Earlier this week my friend and I took our girls camping in Richmond on Pleasant Pond. The kids had a blast (and the moms had fun too).

The beach was really muddy where we were staying but the kids didn't mind.

The mud was shin-deep in places and by the end of the trip each one of the girls had painted themselves - intentionally - with it.

It was however a bit tricky with the mud and all the fresh water clams (or whatever kind of shellfish they were) in it. The kids, L. in particular, had little razor-like slices all over her feet. It was hard to predict where the clams would be when you stepped into the mud so they were hard to avoid.

The kids loved sleeping in the tent and settled down at a reasonable hour. But even after the kids were asleep the moms kept chatting into the night so we were more tired than the kids the next morning.

When I first saw this buzzing around, I thought it was a butterfly. I wouldn't have guessed it was a dragon fly without this one staying still so I could zoom in with my camera.

The girls planned and prepared shish ka bobs for dinner our first night. They were tasty!


Cooking shish ka bobs was easy for the girls on the grill and it was great to eat so well on the trip.

The kids have built camp fires before but got a few pointers from their friends' mom.

No camping trip is complete without roasting marshmallows and making s'mores.

L. wasn't the only one setting her marshmallows on fire. They all thought that was the best way to 'roast' them - well, it certainly was the quickest way to melt them.

But L. got a little carried away 'roasting' several marshmallows at a time on her stick and ended up wearing some.

She had it streaked through her hair and all over her face.

We saw a beautiful sunset our first night and the kids couldn't resist doing another silly photo.

The second day was rainy and foggy but we decided to keep to our plans of canoeing. The girls just stayed closer to shore and didn't paddle too far down the pond.

It may have been a short camping trip (just 2 nights) but the kids won't forget all the fun they had on the pond!

You can see more of our camping vacation photos

And be sure to share your own Maine vacation pics!