As summer in Ireland draws to its soggy close (lots of rain and lots of storms!) and we move into autumn proper (though it's felt like autumn here since about... oh... late May!) here are some Shan family snaps over the course of the last few months.

The first couple date back to a warm(ish) day in mid July, when Mrs Shan and Dante went swimming in the River Shannon, off of Ringmoylan Pier, which lies at the foot of the road where our house sits. I had to stay out and mind Gaia, though I did let her paddle around a bit. I love her expression -- "This is freezing! You think I'm crazy enough to go in any deeper?!?" Mind you, Dante doesn't look any more enthusiastic -- although, to be fair to him, he did enjoy it once he got in a bit further.

I love the sweet picture of Gaia "feeding" her favourite doll. Dante never interacted that much with dolls -- he liked them, and kept a fair few around the place, but he didn't care for them the way Gaia does. I think in that respect she takes more after her mother, while he takes more after me -- us Shan men are lazy, selfish little sods... :-)

The final photo was taken on my birthday in early July, up in Curraghchase, our local forest park. I figured this would be good training for when Gaia's a bit older and makes the trek to Vampire Mountain -- she'll need to work on her sense of balance if she wants to challenge Arra Sails on the bars! :-)