Back Porch Refresh

I got a wild hair this past Thursday to clean our back porch. It was beautiful outside and I've just been annoyed lately with our back patio. I think the concrete is dirty. I am tired of our toy mass of used and unused. I don't like sitting outside because I feel like the walls are dirty and the window screens and just everything feels gross. And we can sweep and straighten, but it still feels frustrating. So, I decided I was going to get started and clean it. I called Vic and told him to see if he could go rent a pressure washer for us to do our concrete with when he got off work. And then I got the kids outside and gave them some jobs to go through old toys and toss and make some piles and then when they finished that, then they could put on swimsuits and use the water hose to clean toys. I thought that sounded so easy with a fun reward. Well, it took them at least two hours and I had to do a lot of fussing and reminding and it was not fun at all. They just griped and complained about how hard their job was. Of course, it eventually got done and they got the fun part done too. Kids! While they did all of that, I got soap and water and scrubbed every corner of every window and siding and nook and cranny up to as high as I could each on ur back porch walls and doors and windows. It looked SO much better. I'm sure nobody else would notice, but it just "felt" clean to me and so I was happy! When Vic got home, he pressure washed things and it looked even better. The next day, the kids and I put everything back and it just looked great for us! Then, on Saturday, Vic hung lights (after a crazy debacle of hanging them and they didn't work, then re-screwing in the bulbs and half worked, and then taking them down, re-screwing the bulbs AGAIN and they finally worked) in our backyard and it just all feels new and fresh now. While Vic worked, we played and drew with chalk and ate lunch outside and it was the best day! Here are some photos of our refresh: This first photo is our gross patio. See the end for the big difference. It's not perfect, but it is better!