Today Shannon and I took our boys to this new “splashpark” that opened 2 weeks ago in North Omaha.  What a fun, FREE, way to spend a hot summer afternoon! School starts Monday!

Since the original post this afternoon I’ve had a chance to add more commentary about this place. The City of Omaha has built several of these “Splashgrounds” around the city and they’re a great time for the boys. Papillion has one, but Bellevue has none (hint hint!)

Today the boys spent nearly 3 hours at the park — then the horseflies started attacking and the boys were happy to go. Shannon and I sat under a tree in the shade and had a good old fashioned chatfest.

This particular one was intriguing: there’s this innocent looking post stationed near the entrance to the fenced area — you rub the top of the post (yes, I know what I’m saying here) and that activates the water for 5 minutes.  As long as a kid runs back to the post every 5 minutes or so, the water stays on.  A nice conservation tool.  You can see the post in the 3rd picture here.

From 2010 08 13 Fontenelle Splashground
In the picture below, the young man behind Timmy (their friend Dean) is at the post that activates the water.

From 2010 08 13 Fontenelle Splashground
From 2010 08 13 Fontenelle Splashground
I took all these pictures with my iPhone — I’m impressed with the zoom quality in these next two pictures.  This is with maximum zoom, I was 20-25′ away from Jacob!

From 2010 08 13 Fontenelle Splashground
From 2010 08 13 Fontenelle Splashground
From 2010 08 13 Fontenelle Splashground