Jambrina boys... Oliver, Javier, Liam, Jaime and Malachy!

Liam and Javier

Oliver, Malachy and me at the fairground in Santoña

Malachy with his Uncle Javier at the fiestas in Santoña, just before a freak storm of torrential rain washed out the fiestas and forced us indoors!

Liam with his cousin Oliver and their dog

The marina in Santoña, where Javier, Ester, Irene and Oliver have their holiday home.

Malachy in Santoña

Liam in a shot taken by his Uncle Javier in Santoña (Cantabria)

...

up we go!... at yet another playground in Euskadi!

Liam having a mosto with his 'tío', 'tía' and 'abuela' in Algorta

Uncle Juanra... he never changes!

Maite, Jaime's only sister (the eldest of all 8 of them)!

Now you're getting the hang of it!

Look at the road, Malachy...!

The guys taking a walk towards the Casco Viejo in Bilbao... passing by the Teatro Arriaga

Liam enjoying some bouncy castle fun at a summer playground in Bilbao

Lens to lens, focus to focus...

Liam filming me in La Plaza Nueva in Bilbao

Liam and his buddy Unai...

Malachy, coming out in sympathy with my gumboil, fell and grazed his top lip...

How much oil would a gumboil boil if a gumboil could boil oil?!! Jaime thought I'd be too embarrassed to put this on the blog... but, no, not me! This is how disfigured I looked a couple of weeks ago when what I thought was a toothache turned out to be an infected root that quickly turned into a gumboil! This has never happened to me before and looking like the elephant woman for two whole days was not a pleasant experience, I can tell you! Plus it was excrutiatingly painful!!! We were just coming to the end of our holiday in Bilbao at the time and I thought the toothache would subside and that I could hold out till our return to Barcelona to visit my own dentist. I was wrong. I ended up having an emergency consultation over the phone and taking a week-course of antibiotics to get rid of the thing! Now I just have the root canal procedure to look forward to! So learn this lesson: never ignore a toothache! Go straight to your dentist! Or you could end up looking like this...!

Happy as larry!

... this place looks just right!

Malachy trying to find us somewhere to sit down and have a mosto

with the wind in my hair

Malachy in his car seat (not one of his favourite places to be!)

Jaime looking tanned and happy on holiday!

Liam in the driving seat

we just can't take our eyes off you!

Waiting for the rain to stop...

A grey and rainy morning in La Concha Bay

Auntie Saioa and the boys

It was so cool in Guipuzkoa in the evenings that Malachy actually got to wear his fleece once or twice!!

César, official crab and txakolí supplier!

great laughs!

Liam joining in the fun

Malachy getting tickled by Luis

Luis, the proud uncle

... and to go for a saunter and have a few pintxos...

we went into Donosti last Sunday to see the Regattas...

carrousel

more fairground attractions

Liam flying a helicopter at a little fairground in Donosti

!!!

Liam in the playground in Usurbil

Usurbil is surrounded by beautiful countryside and is full of parks/playgrounds... the main square is decorated with this fun mural sculpture. Liam and Malachy found it most entertaining...!

on the way home

... at the end of our walk

Jaime and Malachy in the foreground, Liam trying to feed the black horses in the background