Trip to Chico

Mom and I left Sunday night, March 16, stopping to pick up taxi driver Jon to drop off us at the train station to catch the 11:30 p.m. California Zephyr to Sacramento. Mom hates driving at night but was a trooper and in good spirits as we were able to get a ride on a luggage wagon to the train and get bedded down early. Many times she commented on how much she loved the train. It was especially fun having somebody along with me this time. The trip seemed short as usual and after an hour wait in Sacramento we caught a bus ride to Chico. Rich and the kids picked us up and took us to Jodi's where we waited for her to get off work. It was obvious Jodi had worked very hard to clean up her house. The boys were so cute and very excited to see us and have two grandmas to visit. Diesel took to Grandma Moulton right away.

The next day Jodi went to work and we got the boys haircuts before dropping Ryan off at his daycare so we could run a few errands. Mom got a huge blister so we had to get some shoes she could wear. Me and Rocky got some too. Mom bought us lunch at E.J.'s and I dropped Jodi's car off to get a new bumper. I spent a few hours working in the yard, pulling weeds, cleaning off the patio and doing laundry. It was a busy day. Rocky and Jack helped put yard waste into bags and Jack organized the patio into a parking lot with a neat row of parked toys.  Mom made a big pot of her delicious "goulosh" for dinner. Diesel was a crackup. He was constantly trying to play games on Jack's I-phone. He knew exactly what he was doing. When he finished a game a little "congratulations" song would play and he would do a little victory dance then turn it off and put it carefully on the charger. We got such a kick out of it.

The next day me and mom had lunch at the cafe at In Motion Fitness after dropping Jodi off there at work. The kids went to the kids center. Jodi gave us a tour of her work. I spent much of the day working in the yard and trying to convince the boys to help me. I did succeed in getting Rocky to help plant the garden in exchange for icecream at Baskin and Robbins. Jack was not to be duped into any work. He and Diesel had fun driving their cars around on the patio though. Rocky and I planted carrots, bush beans, tomatoes, zuchini, squash, basil and cilantro. The weather was beautiful and felt like summer. Later I let Rocky handle the money and buy his own ice cream. He seems so grown up. On Thursday the boys were up early with their bags packed ready for a day of vacation to Sacramento. We took a few family pics before heading out.

Jack at the zoo

We went to the zoo. It was so fun watching the boys  subconsciously do their "happy skip" around the zoo. They were just so excited about everything. We got mom a wheelchair since she is suppose to stay off her feet and rented a wagon for the boys.

Next we went across the street to "Fairy Land." It was filled with fantasy type things to climb on like trains, ships and castles. I could have spent all day there.

After an hour exploring Fairyland we went next door to "Funderland." It was the perfect 

 amusement park to let kids practice for the big rides. Mom sat and waited on a bench near the entrance and the boys practically had the place to themselves riding 9 different kid rides as many times as they wanted. They were in heaven. Jodi took the tickets meant for Diesel and rode many of the rides with them. Diesel preferred to watch, wave and nap on Grandma's lap.   Jack especially loved the airplanes which he rode about 9 times. He would get out his i-phone camera and take pictures of the other riders. Once in the car, Diesel exclaimed, "I'm tired!" We all had a good laugh. On the way home we found mom's favorite...."In and Out" burger where we filled up on burgers, shakes and fries. 

We had planned to spend the night at a hotel but Jodi decided she should keep her appointment the next morning with a work client so we decided to pretend that her house was a hotel. We were all given assignments. 

Rocky went to work as the hotel manager. He sat behind a desk in the living-room to check us into our rooms using zoo tokens as keys. He took it very seriously, even holding a meeting and drawing a detailed diagram of our hotel complete with a star indicating, "You are here." I was given the lower bunk bed, mom had the livingroom sofa, Jack and Diesel had their own beds and Rocky had Jodi's bed. It was so much fun. I dreaded having to leave the next morning. 

This is how Diesel woke up the last morning. He didn't want to get out of bed but did want his "songs" turned on. 

 

Me and mom enjoying lunch in the Dining Car. What a great trip.