On actual mother’s day of our Bay View State Park camping trip we drove to Deception Pass State Park. We parked in the little lot next to the boat launch (there’s a larger parking lot further down the road, closer to the beach, that filled up by afternoon).

It was a sunnier day than our paddle the day before at Padilla Bay, so Kaya actually kept her hat and sunglasses on (for a while anyway).

Kaya did a little better at sitting in her seat (a plastic kid seat that came with the kayak) rather than in our laps. This freed up the torso for better paddling technique but not so much when she moved her head to one side or the other and Alex had to stop his stroke to not hit her. Overall it went pretty smoothly!

We explored the little nook’s and crannies, which gave Kaya plenty of things to look at and touch.

After paddling we let her hop in the water (which is what she’d been wanting to do the whole time before we launched, but didn’t want her to get wet and potentially cold while on the water). Her wet suit really kept her warm and she had a blast splashing, stomping, and sitting in the lake. Even more fun than a bath for our one year old.

After playing in the lake water we walked to the beach to play.

Kaya made friends with a woman and her two daughters playing house in a structure. Since Kaya doesn’t really speak English yet she had no problems instantly connecting with them speaking Spanish and helping build the pretend fire with branches.

There are always struggles being a parent and life looks very different in a lot of ways than pre-Kaya days, but I’m having so much fun with my little family I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Happy Mothers and Fathers days! Every day!

What did you do to celebrate being a parent this year?