Farewell to the "Beast"

We called her the "Golden Beast."

The first thing my husband said when I told him I was expecting #3, Gimli, was "we'll need a new car".  At the time, we had a four-door Toyota and fitting three car seats across the back row wasn't going to be easy.  

Unwilling to become a "mini-van dad", my husband bought us a Suburban.  I thought it was the biggest machine on the road.  I could hardly believe I had to wield such a vehicle.  But, second oldest of 8 children myself, having learned to drive in a 9-passenger Oldsmobile wood-paneled station wagon, I rose to the occasion.  I grew to love our little Suburban.

As we added children to our family, we filled that Suburban right up.  By the time Rosie (#6) was born, we no longer had room for extra passengers.  I wanted to be able to give my nieces a ride occasionally.  I started asking--yes, I asked--for a "big van".  

My husband was unwilling to go for the big family, ugly, van.  (Am I making my husband sound really vain here? He's not.  Technically, our family did still fit the Suburban, and I'm guessing most people don't buy new vehicles just so they can bring along friends!)

 With Legolas (#7), came "Ugly".  Well, that was my name for her.  The kids called her the "Golden Beast".   Over the past 4 1/2 years, I have grown to completely LOVE my van!  She was surprisingly easy to drive.  She was totally reliable (mechanically).  And last month, she dutifully took our family across this entire country (North to South) as we drove to the Southwest to visit our family there.

 So, why is she now a part of our family history?  (She's gone!)  We currently have 10 members of the family in need of seat belts and "baby due in June" will make 11.  It was a 12-passenger, so we should fit, right?

Well...technically.  But, have you ever tried to sit between two car seats?  Poor Galadriel spent a good amount of time doing just that on our trip to the Southwest.  The sides of Eowyn and Legolas' seats actually spread in front of her body, which she wedged into the spot.  We have two in boosters and soon will have three car seats in addition to that.  My older children are not getting any smaller and "sardines" is really not an unapt description of the situation in back.

My children are generally good to one another, but super-tight conditions are not always conducive to peace among the siblings.  So, in the interest of general good-will, comfort, and yes, safety (because my husband won't budge on those boosters!), we up-sized.

My next post is going to be on "the Timberwolf"!  (Yes, we are hopeless, car-naming super nerds around here) Just wait till you hear how the neighborhood children came sprinting into our yard along with our own children to check out our new 15-passenger van!  The exclamations were truly laugh-worthy!  ("It's the biggest vehicle ever!!")