Vroom Vroom

We spent most of last couple of weeks trying to find a new car. We have been squeezing the kids into our 5-passenger Escape for a couple of years now, and we decided that it was time to find something bigger, especially with kindergarten carpools looming.

After hours of searching the Internet, hours of test driving, hours of negotiations, we finally have a new member of the family:
Phew! The last time we bought a car was nearly 9 years ago, I had forgotten what a pain it is. He looks a little bit mean, doesn't he? Preston liked it that way. It is a Dodge Durango, and it has all the things we needed. (Well, NEED is a subjective word. Do I really NEED a DVD player for the kids? Yes. Yes I do. It is essential to my sanity on long rides. Preston NEEDED it not be a minivan.).

We took the kids with us to the dealer once and let them look at the Durango before we bought it. Arden liked it right away. "I don't like this car anymore," she informed us as we drove home in the Escape.

A couple of days after we bought the new car, we sold our Escape. A dad bought it for his 16 year-old daughter, so the Escape will be having lots of fun with the teenagers. I hope it doesn't get too banged up! Even though Arden didn't mind seeing it go, it made me a little sad. We have had that Escape since 2002. We brought all our kids home from the hospital in that car. Lots of memories. Cora missed it too. The second day after we sold the Escape I was driving the kids somewhere in the Durango, and Cora burst into tears. "I want MY car! Dis not MY car!" Change is sometimes hard. But we are warming up to the new one:

One of the first places that I took the kids in the new car was the park. It had SAND. I made the kids take off their shoes and shake them off and then I wiped off their feet with wipes before I let them in the car. Preston refuses to let them eat crackers or any other crumbly food in it. Somehow the floor is already dirty anyway.

And I had to stop this one from coloring on it with chalk right after the above picture was taken.

Poor little Durango has no idea what it is in for.