It's good to be home

We rolled into our neighborhood at 6:59 p.m.---two minutes ahead of when the GPS predicted. We'd been staring at that thing since 5:20 a.m. and were thankful that we were finally home. Gary backed into the garage, turned the car off, and we prayed. We had begun our vacation with prayer on Tuesday morning and now we were able to finish. Thank you God! Safety, fun, family, laughter. . .all from Him.
Then we entered the house. The past hour (it is currently 8:07) has been filled with joy--[insert sarcasm]. Here is the sampling.

1. Noel fights with Garrison as to who gets to retrieve the newspaper.
2. I have to pee.
3. So does Gary.
4. There is a quick realization that one toilet didn't get flushed and now. . .ahem. . . there is an oder problem.
5. Penny runs to our open bedroom to get the "off-limits" lotion.
6. Two ducks stop carrying stuff inside while one declares that he alone will do all the work--in an effort to get back a toy snake that was won at an arcade.
7. Simon declares that the car is all clean and is rewarded with the snake--only to have it taken away because the car is still a traveling pit.
8. Garrison drops his new matchbox car (from the same arcade) into the toilet while he is POOPING. His kind mother fishes it out for him.
9. Penny crawls on the kitchen table and begins shaking the open seasonings. Thanks for that.
10. Simon askes for tomato juice for supper. Then he spills it on the floor.
11. I open up the sealed plastic bags that contain the most vial of the dirty laundry--two poop blow-outs and two sets of vomiting clothes. I gag a little. Sadly, they got mixed up with the wet bathing suits which aren't supposed to go into very hot water. Tough bananas.
12. Penny finds her cup of milk on the table and runs through the house sprinkling it. Fun!
13. Penny makes a dirty diaper.
14. Noel throws a tantrum because I won't let her work on her box. Yes, that is correct.
15. Garrison cries because he needs to shoot baskets with his new basketball from Silver Dollar City.
16. Simon cries at the table and he just doesn't know why.
17. I step on the scale. Apparently, it made perfect sense to me that I could eat anything I wanted while in Branson and nothing would happen when I got home. This is wrong thinking.

We had a great vacation. We had a rough re-entry. I would expect nothing less in either category. Now, everyone is tucked into their beds with their pillows and their sheets. I'll be doing the same in about an hour. Gary is off getting pizza. I think I can eat some and nothing will happen. Then again, that could be wrong thinking.