For our last day in Washington, we hopped in the car and headed to Whipple Creek for a hike. The original plan was to visit the waterfalls in the gorge, but Cohen wasn’t thrilled about sitting in the middle seat for over an hour, and the other two weren’t too excited about hiking either. Whipple Creek turned out to be the perfect compromise—close to my parents’ house and not too strenuous.
Lunch At Teriyaki Thai
After the hike, I took the kids to lunch at Teriyaki Thai, one of our old favorites from when we lived here. I’ve always loved their food, so I was excited to go back—and this was actually the first time I ate in the restaurant instead of ordering takeout. It was even better than I remembered!
8 Cow Creamery
From there, we headed to 8 Cow Creamery for ice cream. I’ll admit, it was a bit of a bribe—I told the kids they could only get ice cream if they came on the hike. Lydia took it a step further and asked if they could get two scoops if they smiled for photos. I agreed, of course, and it was totally worth it.
Later, Lydia and Cohen spent about half an hour at the Gosch’s while I finished packing, and then we had dinner. It really was such a fun trip to Washington. James is a little sad to be heading home, but I know he’ll be happy once he sees Daddy again!
Heading Home
The next morning, we woke up early and headed to the airport. Everyone was excited to see Jeff—especially the kids—even though James got a little teary-eyed at first. We breezed through security and grabbed breakfast: McDonald’s for Lydia and James, and Mod Pizza for Cohen. Yes, pizza for breakfast!
While we waited, Lydia and James kept themselves busy coloring in the book the CLEAR representative had given them at Newark Airport—a surprise hit that ended up being the best entertainment of the trip. I was so grateful for it.
Once on the plane, we settled in and had a mostly smooth flight. Lydia handled it so much better this time, though poor Cohen did get a bit sick. Still, we made it! It feels so wonderful to be home with Jeffrey again.
