Today was a 20-fling boogy day; those of you who have ever read anything by Flylady may recognize the phrase. I went into the lower level armed with one bag - a TRASH bag. I had to be ruthless; if anything went into recycling or give-away bag, the boys would rifle through it and get the stuff back out. Some fairly new stuff went into that bag. There had been many warnings about taking apart a blongo ball ladder set up. The pipes were all over the house and lately they had been used as makeshift weapons during a play date. The entire set up, including balls, is now in the trash. Ditto for old hot cars tracks, nerf toys that just get banged about, old super soakers and water guns. The downstairs looked neater than it's looked in years after I filled a bag. I swear the legos may be next. They are all over the house. Then I think of the $$$$$ invested in them and think "probably will not get tossed". Fall is when my thoughts turn to deep cleaning. We are considering removing all carpet on stairs, halls and living room and replacing with hardwood flooring. I bet the cost would not be that much more than new, high-quality carpeting.

Our oldest son trotted off to a sleep-away camp today - 2 nights and 3 days. It's something all 5th graders in our school district attend. The house is really strangely quiet and empty. Ryan is missing his brother, and the dog is worried. I finally remembered the video camera so caught Parker's exit via bus with 90 of his peers, but dollars to donuts the scenes will be shot wonky - I do not have a very good attention span. The nights are getting colder and the days are getting shorter. I love this time of year. Halloween approaching, thinking about travel for the holidays, lots of good things and tasty eats on the horizon.