Over to the dark side

As many of you know, I had a beautiful baby girl last November (I know, it's so hard to believe she's almost a year old).

(Gratuitous Baby Pictures)

We knew we needed to buy a larger car but I.DID.NOT.WANT.A.MINI-VAN. So over the past year or so, I have looked at every SUV or cross-over vehicle known to man to try to find something that will seat five, plus various configurations of car seats and boosters comfortably plus cargo on a regular basis but also accommodate our big girls when they are with us. This was no small task and I researched vehicles I hadn't even heard of. Finally last May when we travelled to Texas for our daughter's graduation, we rented a van. We travelled all over the greater Dallas area, all 5 children in tow, super comfortable, without complaint, while driving on one of the MANY toll roads, I looked over at my husband and uttered those words of surrender, "you know we have to get a van right?"

So without further adieu . . .

This is an image from the Internet.

And here she is in her new home

I.LOVE.HER. We didn't buy new, but almost, it's a 2010 and we got lots of bells and whistles. We bought it from the sales division of a national rental car company and service, pricing and selection were fantastic and if anyone is in the market for slightly used vehicle, I would absolutely recommend checking the rental sales lots in your area. This is my second time purchasing from a rental company and both times I received excellent service and the vehicles were just 1 year old. We will get lots of use and have many happy times in this van. So the next time you see the white mommy van with heads bobbing around in back, take a look it might be me and my crew.