1.14 - Just Me and My Dad

Quite a few things changed for Isabel once she settled in to life with Dad.

Dad got rid of a lot of dead plants that got neglected, and cleaned up all the piles of stinky dirty laundry too. He was a full time scientist now with more flexible hours. He now worked the same hours Isabel would be in school so they could spend a lot of time together.

Simon had really let the place go for awhile ... but now he had new motivation and happiness.

He even let Isabel paint over the bright butterfly wallpaper in her room and redecorate it herself - with dragon bedding and wall pictures of course.

Isabel's room is not very feminine, but this is just how she likes it.

Isabel learned to ride a bike and she was even allowed to go up to her favorite place so long as she always took Cupid with her.

Being the outdoors loving type was perfect for Appaloosa Plains since there was a lot of outdoors and not much else to do.

Isabel spent a LOT of time at the dinosaur dig site.

It's easy to imagine these old giant skulls are really dragons!

And Cupid proved to be an excellent bone hunter. Isabel was starting a collection of them which she hoped to re-assemble into a real dragon skeleton someday!

"Cupid has found something SPECIAL" (it better not be another empty chip bag!)

Isabel also gained a love and trust with animals like her Dad, though she was far more interested in fossils, bones and such. She did catch a pygmy komodo dragon that became her "first dragon" find ...

"I know Dad says you're not a real dragon, but you're my dragon!"

And Dad took her along on his zoological hunts, which she absolutely loved. She especially loved going up to the fishing hole with the waterfall.

Here she saw her first wild horse.

"SQUEEEE!"

 Oh lets see that face up close ...

Isabel you are too cute!

And even Dad got a big surprise when one of the rarest birds in all of the animal simdom made a brief appearance.

"The ultra rare Spotted Sixam!"

Isabel isn't afraid of icky things, and loves finding things, especially strange things. She catches water beetles to keep in the bath tub ...

"Maybe I can put these in Dad's drinking glass without him noticing ... that would be funny!"

And she learns how to skip rocks on the pond which Cupid loved to chase after and get muddy wet.

"Go get it Cupid!"

Even Dad gives rock skipping a try.

Cupid apparently wonders why he's not at work.

Throwing in perfect unison - with matching scrunched up faces. =)

And Simon teaches Isabel to fish. Where they spend a lot of time talking about life.

Isabel wants to know why Dad and Mom split up. Dad says its really complicated.

Isabel thinks it's pretty simple.

"Well I'm never getting married. Love is way overrated."

Dad catches a humongous mutant toad.

Isabel only catches a scrawny minnow.

"What the crap Dad, that thing must be eating toxic waste runoff or something..."

Isabel and Cupid quickly become best friends, never leaving one another's side for long. Simon feels confident that Cupid keeps a close eye on his fearless daughter and keeps her in line.

Cupid loves to play fetch almost as much as he loves to dig up stuff.

Best Friends Forever.

And the best part of the whole summer was when Dad helped Isabel build a tree fort, and actually let her sleep out in it all night. She wasn't afraid one bit and dreamed of far away adventures she one day planned to have.

"I spy a faraway land of strange creatures doing a mating ritual ... or the neighbors are just making out on their porch"

But even the best summers eventually come to an end.

And everything changes.

Isabel has to go to school now.

Whispering to her first friend Joe, "Dude, I think the bus driver is a robot, look, she never turns her head!!"

And then, the dreaded overrated thing happened.

Her Dad met a girl when they went for ice cream one day.

"blah blah blah, vegetables, blah blah" - Isabel is trying to tune out their boring flirtatious conversation.

Yeah - Dad wasn't going to stay hers alone much longer. Isabel was pissed.

She went over to Joe's to do homework. At least he didn't try to kiss her or be mushy and dumb.

Joe: "Yeah, girls like it when guys take them under the covers and wrestle. My Mom and Dad do it all the time"
Isabel: "Ugh, shut up and copy my homework faster Joe, you're grossing me out."

Isabel was only half paying attention to her homework. It was so easy she didn't even have to think. She could instead plot her next mastermind mission against the intruder woman  ...


Stay Tuned to find out if Isabel actually manages to run off Dad's new interest!


Go on to read Ch. 1.15 "Mothers and Monsters" HERE!


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Sidenotes:

Just a shorty update using some screenshots I had leftover before things start to change again. Simon's met someone he's compatible with this past weekend, so we'll see how that goes and hopefully get some fun prank action in for Isabel.

I changed Isabel's hair to straight (at the end) because she doesn't have Mama around to do up the fancy twisty buns anymore and she prefers the no-fuss look anyways. ;) She's turning into a real "tomboy" which is to be expected with her personality and spending a lot of time outdoors with Dad. The future Adventurer-to-be is doing great!