Mainside.

This year, Henry’s week at camp is a big one. It’s his first year on the Mainside.

At Camp Winnataska, that translates to “the big kid side of the camp.” The last two years, he’s been on the Chico side with all the 6-8 year old campers, so last year he was one of the big guys on the Chico campus.

For the last few months, we’ve been talking about and getting excited for camp. He’s had his calendar filled out for the whole summer, counting down the number of weeks until he left. To say he loves it is an understatement!

On the way over to Alabama on Sunday, we met my cousin and his family. Two of his three kiddos were also going to Winnataska that day, and were going to be Chicos for the first year. Henry told them all about it and hopefully made them less nervous. But after we left, Henry’s confidence started to wane.

As we rounded the corner into camp, the chatter slowed down, in spite of him wanting us to HONK BECAUSE WE LOVE WINNATASKA!

After standing in line, health-checking (aka lice-checking), we headed to the cabin — Chickasaw.

Crossing the bridge that leads to the Mainside cabins was beautiful. They have an absolutely gorgeous setting, with still water and falls and plenty of area for climbing and exploring in the river. It’s one of Henry’s favorite things about camp!

The cabin was huge! I don’t think Henry was prepared for how large the cabins were over on the Mainside. We went in and were greeted by young men who were still in high school and early college and looked like babies themselves. They showed us to his bed and gathered up his bags that had been delivered to the back of the cabin.

Henry’s bed was made. His fan was put away. I put his other stuff on his shelf and he quickly rearranged it. He put his pillow pet and Muffins perfectly on his bed, even though there were no other visible stuffed animals in the room. The chatter around the room was hilarious, but he was quiet.

And then it was time for us to leave.

There were kisses and hugs and a quick photo.

We were off and before we were even out of the room he was chatting it up with the kid behind him.

He may be one of the little guys on the Mainside totem pole at Winnataska this year, but he’s sure to be having the biggest time yet!

(Don’t tell anybody, but I can’t wait to get my hands on him and get hugs from him on Saturday!)