Round 1: Jackson
Tracey Jackson went through a rather nasty divorce and was very relieved when the courts awarded her full custody of her three children. Her dead beat ex-husband didn't really want to be in the picture anyway. So Tracey decided to pick up the pieces of her life and move to Bakersfield to try to put them back together.
Tracey's got her hands full, raising three kids alone. Especially when one of the kids, April, is a very rambunctious girl.
She tends to come off a little too strong and ends up hurting somebody's feelings which she truly feels sorry about.
But her brothers are more than capable of giving it right back to her!
Despite her constant tormenting, April is actually best friends with both of her brothers. Dixon and Luke, on the other hand, can't stand each other and have a relationship deep in the negative numbers.
Both boys love sports, but they hate each other so much that they won't even play together. Dixon always ends up playing with April while Luke has to ask neighbors for attention.
Luke has become good friends with neighbor, Hugh Scott. He looks up to Hugh and secretly wishes he could be his daddy.
Tracey never really has any time to herself. She's constantly caring for the kids, or working.
Luckily, her good friend Hugh comes over and helps out a lot. At one point, Tracey thought she might actually want a relationship with Hugh, but then he told her about his whirlwind romance with Larke Wilcox and the baby they're expecting.
The kids help out with the chores around the house. If it weren't for their help, Tracey really never would get a moment to herself. Three kids can sure make a lot of mess!
April can be a very sweet girl when she wants to, but her energy is never ending!
Well, she does get tired, but it's nothing a little power nap can't fix.
Tracey wishes she could take a power nap. She gets up before the sun to get ready for work. Her neighbors, Leslie and Daniel, helped get her a job in the Military. She really wants to become a journalist, but she needs money fast right now.
At least she has some luck with the chance cards. A cash reward would have been preferable, but at least she walks away with a cooking skill point.
When the kids get home from school, it's homework time. Poor Tracey helps each kid with their homework, which usually takes up all the time before dinner needs to be made.
On Tracey's day off, she decides to keep the kids home from school so they can have some fun. But she still makes them get out of bed super early, and poor Luke can't even keep his eyes open.
She decides to take them to Cobbler Creek for a little fun in the sun.
The kids have fun swimming in the creek.
While Tracey tries her hand at a little fishing. Unfortunately, it's a lot harder than it looks!
April agrees to play some football with Luke, since Dixon won't play with him.
And then she joins Dixon and does a little fishing. Dixon is a natural fisherman and reels in some pretty big fish just about every time. Poor April has only ever caught old boots.
It's like he can smell the fish in their pockets! I thought the penguin only came out in cold weather?
Tracey did so much fishing that she got her bronze fishing badge and raised her nature hobby enough to be invited to the secret lot.
After their fun day at the creek, it's time to get back to business. It's half way through the round and Tracey still hasn't found love. Until she met Ruben Wilcox that is.
Larke wonders if her father and his much-too-young-for-him mistress can find some place else to make out. Ruben has been seen around town with Mona Benson, but he swears it's nothing serious.
Tracey really likes Ruben, but she's just not sure she's in love with him. And given his advanced age, she's scared to let her kids get attached to someone who may not be around much longer. But she does care for him.
April doesn't have her mother's lucky way with chance cards. Luckily she only lost a little nature enthusiasm this time.
With her love life going crazy, Tracey decides to spend some time focusing on her career.
The extra effort pays off when she comes home with a promotion to the Elite Forces the next day.
This makes Tracey a very happy girl. The family was really running low on money at this point.
The kids are doing excellent in school. All of them have an A+ so far.
And they have a smustle party in the boys' room to celebrate their good grades!
While being confused over her relationship with Ruben Wilcox, Tracey is blindsided by an intense attraction to townie Robin Moran.
They have a high 2 bolt attraction, but with turn on modifications they could easily be a mid-3-bolter.
So far, Tracey's not really rolling any wants for either man. She's just way too busy caring for and having fun with her kids.
With extra money from her recent promotion, Tracey decides to give in to her kids and get them a pet. They've all had the want to adopt a dog since the beginning of the round.
The kids pick out a Keeshond (large dog breed) whom they name Harley.
Harley is a doofus, lazy, independent, sort of aggressive yet sort of cowardly, and finnicky. He's cute!
The kids spend so much time with Harley that they often forget to do the important things, like bathe!
That's it for the Jackson family for Round 1. I was hoping Tracey would get pregnant from somebody (anybody!) since she needs to have a baby before getting married. Her 3 kids technically count as generation 1 along with her, since they were made in CAS (according to the challenge). So it would be faster to have Tracey have a new baby and immediately begin generation 2 for this family, rather than waiting for the 3 kids to grow up and have kids. Oh well. Maybe next round!