The Minivan - 1 year later

A year ago we did what we said we would NEVER do, we purchased a minivan (cue dramatic music). Personally I really really wanted an SUV with a third row but there wasn't one that would work for us in our price range - so the minivan it was (my practical dream car is a Honda Pilot). It was a hard deal to make, but now at least once a week Chris says how glad he is we purchased the van. Here are my thoughts:

1. It's big! This is completely a pro and a con. I can fit a lot of people, bikes, and a stroller, and my kids still have plenty of room, but it took me about six months to get comfortable parking next to other cars (I drove a sedan before this). And because of it's size, we can no longer fit two cars in our garage. 

2. I thought having a bigger vehicle would mean more mess, but I think the extra room makes it a lot easier to clean. The boys have more room to pick things up and its easier to find places to put things. Also if you get a newer model in the Elite - you get a built in vacuum.

3. I was convinced our gas spending would increase, but we traded in a 13 year old SUV and the van actually has more gas saving features and does much better on the highway than the old SUV.

4. I feel super safe in the van, especially with the kids. I have really strict car seat rules for my kids and I always have our seats checked by SafeKids for correct installation. With my old sedan I had to return a seat because it wasn't made to fit in my car, but as a car seat tech mentioned once, minivans were made for car seats. When I took the van in for a check, my only issue was that I'd used the LATCH system on N's seat and he's 2lbs over the weight limit for it, so they switched it to a seat belt install. I only had one correct installation with my old car.

5. Chris was always worried the boys would open the car door and bang the car beside us. He loves the sliding doors (and I love the button on the key that does it automatically - especially when carrying the car seat). 

6. And now our sweet dog doesn't have to ride in the floor board with the boys' feet dangling on her. 

pre-KC, but we still have enough room to fold down two seats and give her some space!

Honestly I definitely wouldn't have purchased a van if we hadn't discussed the possibility of having four kids. The Pilot would fit three car seats across and we'd still have a little room for the dog. The only difference is the back of the van fits a lot more stuff - especially when I'm toting bikes to the greenways.