The grand opening of Railroad Park

Smack dab in the middle of midtown Birmingham, the city has been working on a four-block-long park for two years. Not only is it within sight of my office, it's also on my route home from work.

So for two loooooooonnnnnnnnggggg years (the months always go by more slowly when construction is in your path every. darn. day. am. I. right.) I've watched it being built, bucket by bucket of dirt.

And last Thursday, it finally opened to the public! We made plans with my friend Vanessa (the boys' "Tee-Tee," which is not what it sounds like, but is short for "Auntie," which she pronounces like "Ont-ty," which was her choice, not mine) to meet for lunch on Saturday and then head to the park for all manner of fun and games. She will want to kill me for posting a picture of her without makeup on the Internet, but you can't tell, right?

The park has a couple of ponds, several HUGE grassy areas and even some neat play equipment. Here are the boys on the climbing dome in the middle of the park. (It's the one on which they were photographed for the local paper.)

Jakey even got in on the action.

A little farther down from the climbing dome is a jungle gym made of some sort of PVC or something that doesn't get hot, even in the 98-degree heat, WHICH WE KNOW FROM REAL-LIFE EXPERIENCE.

It has this stiff rope webbing on the interior that makes it really easy to climb and far less painful if you fall.

The big boys wasted no time climbing straight to the top.

Next, we walked over to the creek that meanders through the grounds.

It was designed as a wading creek, so it's a great depth and has chopped up concrete in the bottom which makes it significantly less muddy than you'd expect.

Although it wasn't completely MUD-FREE, as Jakey found out when he took a little spill.

The last spot we hit was the skateboard bowl area. There are three large concrete bowls that were designed specifically for skateboarders.

When I tell you that the boys could have watched them for hours, I mean they could have watched them for HOURS.

They were utterly captivated by the jumps ...

... the spills ...

... the near-misses ...

... the excitement ...

... the artistry and athleticism ...

It really WAS amazing. Honestly, I could have sat and watched them for hours, too.

Although it was hotter than the hottest September Saturday most anywhere else in the U.S., it was still a great visit to a fun place I've been waiting on for years now. And we can't wait to go back ... on a 70-degree day.