Father Son Weekend 2025

This weekend my son Wil and I attended Father/Son Weekend at Camp Laney in Mentone, AL. Camp Laney is a special place for my family. My dad went there, my uncle went there and was a counselor for years, and I went there when I was in elementary school.

Wil, who is about to turn six, heard about Laney from a neighbor when he was three. He's been talking about going since then. The thing he was most excited about was getting to shoot a rifle. Well, he got to do that, and much more. He learned how to shoot a bow and arrow with almost no instruction and managed to hit the target four times in a row. My first time shooting I don't think I hit anything except the ground. He tried the zipline and thought it was the best thing ever.

He has so few of the anxieties that I had as a kid. He is afraid of very little, has no trouble talking to grown-ups or other kids, and is willing to try just about anything once (except food). All this to say, I'm so proud of him, and I'm glad that we got to go and spend some one-on-one time. We were both exhausted when we got home. There's nothing like sleeping in a cabin with 10 other people in mid-August in Alabama.

I hope he decides that he wants to be a camper when he gets a little older. My anxieties caused me to bail out pretty quick. But, if he doesn't that's okay too because we got to have the experience together.