Monday Moments - Turning Two

Turning two can be full of ups and downs.  Eating pizza is fun.   This is Levi Faries - a great grandchild. (Yikes)

People bursting into a rousing "Happy Birthday" song brings tears.  Scared by the noise? Afraid of the pressures of being 2?    Mother, Abigail, was there to calm the nerves. 

Doing better once he could eat the cupcake.  Um, red dye icing - a  tad messy

Plenty of presents - but nothing's better than a bike and a lollipop. 

Good luck, Levi, in the Terrible Twos Phase.
 

Finally Friday - After I Do by Taylor Jenkins Reid

 cover blurb: After I Do by Taylor Jenkins Reid is a love story about what happens when love fades. It's about staying in love, seizing love, forsaking love, and committing to love with everything you've got. Above all, After I Do is the story of a couple caught up in an old game - and searching for a new road to happily  ever after. 

Lauren and Ryan's marriage is  out of sorts.  They decide to take a year off to figure things out. The only rule is NO Contact at all.   Lauren finds this very challenging. She's  questioning monogamy, marriage, romance, fidelity, love, lust, and more.  Key questions - what do you value?  What are you  willing to fight for? 

I enjoyed this story and it does make one think about the whole concept of marriage. Taylor Jenkins Reid writes a good tale and obviously liked her characters.  She's realistic with their flaws and helps them work through a tough year. 

A worthy reading journey. 

Whatever Wednesday - We All Live Here by Jojo Moyes

 We All Live Here by Jojo Moyes is quite the family tale. I was starting to get claustrophobia. 

cover blurb -Lila Kennedy wrote a bestselling book about keeping your marriage alive. Now she's watching her ex-husband play happy families with another woman. Her very fractured family is forced to live under one roof and Lila thinks she's reached her limit.  But what if the one person you couldn't forgive holds the secret to pulling your  family together again?  

Meanwhile, her agent is  bugging her for  her next book - hoping it will be about being single again and playing the field. Lila isn't  feeling that free and easy. She's maybe seeing Jensen.  

Her stepdad, Bill, moved in after Lila's mother died. He helped raise Lila. He's a help until he's not.

Her real father, Gene, a failed Hollywood actor, was never around. Suddenly he's at her doorstep - out of money. 

And her daughters, Celie and Violet, are furious at their father who left them, and are now rather fascinated by this "new" grandfather. 

What a mess.  Lila has a lot to deal with and work through.  Jojo Moyes is a solid writer who keeps the plot churning, the characters in  play, and humor abounds amidst the messes of family life. 

Well done.

Monday Moments - This is Happiness by Niall Williams

I enjoyed History of the Rain so much, I had to  find other Niall  Williams to read.  This is Happiness did not disappoint. 

cover blurb - Change is coming to Faha, a small Irish  parish unaltered in a thousand years. Electricity is  coming and the rain seems to stop. 

Noel Crowe is seventeen, restless, and a bit excited when Christy comes to Faha. He has secrets and a past love here in Faha. Meanwhile, Noel falls in and out  of love with three sisters - all out of his  league.  

cover blurb - Niall Williams gives us  a tender portrait of a community - its idiosyncrasies and traditions, its paradoxes and kindnesses, its failures and triumphs - with a tender coming of age story. 

I enjoyed the writing  - Williams' Irish lilt and his meandering ways all lend a charm.  Not a lot really happens and that's okay.  It's just the journey and time spent in  town - the gossip, the silences, the "scandal", and the time going to church, discussing church, avoiding church, and hoping the  rains come again.  That is happiness.  

Finally Friday - Explore Old Town in New Castle DE

Sail into New Castle DE and explore their old town.  Very nicely maintained town
 

a small  courtyard

gated view

William Penn did business here first before settling into Philadelphia

I love the  old buildings.  Alas, we were not there on a  tour day

I bet the museum held a musket or two from  Revolutionary Days. 

This was a nice jaunt, thanks to my sister. 

Whatever Wednesday - More corners of Glencairn

Let's poke about a bit more and admire  the craftsmanship at Glencairn

I loved this lamp. The shade just  glowed

Creepy king eyes watched as kids had to walk by him to enter the children's room

My head stayed on a swivel to try to see everything.  Look up, down, and sideways

Carvings in the library

And the master bedroom.  Note the turtledove post carvings. A sign of love

 Incredibly amazing place to visit.  I hope you enjoyed this quick few days of blog  posts as an overview. 
 

Monday Moments at the Dallas Arboretum

It wasn't all pumpkins at  the arboretum.  Plenty  of fall color plants flourished

Monarch migration time. I was happy he posed for me

Purple posies

lush lemon yellow mums

You can't  escape the pumpkins as you round the corner

We  were there almost two hours.  No, we didn't count the  pumpkins.  Maybe next year. 

Happy November!