We started our California trip with a visit to Atascadero, to my mom and Alan's house. It was a lovely visit as always.

Many of Alan's family members live nearby, and some of them stopped by for dinner, which was great. They're such a friendly group, and they make us feel welcome whenever we're in town (or camping).

We mostly hung around the house and relaxed, which is my favorite thing to do in Atascadero. Patrick, Alan, and Arlo went for a hike while my mom and I knitted. We visited the chickens down the road. Patrick and Arlo enjoyed the porch swing. We ate chocolate cake and enchiladas made with Alan's homemade tortillas. It was good.

Next, we headed up to Palo Alto to Grandpa Rick's house, to see Meg graduate! (Hard to believe that it has been nine years since we graduated)

Since we didn't think Arlo would have the patience for all of the events leading up to graduation, we did our own thing for the most part. We were able to do quick visits with a couple coworkers on Saturday, and Arlo got to spend a little time in a bouncy castle at my boss' house (we just happened to catch the tail end of her son's 9th birthday party). He liked it!

Meg's departmental graduation ceremony was at 1pm on Sunday, which is also when Arlo takes his afternoon nap. We hoped that Arlo would nap in the carrier, but it was not meant to be. Before the ceremony, we got ourselves situated under a tree near the stage (there were folding chairs too, but the tree seemed like a better option for making a fast getaway, plus I kind of prefer a blanket on the grass to folding chairs).

Arlo was having a grand old time for the first 10 minutes or so, and then something set him off, and he started screaming. I strapped him in the carrier and walked around with him, hoping that he'd calm down and nap, but every time he got close to sleeping, he started crying again. I guess he was just a little overwhelmed, poor dude. On the bright side, his Aunt Meg graduated! I love this picture of her, victorious :)

And here's a very sleepy and delicate baby with the happy graduate.

He fell asleep in the carrier as we were walking back to the house, but he woke up 30 minutes later when I tried to put him down in his bed. He pulled it together enough to open his birthday presents and put on a party hat for a little while, but we decided to skip the cake and put him to bed early instead. And then he cried angrily for 45 minutes with his face pressed up against the mesh window of the baby tent before falling fast asleep. Not my best parenting day, but we made it through. And Patrick got to see his little sister graduate and drink celebratory margaritas with her. I'm glad I was able to facilitate that :)

The next morning, we headed back home to Portland. Hopefully our next visit to California will be a few days longer. It takes Arlo a little while to warm up to people, and on this visit, just as he was getting settled, it was time to go. It was still a good trip though! Spending time with family reminds me how much Arlo is loved by his grandparents and aunts and uncles. What a lucky boy :)