Railroad Park on a cold Sunday afternoon

Yesterday afternoon my friend Lisa called to ask if we wanted to meet her and her boys downtown at Railroad Park to skateboard and see what there was to see.

Our boys, of course, were all about it, so we loaded up and headed down there with our gear. The sun was (sort of) out when we left the house, but it had gone behind the clouds by the time we arrived at the park. Forty-four degrees feels different in the sun vs. in the shadows, by the way.

Didn't bother Josh. He hopped on his board and got right down to business.

I was surprised how quickly Nathaniel traipsed up the hill to try it, simply because he and Nick have struggled some with skateboarding in our driveway and I didn't expect him to be quite so brave. But he went right up and came right down. (That's Grayson looking kind of like a thug there.)

Josh and Nathaniel went up and down, up and down. I don't know how I managed not to get a picture of Josh's brother DJ, but somehow I missed him.

Josh has some skillz.

Nathaniel was not about to be left behind.

Nicholas did it several times, too, but he mostly tried testing his skills on the flat surface, where he could get a running start, push off and fly along the straight path.

Meanwhile, Jake busied himself in the playground area.

He loved it, even though the play equipment was for "little kids," which he usually scoffs at.

Nope. No complaints today!

About this time, I was starting to lose all feeling in my fingers and toes. But Jakey refused to wear his coat.

I don't know how kids can just ignore the cold like that.

But who am I to argue with this face?

Nicholas finally dropped his skateboard and came over to play with us, luring Jakey over to the jungle gym.

It really IS cool. I can't blame them for loving it.

When I said it was time to go, before we all succumbed to frostbite, this grinning face turned to a crying, slobbering, snotty mess. I'll spare you.

But the sun was starting to go down and -- while our winter weather doesn't hold a candle to that of the Northeast -- it was coooooooooooooooold. Time to go.