I love everything about seasons. The weather, as expected, puts my favorite kind of realism back into the game: the passage of time, the changing of the seasons, a real sense of having sims live years and then die and trying to get as many fun moments out of it as possible. By going to the park on sunny days, putting up a Christmas tree as soon as winter comes around, having water balloon fights in summer, cooling off in the pool, building snowmen together, drink a hot tea or have a bath on a cold night, take the dogs out for a walk even when it rains, doing some gardening, ... Idk I can't put it into words but it's just this type of connection to the world around the sims that I missed the most. And the calendar has magnified that pleasure even more. I've now in my second year started tinkering around more with my own holidays. In both winter and summer there's 2 national holiday days in a row: the last two days before the last weekend of summer and in winter between winterfest and NYE. I also use it to schedule bi-weekly dinner dates with the inlaws for which the inviting household prepares a grand meal and cake. I like it to keep track of birthdays and I'm sure there's more holidays / events ideas to come around eventually. Anyway, so many things to love about this EP <3
