Saying Sayonara

Today has been a day!  As mentioned in my previous post, we discovered last week that our 2006 Honda Odyssey was not much longer for this life.  Or at least not for this life with US.  Hahaha.  Rather than throwing more money at it -- this time it needed a new transmission -- we decided to just cut our losses and find something new.  Between last week and this week (amidst all the holiday jollity), we've spent hours and hours searching and researching the perfect replacement for the minivan.

 So long 2006!

 

ALSO, I know this is ridiculous -- but I'm really going to miss all of our bumper stickers documenting all the places we've been on our road trips!

 I even had Ethan try and help me carefully take all of them off the back of the old van to save and put on the NEW van.

 It was a bust, in case you were wondering.  :(  

Ethan assures me that we can probably find them all online somewhere and buy them for the new car, but I'm not holding my breath.  

Ethan also went all out and detailed the old one to help out as much as possible with the trade-in value.  ;)

So what did we go with, you ask?  Another Odyssey!  Hahahaha.  I know, I know.  My dream car would have been to get the Honda Pilot (it also has 8 seat belts), but I just couldn't justify the form over function in this case.  Since we actively need ALL 8 seat belts, the trunk space in the Pilot is so negligible it's almost nonexistent, and when I had Ethan test out the third row seats, the Pilot was MUCH more cramped than the Odyssey.  So, after much internal debate and struggle, I decided to be a responsible and logical adult and went with the option that would be best for the whole family all around.  :)

 Isn't she a beauty??? 😍

Ironically, the 2006 broke down on the side of the road not 10 minutes from where I was going to check out a dealership this morning, and I was stranded on the highway in the rain and cold for about 20 minutes before I was rescued.  The good news is that Scott was working at a different location today and was close enough to be able to come and pick me up (and then take me to check out those new cars which were now clearly a more pressing need.)  The great news is that while Scott was waiting for the tow truck and I was checking out the 2015's, our 2006 started right back up for him when he tried it about 20 minutes later.  After cancelling the tow, we headed home to pick up Isaac who had so graciously been rescued from abandonment at preschool this morning by my neighbor and friend who we have quite accurately nicknamed Barbie Godmother.  (Her name is Barb, and she's basically our fairy godmother.  Get it? Get it???  Hahaha.)

(Here's a picture she sent me of Isaac snuggled up watching a show at her house.  This kid is living his best life!  Hahahaha.)

Once the big kids were home from school, we left them in charge to go check out a few other options before deciding to go with the one we looked at first.  ;)  HOURS later (seriously -- it took so long to get everything finalized), we were the proud owners of a brand-new-to-us Honda Odyssey 2015!!!  Of course, by this time, sheer madness and chaos had arisen at home after being left to fend for themselves for so long and as we walked through the door we were met with just about everyone in a full-on red zone, melting down, crazy town mood, but at least I no longer have to worry about our car breaking down on the side of the road while driving around town.  ;)  After driving around in a total trash heap for so long, this upgrade feels like a true luxury and I am stoked.  And so are the kids.  It's been quite the day, but it's ending on such a high note, I can't complain. :)