Ode to the mini van

8 years ago Paul and I were preparing to add our third child to our growing family. We knew we would no longer fit in our VW Jetta and it was time to buy the family car. I had always imagined I would drive a Suburban so when he had mentioned a mini van I practically laughed in his face. Mini vans were not cool... at all!! The reality was we lived in Boston at the time and we didn't see many Suburbans around. It wasn't an ideal place for BIG cars. A mini van made sense but I didn't want to admit it. Eventually I came around and told Paul that I would drive a mini van as long as it had all the luxuries (a bit high maintenance, I know). We started our search and to make a truly LOOOONG story short we bought us a brand new Honda Odyssey with all the perks. I feared I would lose any ounce of cool I had left yet when I drove it I actually felt pretty cool. What was interesting though is that when I saw other moms zipping around in their mini vans they didn't look nearly as cool as I felt.

I remember Paul picking me up from the hospital after having Charlie and strapping in our three children and truly feeling like a big family. I remember looking at each other and just laughing that we were actually cruising around with three kids in a mini van. It was a bit surreal. Two weeks after Charlie was born we took our mini van on a trip across country and it was more comfortable than I could imagine. Dreamy actually. In the past eight years it survived the freezing cold of Boston weather, moved with us across country to California, weekly trips to Disneyland and the beach, road trips to Utah, a move to AZ, a family vaca to Mazatlan, more road trips to Utah, road trips to California, piano lessons, dance lessons, tennis lessons, golf, swim team, carpools, preschool, another trip to Utah to see Ty being born and strapping him in the car to bring him home. All the while being dependable, convenient, practical, roomy and perfect for our growing family.

But, all good things come to an end and it was time to make a change. It came on suddenly and I wasn't expecting to be so sad. I actually feel like we jipped our mini van by selling it to an Asian who was going to use it as a shuttle to bring people from the airport to his new restaurant. No more would the van hear laughter, arguing, singing from kiddos. No more would the rockin' music play with windows down and my kids telling me the music was too loud and to roll up the windows. The season of the mini van was over and it was sad to see it go. I will forever have fond memories of the days I was a driver of a mini van! We love you!!