Clean Up Time!

Today was a big clean up day for the family - we were able to knock out some big projects on our to-do list.  Daddy spent several morning hours outside pressure washing the deck and front porch, while Katie Anne and Mommy spent time indoors doing a million loads of laundry, cleaning out toys, and reorganizing the living room toy storage.  Daddy's pressure washing yielded some pretty impressive results...

Katie Anne watches out the window while Granddad shows Daddy how to use the pressure washer:

She tapped on the glass until she got them to wave at her:

Saunders begins the project ... see the color of the deck?  After 5 years of living here, we just thought that was the color the deck was - it had just weathered to be that color:

Turns out that was not true!

Once Saunders started laying the serious washing power down on the wood, all kinds of gunk and grime started washing off!

We were thrilled with the results ... and yet disgusted that we'd walked on the "before" deck without shoes.  Here's a halfway done picture - and the difference would've been even more obvious if it had been dry!

Saunders also did a little furniture rearranging, and the back deck turned out looking fabulous:

Then he got to work on the front porch, which we actually thought was the worse of the two with its grimy door frame...

pollen-packed crevices:

crusty rocking chairs:

and filthy railings:

It was hard to get a good picture of Saunders working on the front porch without being soaked myself, but he did a great job:

The results are just as good as the back deck!

That's one tired, wet pressure washer!

While Katie Anne and I didn't work nearly as hard during our toy clean-out, we did get a lot done:

The living room looks a ton better, and we gathered a whole trashbag full of toys to give away!

And, just a little pressure washing tip from the inside... pressure washing around door frames sprays a crazy amount of water into the house- like some kind of gushing fountain turned on its side.  It is helpful to have towels handy, and a little doggy assistant doesn't hurt, either:

S

Seriously, Abby did no work... she only posed for this photo.