the great van clean out (thankful) ...

17~ I'm thankful for a clean (albeit dead) van!!!

I think today could quite possibly go down in history as the day of the "Great Van Clean Out"! Now, I've cleaned out vans many a time in my life. Our old van had to have seen at least fifteen clean outs in the little over two years we had it. Our "new" van has probably seen twice that in the four and half years since we purchased it. Then, of course, there was the year of having only a car, and therefore car clean outs as well!

... but this was different. It was a disaster of epic proportions - I'm not exaggerating. In fact - I'll prove to you just how bad it was, by sharing with you the depths of trash that were found lurking in the "far back" of the van. I like to call it: the big kid zone!

first - here's a little cutie trying out his big brother's chair
(note - this was after I had cleaned the far back)
here are all the fast food cups I found - and, yes, they all
had some amount of their original fluid still in them!

here's ALL the "far back" findings - WOW!
(a few were found in the middle seat area, but
not much - and I had already taken out
the diaper bag and Liam's jacket)

here's ALL the findings - of the entire car!
I even emptied out the "in the floor"
storage areas ... I'm hoping to get some containers
and get it properly organized under there!
(the lysol wipes weren't actually in the van -
I was just using them to clean all the stick
and yuck out of cup holders, carseats, etc.)

but here is the piece de resistance ...

... ... ...

and old banana peel - GROSS!

and now - the finished and clean pics:

notice that Liam has been moved to the back, in fact - that's what
started this whole clean out! my original plan was to move him
but once I got back there I couldn't just leave it - it had to
get done and it had to be right then and there!

and, of course, I had a happy surprise when I finally came inside!
Liam had tired of "helping" (he was just playing, actually) about
a half hour into the clean (which was nearly a two hour job
in total) ... so he was inside "watching tv" and "playing"!

when I came inside, I wondered why on earth he would have
opened the cupboard???

I soon realized that the shelf must have been
quite the handy "ladder" for short legs - smart one Liam!

ah, yes - the little culprit!
this may be the cutest mug shot ever!

and so, now the van is clean ... well, the inside anyhow! the van is also dead - thanks to our weak battery and it not occurring to me to turn off the lights? duh! like I never thought of that - seriously. ugh. the neighbor offered to jump it for me and I'm seriously debating whether to go over there and ask or to just walk to get the kids. I really don't feel like walking, re-installing that car seat was a work out in itself - seriously, I broke a sweat ... car seat installation is not for the weak - lol!



update: I decided to drive and got the neighbor to give me a jump start! It was pretty interesting trying to pick up the kids and not turn off the van ... it required sending Annicka for Jericho (he has to actually be picked up) with a note to his teacher explaining! Also, it messed up my plans to speak with Annicka's teacher about her upcoming report - so another note was sent to her! then it was McD's for lunch ... since I had to keep the car running, I figured that would be better than just sitting somewhere - right? Now we're home eating our happy meals and the car got more than an hour, so should be all charged up!