We'd been in Portugal the year before where the Gestapo chief of pool attendants ruled with a grip of iron. Dip your toe in or swim without splashing and you might get away with it. Anything like inflatables or fun, forget it. What a difference here. The main pool is huge, so big you¿ve always got your own space. It's about a foot deep and best, of all, it's made from rubber. If the kids fall over, they just bounce back up completely unharmed. Crocodile lilos, dolphin inflatables, balls, snorkels ... they're all there, with two lifeguards keeping a watchful eye on proceedings and spoiling nothing. Rubber humps jut out from the water in various places, with sprinklers keeping them wet and just slippery enough for kids, all Bambi legs, flailing arms and excited squeals, to career down them and splash back into the water.

There are two other pools - one for people who want to swim rather than play and a small toddler/baby outlet for those still needing to find their feet in gentler surroundings. 'Peter Piper picked a peck of pecked ...' Oooh, closer. It was day four. The long, leisurely family meals of fish, salad and pasta or pizza grabbed from the takeaway facility at the parc restaurant were becoming a memorable feature of our stay. Fresh food, happy company, beating the kids at cards, losing to the kids at cards, the daily tonge-twister tests and a few beers as the sun slowly dipped behind the pine woods in which our parc nestled. Great anywhere. Perfect in surroundings like these.

Away from the pools, just a five-minute stroll through more pine woods, is the beach. Not the biggest sandy expanse you'll ever see, with the Thyrranean Sea lapping at its edge maybe 20 yards yards away, but quiet, lovely and secluded. Here, you¿ll find the Beautiful People topping up their tans and families playing contentedly in the warm, welcoming water with a soft breeze taking the sting out of the 90 deg F heat. Beach-traders are a constant feature but never a problem. A shake of the head is all it takes to send them on their way as a steady stream of them criss-cross the beach throughout the day. I enjoyed listening to their calls, returning to England quite fluent in Italian as long as the sentence involved the words, 'towel', 'necklace', 'cheap sunglasses', 'pineapple' or 'strange pointy sun-hat'.

'Red lorry, yellow lorry ...' Six-year-old Ben was joining in, but, with his attention span, he wasn¿t going to stay bothered for too long. Besides, he now had his own lilo and was too busy treading on that on our daily walks to the sea. The kids were having a ball and so were we. Lost in the warm summer happiness of an Italian pine wood, we could have stayed forever. The only thing which shone brighter than the sun was Danny¿s smile; Danny Dowd being the Al Fresco rep. A 34-year-old Mancunian who'd ride up on his bike once a day, check you were happy with everything and then be on his way. Good, unobtrusive service from a thoroughly decent bloke. And how he adored his bike, always tinkering with spanners and tyres and inner-tubes. The parc doesn't seem large as it winds itself through the trees but it's actually quite a sprawling affair, and two wheels were his favourite mode of transport.

It was toss-up who loved what the most - Danny and his bike or Ben and his lilo. And so to day seven and the last supper. Happy memories, a beautiful place, sad to be leaving. 'Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled pepper ...' Finally, Tom had nailed it, and the laughs rang out from the verandah which had witnessed so much good fun over the week. I was going to be pretend he hadn¿t, just to fool you, to give the story an unexpected twist. But fairytales like this deserve a happy ending.

Factfile 1:

Tuscany is utterly beautiful; one of the few places I've visted that does what it says on the postcard. Rolling hills, fields of sunflowers, square upon square of olive plantations, vineyards and rustic villas. Perfect countryside scenery and all under never-ending sunshine.

Park Albatros is about an hour's drive from Pisa Airport, where you get fantastic aerial views of the famous leaning tower as you take off.

From the Parc, several Blue Flag beaches are within easy reach by car - nearby Baratti Bay; the Marina di Castagneto, wide and sandy with an ancient fort backdrop; San Vincenzo just down the road, fine white sand surrounded by woods; and Marina di Cecina, famed for its watersports and pine woods.

Also within reach are Florence and the Uffizi, housing Italy's greatest art collection, and the island of Elba, 10 kilometers from the mainland. You can also take the train to Rome

Park Albatros facilities, in addition to the fabulous pools, include football, cycle hire, a kids club, bar, restaurant and takeaway service.

We hired a car from Europcar, a lovely Alfa Romeo saloon at £210 for a week, all sorted out by Thomson for us. Driving in Italy is fairly straightforward - none of the horror stories you hear about Italian cities - as long as your map-reading wife doesn¿t send you into the heart of the wrong resort, Cecina. Returning to the airport was an hour's pleasurable drive on rural motorways. Getting to Park Albatros' Well, it will live long in the memory. I'm certain we passed Dick Dastardly and the Anthill Mob on the way. We¿re also on first-name terms with many a Cecina pedestrian.

Factfile 2:

For several years, Thomson Al Fresco have led the field in luxury accommodation for this kind of holiday. These luxury holiday homes come in three categories, depending on size, and are fantastic for families who prefer to self-cater. They are spacious, well equipped and the wooden verandahs are ideal for outdoor living. Faultless. Bags of room for five or six people.

Thomson Al Fresco offer holidays in many European locations, including Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, Holland and Croatia. Check out www.thomsonalfresco.co.uk or call 0870 166 0366 for a brochure.

Accommodation prices for a week start at as little as £149 for a smaller Bellini home and range from £681 to £1,074 in the school summer holidays. Prices for the larger Vivaldi accommodation start at £189 and in the summer holidays range from £776 to £1,219.

We flew with Thomson from Doncaster's Robin Hood Airport to Pisa. Return flights in the summer holidays were £880 for two adults and two children. Log on to thomsonfly.com or call 0870 166 0366.

For most destinations, there is a ferry service as an alternative to flying.