Summer holiday in Italy

We spent our summer holiday in August in Ostia Antica, near Rome, where Valeria's Mum and Dad - Liam's only grandparents - and cousin Elisa live.

It was our first ever family summer holiday, and even in the heat it was a surprising triumph! Days were either spent down at the 'piscina' [swimming pool] at Marinella, or on the beach; evenings were relaxed, with Mum and Dad able to get out into Rome itself for a meal with Valeria's sister, Francesca.

Here are some belting pics of Liam and Mum and Dad having fun in the sun...

Liam by the swimming pool at La Marinella, Ostia (arty or what, eh?)

All of us in the park near Nonna and Noonoo's house: at the climbing frame...

... playing footy (note Nonna's tenacious tracking back!), and Liam with cousin Elisa having lunch.

Liam in the sea in his boat (his "Papolino boat", after a Donald Duck cartoon in Italian featuring a similar vehicle...) Note the T-shirt on: alone among the bambinos on the beach Liam wore a T-shirt in the middle of the day, whereas the local kids are all conker brown.

And on the beach...

Liam playing with Nonna (Grandma) and Mummy in the pool...

... and getting launched skyward by (a balding) Daddy - he enjoyed it, honest! (What a fantastic picture this last one is, given that Nonna had to click and hope with her digital camera, predicting also the 2-3 second time-lapse these things have.)

In another municipal park there was a great 'bouncy' (inflatable play area), which is Liam's natural habitat! We love this big one of him leaning down on one of the inflatables...

The last one, below, is my contribution - several years too late - to Neville Gabie's excellent book of photos of goalposts in unexpected places around the world. Right in the middle of a cornfield, under the flightpath to Fiumicino airport (see the plane? I waited half an hour for it), I saw these posts, and had to try to get a decent picture of their weirdness.