The Shans decamped to the suburbs of London at the start of the summer holidays, to stay with Babcia (Mrs Shan's mum) for a couple of weeks. We packed in a lot while we were there, and here are some photos from the trip.

In the first, we visit Aunt Mary, a Carmelite nun who lives in an enclosed order in the wilds of Norfolk. I've visited her once or twice a year since I first hooked up with the future Mrs Shan more than twenty years ago, and it's always a joy to catch up with her. She's a fascinating character, a healthy, fully-with-it woman in her eighties, happily obsessed with God, Johnny Cash, Terry Pratchett and the physicist Brian Cox -- not necessarily in that order!!! :-) :-)

The next two are action shots of Dante and Gaia in a playground -- we spent quite a lot of time in playgrounds on the vacation!

The fourth catches Mrs Shan and I in Kew Gardens, relaxing in front of a giant sculpture of a troll. (I've been trying to get a picture book about a troll off the ground, which is why I was so keen to pose in front of this! Hopefully it will happen some day, though it's proving something of a struggle...)