OK, this is getting out of hand.  What is?  Well, 2 things actually – first that I haven’t blogged in over a month.  And second, gas.  This is the most I’ve ever paid for a fillup.  A couple months ago I posted my $100 gas station trip.  Well, that’s nothing.  Check this out…

So with the news that we’re having twins, one of the first things we realized is that we will no longer all fit in our minivan. We’ve had a Grand Caravan for the last few years and it’s been great. Except it only seats 7. So here’s my criteria for a new vehicle:

1. Seats at least 8
2. Leather. I’m sick of cleaning up (or trying unsuccessfully to clean up) soaked in kid stains and spilled food, etc off cloth. (on another topic we’ve now made a rule that only Julie, while pregnant, is allowed to eat in the van. Will this be successful? Stay tuned…)
3. NO big square vans allowed. Sorry, I just can’t do it.
4. DVD system required – With 6 kids, unless I start racking up serious frequent flyer miles (which may be a possibility – I’ll talk about that in a future blog), the only place we’ll be flying is to Hawaii or Italy, whenever we make those trips. Anything else in the continental U.S. we’re probably driving to. So we need a good entertainment system.
5. Good cargo space. See explanation for number 4.

Other than that, I don’t really care too much. So with those criteria in mind, we’ve basically narrowed down the list to 3 options: Chevy Suburban, Honda Odyssey, and Toyota Sienna. At first I was leaning heavily toward the minivans, because of the bad gas mileage and pure juggernaut size of the Suburban. But then we drove one and wow. It sure was nice and roomy inside. There’s something to be said for not feeling cramped every time you get in the car. But then we looked at Jared and Jamie’s Odyssey, which they drove from Minnesota a week ago. It’s got a lot more cargo space than our Grand Caravan does and it still seats 8. Plus it’s a Honda, of course, so that’s a bonus over Chevy from a long-term financial and mechanical standpoint. We haven’t driven a Sienna yet, but I’m sure once we do, we’ll have even more questions and be more confused. Fortunately we have 4 or 5 months before we really have to decide, but I’d like to decide what we want sooner so I can have my eyes open for good deals. So does anyone have input?