The Mini-Van

I thought I had already told the story of how we got our first mini-van on here, but I can't find it. It's a funny story, so I thought I'd write it down before I forget too much of it!

Greg always said no mini-vans! Absolutely no. Then we found out we were expecting triplets. And we started looking at mini-vans. We were moving to a new state about this time, so we started looking on AutoTrader.com for a van in our new city, and trying to sell the 2 door Chevy Blazer that Greg had - no way were we fitting 4 kids with carseats in there! We found a great used 2002 Cryster Town and Country with only 28,000 miles on it (this was in November 2006, so it was 4 years old). About a month after we moved, we went to look at it one night before I was on strict bedrest. I was probably about 20 weeks along, and already pretty large. The couple selling it was retired and only used the car for traveling to CO, which is why it had so few miles on it. We went to their house to look at the car - they lived in a gated community about 15 miles from the city, where million dollar houses sit on a hill overlooking everything. We got there and decided we'd take turns driving the van for a few minutes each, the other one of us stayed w/ Meredith talking with the couple selling the van. It was in great shape, and we decided to go ahead and buy it. We went in their house and made them an offer about a thousand less than their already very reasonable asking price. The man said, "Let's take another $500 off, I think the van needs new tires." Okay! So we sat down to fill out some paperwork and write them a check (they agreed without hesitation to take a personal check, from an out of state bank, with our old address on it!). We had already sold Greg's Blazer, and thankfully we had savings to be able to pay for the van with cash. While we were there, Meredith - about 19 months old at the time - had a leaky diaper, so Greg changed it and then we realized we had no change of clothes for her. So she ran around in her shirt and diaper, barefoot. I later realized that her t-shirt was stained with watermelon juice, and her hair had not been brushed since her nap, so she looked quite a mess! The couple was quite taken with Meredith though and before we left gave her a Build-a-Bear teddy bear with a complete outfit. We thanked them and left - driving away with our new mini-van. When we got back to Greg's parents' house (where we were living while looking for a new house), I checked my email and found an email from the sellers of the van, offering to buy us three new carseats for the van. They were on the front porch about 2 days later. Wow. We were blown away at their generosity. (If you haven't priced convertible car seats lately, they start at around $100 each!) And it just so happens that the carseats they picked out are narrow enough to fit three across the back row! It's a tight squeeze, but they fit - and most carseats would be too wide to do this. A few days later we were thinking back to visiting this couple and all the things that happened while we were there - mostly with Meredith's leaky diaper and my lack of planning to have a change of clothes for her. Then we realized that when we went to visit their house, we drove Greg's parents car because Meredith's carseat was secured in it - a compact sedan with some slight hail damage on it- it's their drive around the city w/great gas mileage car. So from the hail damaged car to one rag-a-muffin half dressed barefoot toddler, to the way I looked at 20 weeks pregnant... I'm sure we were quite a sight! The van was great for us after the triplets were born, and about a year and a half later, Greg started thinking... "What if the van breaks down? We'll have no car that the whole family can fit in!" He searched for a while and found an almost 2 year old Dodge Grand Caravan with only 4500 miles on it - another great price. So, Mr. I-Will-Not-Drive-A-Minivan traded in his 4 door sedan for a minivan. And we are now the proud owners of not one, but two minivans.