as they could. As they toiled, Art and Andi tried to keep the girls entertained.
The movers actually unpacked very quickly, it was almost like no time had passed at all. Before they left, they handed Art their bill from which, he was very glad to see, they had knocked off about 10%. The Strudels couldn't wait to explore their house and wasted no time going inside. As they were checking out the kitchen, Art told Kara that he had been pleased with her excellent grades in school lately and after they were a bit more settled he would like to try to get her into Pleasantview Private School. Kara wasn't too sure because she'd have to wear a uniform. Her dad said they'd discuss it more later.
Since there was a bit of a lull after all the excitement of moving in, Andi decided to continue teaching little Kim to talk. Kim was a bit resistant at first, but she finally said her first word! Needless to say, her mom was very pleased.
Art had just started to prepare some lunch for his family when one of their new neighbors came calling—it was Brandi Broke still very much pregnant. Not one to beat around the bush (she may look sweet and shy but she can be very straightforward), she asked Art what had brought him to Pleasantview. He explained that his wife had gotten an offer in the science field that she couldn't pass up and her opportunity gave him the chance to quit his high stress career.
While her dad greeted the rest of the visitors (Dave, Joyce, and Darren) that showed up after Brandi, Kara was getting hungry. She decided to help her dad out and prepare a dessert for lunch. Plus, she really wanted to play with her toy oven. Everything started out smoothly—she mixed up the muffin mix just like it said on the directions. But then, after Kara'd put the muffin tin into the oven, she started to worry…something was really stinky. Maybe, she hoped, Mom just needed to change Kim's diapers. But, no…it didn't smell the same. She frowned and looked at her oven. Maybe the movers had broken it? Her fears were confirmed when the timer buzzed. A black cloud of stink enveloped her when she opened the oven door. Kara sighed. No dessert today. And she was still hungry. She took a small bite of her muffin, but then quickly threw it out.
Andi could tell Kim was getting a little more squirmy then usual so she stopped trying to get Kim to talk and instead took her into the bathroom. Andi thought this would be a good time to try to teach Kim to use the potty. She sat Kim on her toddler's potty and waited for her to finish. Yeah! Kim was a good girl! Now, thought Andi, if only she'd do it by herself. But at least it was a start.
Art was feeling a bit overwhelmed by the unplanned-for company. He did his best, he made lunch and tried to chat with people, but they were just too many for him to entertain on his own since Andi was busy with Kim. Dave and Joyce soon got bored but they found a chess table in Andi and Art's bedroom.
Finally, everyone was fed. Brandi left early because she was tired and needed her afternoon nap. Art needed to relax a little and decided that playing a bit of SSX wouldn't hurt anyone. Darren and Kara had fun rooting him on.
Darren left to go join his family for dinner. Art was a bit relieved. Although he'd enjoyed meeting some of his neighbors, he really just wanted to be with his family on this first night at their house. Kara was taking a short nap before dinner as was Kim. Art and Andi relaxed a bit before he decided he should probably fix some dinner. But, he was tired. "How about pizza?" he asked. Andi curled her nose a bit at the suggestion but then nodded.
When the pizza from Good Garbage arrived, he took it up to Kara's room. He thought he'd wake her up with the smell of yummy food. But, she was already awake playing with her toys.
While Art was getting the pizza, Andi woke up Kim so she could have her bottle. After Kim was finished with her meal, Andi left Kim with her toys and then went up to Kara's room to eat her own dinner. She found Art and Kara playing dolls. Andi thought it was very cute.
Art was a little startled when Dave showed up at the door to Kara's room. He'd thought everyone had left already. But, Dave had been playing chess until he'd smelled the entoxicating aroma of Good Garbage Pizza.
The rest of her family was happily eating pizza upstairs, but Kim didn't care. She was having too much fun with her toy. The pieces tasted good and it was fun to try to push through the holes.
Andi was looking like she was about to fall asleep on her feet. Art said, "Go on to bed, honey, I'll put Kim to bed." With a grateful smile on her lips, Andi went to their room. Art went to get Kim who was still playing with her toy. Her dad knew he could have just left her there and she would have played until she passed out from exhaustion. He stifled a yawn and realized he had better get her to bed before he passed out himself.
After putting Kim down and making sure Kara was asleep, Art stumbled to bed. Andi was already snuggled beneath the covers. He crawled in next to her. His last thought before he fell asleep was that he needed to look for a job tomorrow.
October 8th, 2004 at 5:47 pm
What wonderful pictures! I'm looking forward to the next installment. 🙂
October 8th, 2004 at 11:03 pm
🙂 great story line! 'Like to hear more about the kids. nice pics!
October 9th, 2004 at 10:39 pm
your stories are great!!! even with just a single pic, you can see what happened before, during, and soon after! i love the way you're telling these stories!
October 10th, 2004 at 8:43 am
Hi! Too much fun, Mom and I really enjoyed it! She'll check it all out at home with Dad!:mrgreen:
October 11th, 2004 at 12:55 pm
Our house is gorgeous!! I'd like to have that now! The oven and the doll house are too cool…remember the ones we had? The playhouse Dad made for us was irreplacable! You have made perfect us's! They all totally fit: our clothes, the toys, mom and dad, etc.
October 11th, 2004 at 1:31 pm
Thanks, Sis! I had fun putting our family together. Yeah, and I wish I had that house too.