Life, what is it but a dream?

Oh my God, Dad is just the best. He decided that the family should take a vacation. Because Ripley and I both love art, we are going to FRANCE! Dad found that he could have had a discount on a vacation to China but he wanted to bring us to the home of fine art.

It was an ask on the family savings. We had 12,000 Simoleons before buying the tickets and more like 9,000 after. Dad just smiled when I brought that up. He said something about only having 7 Simoleons to his name at one point and 9,000 seems like plenty of money.

So here we are, newly arrived and ready for our first holiday.

Dad started off with some fishing.  Ripley and Johnny went to the local museum to soak up some culture.

Me?  I hit the local shops.  Bought my first camera which is a real cheapy.  Just as well, I can't take a decent photo to save my life.

But I could enjoy the quaint town, and the pleasant weather they have this time of year.  I chatted to some people and took photos.

Dad spent time rushing back and forth catching insects and collecting rocks.  He's already found some palladium and sold it.  That alone brought in a fair amount of money.

In the evening, Ripley and I both practiced guitar.  Pity we were working on different songs at the time.

Did I mention that my goals in life are to master guitar and charisma?  I have a long way to go with both.

So here's the end of our first day.  Dad cooked us a proper meal but the whole family was exhausted and barely managed to find a bed before collapsing.

Johnny decided to check the adventure board and offered to find a lost treasure.  Better him then me, tombs sound scary.

Hmm, not just scary but a lot of hard work too.  I think Johnny needs some gym time.  It looks like he can barely handle that axe.

Give the twerp credit, he is doing well at exploring his first tomb.  He's found hidden doors, keys, and treasure.  He's sold a couple of money bags and spare gems.

I'm chilling after doing my homework.  Yeah, homework.  The teacher is not going to take "But we were on holiday" as an excuse.  She's a right b...ummm, witch.

Johnny found everything in this tomb.  He recovered the lost treasure.  He told me later, it was a baseball!  Who thinks of a baseball as treasure?

Dad did more finding rocks and he made his first batch of nectar.  He says it was horrible!

Ripley helped the guy who runs the nectary and got some money as a reward.

So it was a brief holiday, but worth it.  Here we are, getting ready to fly home again.

Johnny has been thinking about what he wants to do with his life.  First he contemplated being like Ripley and mastering the arts.  Then he thought about just swimming in cash.  But he finally decided on having a private museum.  Those gargoyles alone are worth between 4,000 and 5,000 Simoleons so he is well on his way to his goal.

Oh, and with everything we did, gathered and sold, we have 15,000 in the bank.  We are far better off now then before the holiday started in more ways then one.