Since Peter was born we've been realizing that our car, while charming, wasn't really going to cut it anymore. The biggest problem was the seating--although our car allegedly seated five, with two carseats it was essentially impossible to cram another person in the backseat, and I say that as the person who always ended up getting crammed in the backseat. True, we could still fit our family, but if, say, Adam flew to visit us, we couldn't really take him anywhere, and since as far as I'm concerned one of the main points of having Adam visit is having an excuse to go to Primanti's, this was clearly not going to work out. And with my parents in town and AJ moving to town next year, there were a lot of times more passenger room would be welcome. Also, the cargo area, while larger than you might think, was still not really large enough for a trip of any length, especially if it was a trip to see Robbie's parents, because then we'd inevitably end up bringing 100 pounds of European toys back home. (Or, if you prefer, about 50 kilos.)

So, we did a lot of research online, and it turns out nobody makes what we actually wanted, which is a station wagon with a way-back. I don't know why, considering this is what rational consumers (us) want, but there we were. So, we narrowed it down to a minivan like the Odyssey or a microvan like the Mazda5, which would be nimbler and cheaper than a real minivan, but probably just give us the option of either additional seating or any cargo whatsoever, not both at once. Another potential issue with the Odyssey was whether it would fit in our garage, because the used models were listed online as being 202 inches long, which, according to our measurements, was exactly the length of the garage. (To me this meant "clearly doesn't fit," but to Robbie it seemed perfectly adequate.)

Anyhow, on Saturday we left the kids with my parents and set out to look at vans, with the idea being that we'd test-drive an Odyssey if there was one we liked and take it back to our house to see if it fit in the garage, and if it didn't, we'd go look at the Mazda5. We'd been thinking we'd get something about as old as the Prius, around three or four years old, and get the cheapest trim package because really, who needs all the bells and whistles, but the best thing that they had at the dealership was a slightly older Odyssey, fully belled and whistled, with pretty low mileage. We figured we'd take it for a ride so that we could at least figure out the garage issue, and driving it over to our house I decided I really liked it, so I was nervous pulling in, possibly also because I had visions of myself ramming the van into the back of our garage while the car salesman watched. I inched and inched forward, though, and after Robbie indicated that I was within a millimeter or two of the back wall we tried to shut the door, and it actually shut, with maybe half an inch to spare.

So, there we were, and after that the negotiation went really well, although I didn't have my whole Glengarry Glen Ross thing going on this time, which disappointed me slightly and disappointed Robbie even more. My ninja negotiation skills only really kick in to get me something I think is fair, though, and having researched prices quite a bit I knew they were offering the van for a completely reasonable price, so I didn't have a lot to go on. (Also, our salesman sort of had a Columbo thing going on, which is just as effective in negotiation as it is in crime-solving, as it turns out.) We did manage to talk them up a bit on the trade-in, which was nice, and overall I think we got a really good deal. So, we said goodbye to the Prius, thumbing our noses one more time at its horridly ineffective gas gauge as we went, and loaded everything into our new van, where it barely made a dent in the available storage space, and there we were.

And I have to say, I know this is the final nail in the already pretty nailed-up coffin of my coolness, but I absolutely love it. It looks remarkably dorky--it's beige with a beige interior, a veritable sea of beige--but we went out to dinner with my parents after we brought the van back home, and it was tremendously jolly to have everyone in one car again. I sat in the third row, and it's probably the closest I've come in the last several years to feeling like I didn't have to be in charge of everything around me. (For one thing, even if I did feel obligated to offer helpful suggestions to the driver, I'd need a megaphone to do it from back there.) It made me feel a little bit like the way you do in high school when you fill your car full of friends and drive around with the vague idea of possibly doing something stupid--not that I was going to do anything stupid with my parents and children, but I wasn't really then anyhow, it's just the potential that's welcome.

And did I mention that we have a DVD player? I wasn't all that pleased about that in terms of the kids, but then my mom, who was in the third row with me, pointed out that we could also use it to watch Teaching Company videos and I was sold. (I'd say that was another nail in the coolness coffin, but let's face it, I got that one a long time ago.)