Mt. Lebanon Recreation recently hosted its 27th annual father-son campout at Bird Park, a unique outdoor adventure that I had the pleasure of attending with my son.

It was 16 hours of father-son bonding in about as secluded a setting as one can find in our municipality. As a first-time camper with my child, I appreciated the convenience of staying close to home. If anything went wrong, we could simply pack up and leave.

Fortunately, that wasn’t necessary.

My son and I enjoyed all the activities the recreation department provided. Signing up through the Mt. Lebanon website was easy, but once we arrived, it was up to the dads to pitch their tents on the soccer field — a task that wasn’t quite as easy as I remembered.

Still, within an hour, everyone was settled in, and the hardest part of the evening was behind us.

What followed was a night filled with outdoor activities and memorable experiences.

We started with a short hike along Bird Park’s trails to the pavilion, where a cookout dinner of hamburgers, hot dogs, macaroni and cheese, and other favorites awaited. It was a pleasant walk through nature and a great way to begin the evening.

After dinner, we returned to the soccer field for a “fire and ice” science demonstration that captivated the children. My son alternated between expressions of wonder and bursts of laughter as the experiments unfolded.

Two local Boy Scouts then joined our group to build a campfire and give a presentation on fire safety, followed by a question-and-answer session. By the end, my son was so impressed that he was practically an honorary Boy Scout in spirit.

Next came the obligatory campfire s’mores.

Thankfully, the dads were up to the challenge of keeping eager children in check as they wielded marshmallows on metal roasting sticks and competed for prime spots around the fire. The Scouts’ safety message clearly made an impression, as everyone managed to roast, char and devour as many s’mores as their hearts desired without incident.

Meanwhile, an inflatable movie screen had been set up on the soccer field. Families gathered with their camp chairs to watch “The Iron Giant,” an animated science fiction film about a young boy who befriends a massive alien robot during the Cold War.

By the time the movie ended, it was nearly 9:30 p.m., and everyone headed back to their tents to settle in for the night.

As my son and I stretched out on our self-inflating, 4-inch-thick camping mattress (highly recommended!), we read a book together and talked until he drifted off to sleep.

Then, a sliver of self-doubt crept in.

I lay awake listening to gusts of wind shake our tent.

Had I secured the stakes tightly enough? Would the tent come uprooted in the middle of the night? And, perhaps most concerning, would this destroy the illusion of the dad-who-can-do-everything that I had worked so hard to project for my son?

I began to sweat a little at the thought.

Despite my concerns, I eventually fell fast asleep.

When morning arrived, I was relieved to discover that no tents had blown away and not a single stake had come loose.

Our 7 a.m. wake-up call sent everyone trudging back through the woods to the pavilion for a breakfast of doughnuts, bagels, juice and coffee.

After breakfast, we returned to the soccer field, packed up our tents and belongings, and headed home with a sense of accomplishment — and some wonderful memories of our night outdoors.

The experience was so enjoyable that my son and I are already talking about attending next year’s campout.

And if we do, you can be sure I’ll drive those tent stakes a little deeper into the ground.