My daughter Gaia has a good ear for a tune -- one of her favourite songs at the moment, which she had me play to her in the car a short while ago when we were driving back from a playground, is that 1980s classic The Safety Dance, by Men Without Hats. I was a big fan of this song upon its initial release (I can still vividly recall the quirky video) when I was just 10 years old, and it's lovely and nostalgic (if slightly surreal) to still be listening to it 40 years later!!

But I digress!! As I said in last Sunday's post, I've been nearing the end of my 2021 family snaps, and today I can FINALLY rid my folder of them completely, with the last few photos dating back to last year!

We kick things off with a solo shot of Gaia, when we visited Center Parcs Ireland last December. The weather was very mild for that time of year, which is why she ended up on the man-made beach one of the days, eating a "delicious" sand-flavoured ice cream cone which was made of... um... actual sand!!!

The second and third shots were also taken in Center Parcs, but at night, when we went on a walk around a trail of lights section of the park.

Mrs Shan and our son Dante star in the final pic, which was taken last autumn when they went picking sloes, to make sloe gin. They were clearly very happy with their haul -- almost as happy as I'm going to be when I "sample" it when it's ready!!!

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Want to catch Darren Shan in action at his first in-the-flesh event in England in six years?!? I'm in Tunbridge Wells next Saturday, 30th April, at 2pm, talking about my books, answering questions from the audience, and signing afterwards. Click here for more info and to book tickets if interested: https://theamelia.co.uk/tw-lit-fest/darren-shan/