Solve the problem

Last week Lark and her kids visited Utah for a few days. They were able to stay with us for a few days of their time here. We took the kids to Temple Square on Friday. (Three of my kids - I checked the girls out early from school.) We parked at the City Creek mall with the intention of walking to Temple Square from there. We got as far as the fountain plaza and within 5 minutes Massimo and Paul were soaked. The last times I'd been to this mall this small splash pad wasn't working so it didn't cross my mind to avoid it. The boys had a blast, turned off their listening skills, and played in the water so happily. I did try to get Massi out of the water before he was completely soaked but I didn't want to get drenched in the process so it was hard to yank him away. Once the boys were out we walked about 10 feet, thinking they could dry off on our walk, and realized that they were way too wet. So I stripped off Massi's shirt, squeezed it out, and took him shirtless into the Gap. Solved that problem. 

Side Story: as we were walking from the Gap to the nearest bathroom to change the kids, they were all jumping from the rocks next to the creek that runs through the mall. A security guard stopped me and said, "is this your son?" To which I replied, "yes, do you want me to stop him from jumping on the rocks?"And he said, "no, he needs to have a shirt on." Well, that made me mad. I'm sure it's a rule posted somewhere and it was his job to enforce it, but seriously, stop the mom of the soaking wet three-year-old? And if they're going to have a splash pad in the ground in the middle of the mall they have to expect that some kids will end up shirtless. So I replied in a not very nice tone, "I was just on my way to do that. He got dripping wet in the fountain and I bought him some new clothes to change into." 

Both the boys ended up with new outfits for our walk to Temple Square. And with strict instructions that they were to remain dry for the rest of our trip. Which is actually kind of hard because there are water features all over, from the mall to the fountains outside the temple grounds to outside the conference center. Massimo almost fell into one, but they succeeded.

It was a beautiful day to walk around the temple. All the flowers are still blooming, it was a garden paradise everywhere. Once we'd walked around by the temple, the kids found a grassy patch to play in surrounded by flowers and small trees near the church office building. 

Lark and I had the chance to talk and enjoy a rest before walking to the conference center where we peeked inside the main hall. We stopped to see the Christ statue in the visitors center where Mimi and Sommer were amazed at the size of the statue's big toe. Then it was off to the mall again to eat and play at the indoor playground by the food court. And then we went home. 

And here's where the post title comes from. Lark mentioned when we were talking that they talk a lot about solving the problem at their house, as in how their kids can work through and solve problems that arise. Something we need to do more at our house I think. So, Paul and Massimo played really well together during this little trip. Massi loved being able to follow Paul around and do what he was doing. On our temple square outing after I changed Massi I took off his undies because they were soaked and let he go commando. When we got home I didn't have him put new ones on. Now, he's getting there with potty training, stays dry pretty much all the time but #2 accidents he's 50/50. Since he was having so much fun playing with Paul, of course he couldn't take the time to head to the toilet. He had a gross accident and Eric figure it out while they were playing the Wii in our living room. Thankfully, Massi was sitting on a blanket I could wash. While I was cleaning him up in the bathroom he said something like, "Paul picked up the big poop and put it in the trash. He said 'ew ew ew' the whole way to the trash can." So I rephrased, "you mean Paul picked up your gross poop for you? Did he use a napkin?" I was mortified and laughing at the same time. Lark heard this too and got the story from Paul. Yes he did use a paper towel, and yes, he did pick up the poop. They didn't even tell us what had happened, just kept playing their video game. After all, problem solved.