NATCHEZ — Even though skies stayed mostly gray throughout Sunday, that did not stop three Natchez youngsters from living it up on the playground.

Duncan Park, the landing spot this week of The Dart, had three vivacious children gallivanting around the playground.

Two of the children, 8-year-old Malik Daniel and 4-year-old Jayden Allen, took to the swing set.

Jayden sat on the swing first as Malik pushed him along, both with smiles on their faces. But when Malik took his turn, a morose look came across Jayden’s face.

Why?

“I want to go high up like my brother,” he said.

Jayden aspired to soar high like Malik, who was not bashful about his swinging skills.

“That’s why I practice — so you can make it challenging, so you can go higher,” Malik said.

Meanwhile, 4-year-old Jackson Marceaux roamed the grounds excitedly with his mother, Kaitlyn Knotts.

“He’s so entertaining,” Knotts said. “We don’t even need cable.”

At one point, both Jackson and Malik hopped aboard the two spring-riders on the playground. Though the two children did not come to the park together, they began interacting while on the spring-riders.

Malik sat atop the duck while Jackson rode the frog — but in both of their imaginations, they were speeding on stallions down a stretch of deserted road.

“I’m the fastest cowboy in the Wild West!” Jackson declared.

He even had the cowboy boots to match.

“No, I’m beating you now!” Malik retorted.

Knotts said playing cowboy is nothing new for Jackson, who is one of a line of Marceaux rodeo riders. Jackson rides horses with his father and grandfather and attends rodeos during the summer, Knotts said.

The three happy-go-lucky boys played throughout the cloudy afternoon, which Knotts said she actually preferred.

“It’s just nice. The sun’s not beaming down,” she said.

As for Malik and Jayden, the former said he looks after the latter. He even boasted about his little brother, saying how well Jayden could write despite being only 4 years old.

Aside from Jayden’s brief moment of disappointment — a state in which Malik said he hates to see Jayden — the pair showed great camaraderie as Malik tried his best to push his brother as high as he could.

“We were doing good today,” Malik said.