Mumble stands guard while Ale snoozes

Ale loves the movie Happy Feet and her go-to stuffed animal is Mumble the penguin... Notice she still favors the touch-down snoozing position.

Sub-urban camping...

Ale and her posse camp out in the living room...

Grandma and Grandpa time...

My parents came up for my thesis defense and Alejandra entertained them with her giggles, melodies, and mirth.

Ale reads Grandma a story...

Watching Lincecum strike out 15 at a SF Giants game...

taking Grandma and Grandpa for a walk around the neighborhood...

Stanford meanderings

Ale offers solace and comfort to a forlorn Burgher of Calais...

with Grandma and Grandpa in front of Stanford Memorial Church

The instrumentatious series...

ukelele strumming

graduations

Big Daddy finally completed his PhD this summer, and Ale and Big Mama were there to accompany him. We're wrapping things up at Stanford and preparing for the migration to St. Louis later this Fall...

Telephonic phun

Thank you for calling Critters-R-Us... Can I help you?

Corn munching

Mmmmm... nothing like sweetable corn on the cob!

Ale stops to smell the flowers

prelude to a bike ride...

Big Mama equips Ale for a soon-to-be initiation to back-seat bicycle riding.

San Diego sojourns

We headed down to San Diego over July 4th weekend for the baptism of Dave and Christine Carta's son, Andrew. We had a fun time with good friends, family, fireworks, and an afternoon at La Jolla Shores...

The posse at La Jolla Shores...

Ale is quite impressed that Sam can trudge off with a bucket full of sand...

Splashing in the Pacific with Jennie.

Splashing in the wading pool with Grandma...