We had to sell both of our vehicles in Paraguay (although to date, our truck has still not sold), which meant that as soon as we got to the U.S., we had to quickly get new ones. Our plan was to just buy a vehicle for me in Florida and then drive it up to Tennessee where we could take more time to find the perfect vehicle for Chris. Chris had already been researching for months about what kind of vehicle would be best for our family and we had already decided on a Honda van for me. It took Chris a while to warm up to the idea of a mini van, seeing as how they are not the highest rated on the coolness scale. But, I had convinced him that trying to get three little ones in and out of an SUV that had a third row that you had to climb over, was just not very practical. When they can all buckle themselves in, fabulous. But until then- not something I want to battle! So, the mini van it was. We took the kids to the car lot with us when we went. We found a fabulous used car lot that only sold used cars with very low mileage. Chris actually won the vechicle on ebay, but his bid had not met the reserve. So, we drove to the car lot to check it out. We really liked it! The kids were so excited to have all of that space. They wanted to buy it right away. Since Chris had been researching, we already knew that it was exactly what we wanted and at a fabulous price. So, we bought it! I guess the part we had not anticipated (which we should have), was being at a car lot with three little ones for hours while all of the paperwork got processed! We made one trip to Chic-fil-A, but I still had to keep them entertained for a few hours. Thankfully, the car lot had an upstairs gameroom. However, the gameroom looked out over the showroom and I was nervous the entire time that one of the kids were going to climb one of the walls and topple over the balcony. Not to mention that the game room was really made more for having parties for clients- wet bar, fancy pool tables, antiques, big screen TV. Not exactly the place that you can allow your kids to act like kids. I assumed that the throwing of the pool table balls that my kids were attempting would be frowned upon. Especially since the walls that protected them from falling over the balcony were glass! But, we made it without any major catastrophies. And we drove two cars home! (Our new one and Chris's parent's vechicle that we were borrowing) Chris said that I looked like a grandma behind the wheel. I think it was the combination of the mini van effect coupled with the fact that I had no idea where I was going and we were on the turnpike during rush hour traffic. Either way, we have really enjoyed our spacious new mini van! And yes, we are officially calling ourselves "old" as we have joined the mini van owners of the world.
Emma and Walker posing with the mini van and their new fishing rods.
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Our original plan to buy our second vehicle in Tennessee got slightly changed when we realized how much stuff we had! We returned to the U.S. on the airplane with 10 checked bags, 6 carry-ons, 3 kids, ourselves and a crated dog. Needless to say, that doesn't all fit in one vehicle! Not to mention the closet-full of odds and ends we had collected over the years at Chris's parents house. We checked on renting something to get our stuff up, but that is so expensive! So, that coupled with a steal of a deal that Chris found on a black Toyota truck, led us to the purchase of our second vehicle just a few days after our first one! By the time Chris got home with it, it was already late. But the kids couldn't resist playing in it in the driveway!
Chris was so happy- he had been wanting a truck for years. And we were so excited to have the vechicle hunting done with and be able to move on to Tennessee and all the adventures awaiting us there. And we were so thankful to find two great deals that allowed us to afford two vehicles at once, and even do it the Dave Ramsey way!
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