We test drove SO many options. First of all I"m not sure who decided to discontinue the Malibu Maxx but FAIL. It's a pretty standard decision, though since it seems that the current station wagon options are extremely limited and also very expensive. And if we're going to spend that kindof money it needed to be an upgrade not a lateral move. So that was out.
Then I decided I wanted more seating. It would be life changing to be able to bring peope in are car who are not just our immediate family. So that cut down our options quite a bit....
So first we tested the Traverse. A big fuck-off SUV. Oh I'm sorry, crossover. I suppose that there are some technical differences but seriously. Big Fuck-off tank car. But we were offered a pretty insane deal on it and the 8 passenger seating thing seemed pretty sweet. So we were thisclose to acutally purchasing one. And then I mid-large-decision-freak-out went to the used car lot around the corner and brought one home. HOLYFUCKISTHISCARBIG! IT BARELY FITS IN OUR GARAGE! NONONONONONONONONONONO.
Sometimes you have to go with your gut.
Then after piles more research, crowdsourcing, and testdriving not worth mentioning I went and tried to test drive a Ford Flex. Now at this point I was solidly in fuck it mode. I no longer cared. I rolled into the dealership 30 minutes before closing looking like crap after a day at the pool with the kids. I made no effort to act all that excited or interested. And my apathy was rewarded with the keys to a PIMPED OUT Explorer. I'm pretty sure this car could launch a rocket and possibly fly. And they let me take it off the lot unsupervised.
I immediately got hopelessly and ridiculously lost.
Yup. That happened.
Needless to say I did not purchase that car. And the Flex, while nice, was a bit much for us.
Which lead to ..... MINI-VANS! ZOMG!!!
You guys I love mini-vans. Always have. I wanted one the last time we were car shopping before we even had/wanted kids. And the new models? Are so amazing. The latch hooks are exposed so I don't have to dig for them! The doors open automatically! I can fit 7 AND a double stroller! MOMMY LIKE.
But we still haven't solved the HOLYFUCKTHISCARISBIG problem. Or the 90% of the time I'm just driving me and the small children so why do we need this? Problem. And as much as I LOVE me a mini-van... it still didn't feel quite right. We're not there yet. In 5 years we will be but for now it's just not necessary.
I KNOW. We are the pickiest people ever.
And as sick as you are of reading this post? We were about a million times sicker of car shopping.
So instead of a car we decided to purchase a Swiss Army Knife.
 |
| The Mazda 5. |
It's the best of ALL the worlds.
There is a third row of seating sometimes. Yes. Sometimes. Check this out. In the configuration we will use most of the time the Not-A-Car looks like this:
Or probably more appropriately this:
 |
| The double stroller fits without me taking it all apart. LIFE.CHANGING. |
 |
| The Redhead comes optional. |
Or even this:
 |
| The trunk has disappeared to reveal two seats! MAGIC. |
Sliding doors are going to rock my world. And if you don't understand why you probably haven't told a preschooler DON'T SLAM OPEN THE DOOR YOU'RE GOING TO HIT THE CAR NEXT TO US fifty million times.
The sliding doors and captain chairs setup also mean that The Girl can climb through. So I'm not going to have to do the walk around the car 3 times dance that I used to have to do to get both kids in and buckled. Again, LIFE CHANGING!
 |
| I can walk through, too! I just have to figure out how to climb up here.... |
 |
| Let's roll. |
