How We Really Roll

So the last post got me thinking that it's time the family car got some press on this blog. I mean, isn't it remarkable that we're not even 40 yet and we are on our 3rd minivan? (Did I just say that? Not even 40 yet? Sorry, that's just the first time I've rounded up my age and got to mid-life!)

Anyway, the van saga goes like this: we buy a 1999 Toyota Sienna from my parents and drive it until the brake lights are shot out and the side mirrors are duct-taped. Then we get rear-ended and realize that it would be smarter to pocket the insurance money and trade in for a new car. (First we had to discuss whether or not the brakes were safe enough to make it to the car dealership. Turns out, they were). I phoned Rich: "They'll give us $1500 for a trade-in." "Take it and run" he says. Thus we came to own a 2002 Toyota Sienna -- which you may not have noticed since it was exactly the same color as the previous Sienna (champagne).

Sienna #2 lasted 6 months. I was driving the carpool home from school when I smell something foul. "Alright kids! Everybody check your backpacks! Who's got the rotten tuna sandwich?" No one fesses up, so I proceed. I stop at a stoplight; the engine dies. Rich is out of town, so I call my Father-in-Law. "Have you checked the temperature gauge?" he asks. Oh, that's what that smell was......

So I'm humbly waiting for help when a man drives up and gives me this advice: "I wouldn't sit there with all your kids in the car." And then he drives off. Okay, so you recommend that I single-handedly get 6 kids out of the car, cross 4 lanes of traffic, and try to keep them from running into the street? Yeah, that would be safer! Fortunately, my Father-in-Law was much more helpful than that guy and we all made it out safely.

So, again: rather than shell out a couple thousand dollars to *probably* fix the problem, we decide to cut our losses and trade in again. This time it's a Honda Odyssey - in blue. Before we could even make the first payment, I learned this lesson on the dangers of eating a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup while driving:

But it's all fixed and good as gold now. And that's our minivan history to date.

Or maybe I just wanted an excuse to post this: