My least favorite part

So, after a summer packed with places to go, things to see, friends and family to visit...I am now left with my least favorite part.....the aftermath. Bags that have been piled places with an 'unpack later' thought are now staring at me from their respective places. The overloaded laundry room that never fully got 'put away' is now desperately in need of more pile removal, counter unloading and basket emptying. The stacks of clothing, bought to wear for future seasons that I didn't put away immediatley since I knew I'd be adding to those stacks throughout the summer from our outlet mall shopping escapades, now loom large and quite obvious, despite the places I've tried to hide them. And this is why I have procrastinated so long......yep, I have to dig through these and find the correctly labeled size box to put the clothes away in!

And do you think the kids are sympathetic to my plight? To my 3 weeks of work (at least) that I have in front of me? No, they are more interested in calling my name 39 times in various pitches and decibels and wondering why I'm not responding immediately! I tell ya......

But I do have to say that there are more reasons to love summers like ours. The planning is exciting, the anticipation of seeing new places and being on the road for a while carries me through the packing and whining (for a little while anyway). The pictures that we take, the family memories we create are well worth the mess in the end, at least I feel like that right now....ask me in a week.

A few more pics from Phoenix.....the gang with Aunt Heather and their dog Puck, and the kids enjoying 'party poppers' while having dinner at the home of one of Bill's co-workers in Phoenix.

I'll be back tomorrow....assuming I can find my way out of the piles around here. If you don't hear from me soon, well, you'll know what happened!!