Confessions of a so-called expat wife: Our holiday: UK and Portugal, June-July 2012

Walking with Granddad, Crosby Beach, Liverpool. My father-in-law has vascular dementia, meaning impaired blood flow to his brain is affecting his memory. His short-term memory is affected most of all so he can't remember stuff that has happened 5 minutes ago. He can still remember things that happened 10 years ago but his brain is getting worse at organising them chronologically. For example, he mixes up events that happened ten years ago with those that occurred five years ago.

I wanted to capture as many moments on film/video of Connor with his granddad for both their benefits and this is one of them.

Amboi.... this cat shelter was the cutest thing ever! Lots of people bring food to the cats in this shelter. They're all free for adoption too. Lagos, Portugal

Us taking the tourist train-tram. It's really a truck dressed up to look like a train. Made by a German company called Tschu Tschu. I am so NOT kidding you. Lagos, Portugal

Shot of the beach in Luz, Portugal at around 8pm. The beach was completely deserted as everyone had left for dinner. We'd taken a walk down from my sister-in-law's apartment (about 5 min away) as our son was being super-duper hyper and we decided a walk would tire him out.

Come play with me! For some reason, Connor adored flinging sand into the wind and watching it disperse. He wasn't interested in building sand castles. What he was really interested in was the properties of the sand itself. It's a very peculiar interest but I've noted my son is often less interested in playing with a toy/material and more interested in its properties or how it works.

Luz, Portugal

Oh. My. God. Somersby cider. Best thing ever. It's available here in Kuala Lumpur as well but at double the prices that we'd paid in UK/Portugal for them. RM12 for a 330ml bottle? No thank you.