New Minivan

With our new baby due in less than 7 weeks, the idea of trying to cram three car seats in the back of my Taurus was a bit daunting.  Dave and I finally decided to sell his truck (the kids can’t ride in it) and replace it with a minivan.  So he listed his Ford Ranger on Craigslist and sold it within two days.   The same day, we bought a 1998 Toyota Sienna that a friend had found for us on Auto Trader.   The family had bought it brand new 10 years ago and their last son had just left for college, so they didn’t need it anymore.   It had 130K miles and was well maintained, with impeccable records kept (I only wish I was that thorough!).   They only asked $3500 and threw in all the accessories: studded snow tires, chains, bike rack, ski rack, etc.   What an awesome deal!   There are a few scratches and dings from when their teenagers were learning to drive it, and the interior was pretty gross, so Dave spent a day shampooing the carpets and cleaning it out, but other than that it’s a great vehicle.   It handles really well, and it’s such a relief for me to know that I’ll be able to load all the kids in from one side of the vehicle, instead of having to walk them around to both sides and have one climb into the middle.