The New "Mom Mobile"

My 4Runner & I have been together for 11 years now, which seems crazy. I bought it a couple of months after graduating from A&M, so it has seen me through most of my 20's and the first half of my 30's - my first job, numerous moves, lots of trips across Texas, first house, marriage, first child, etc. So many memories! Occasionally the topic of getting a new car would come up, but it was still running well and it didn't seem to make sense to replace it.

When we found out I was pregnant with L2, we started talking more seriously about getting a new vehicle. With our frequent guests, we really wanted something that could easily accomodate 2 car seats and 2 additional adults, meaning we definitely needed something with a 3rd row. We also wanted something family friendly that would have lots of cargo space. The obvious answer was a minivan, but I was resistant to the idea at first - although Robert was on board from the beginning!

While I didn't rule out the minivan option, I still held on to the idea of a big SUV - something like an Expedition or a Sequoia. After doing some comparisons at the auto show at the State Fair, though, it was clear that the minivan was the way to go, both for practicality and cost. We quickly narrowed it down to the Honda and the Toyota, and hoped the 4Runner would hold on a little longer until the 2011 Odyssey came out since there was going to be a big redesign. We went and test drove one last week, and all 3 of us liked it so much that we weren't even sure we needed to look at the Toyota. Ultimately we decided we needed to at least look for comparison purposes and were able to go for a test drive on Friday. As we left, we called a Honda salesman that Robert had been working with, headed over to the dealership, and purchased our minivan. :)

I knew I would like it for the convenience, but I've been surprised by how much I actually love driving it. Robert is a big fan, too, and he used the van for all of his errands this weekend. Claire has decided it is hers (she always points and says "Mine!" when she sees it) and gets excited every time we leave the house. We're looking forward to making lots of new memories in it with our family of almost 4!