Just Four Wheels in Our Driveway

I have to catch up on some of the changes we've made in the last few months, and this is a big one...we are officially a one-car household! One of our cars needed some repairs and, in the meantime, was just sitting in our driveway. We quickly realized that we could live with out it...we only needed one car. But which to sell? We had the fuel efficient small wagon (which i LOVED) and a bus of an SUV. Seems like an easy choice, but it wasn't. My husband is very tall, and we are about to have two in car seats. The wagon was too small. We put the seats in the SUV and found that it actually didn't have room for Daddy when the seat was behind him either. I'll never understand how auto makers can build cars that are so friggin' huge and have no room. I'm sorry we ever got that SUV.

The solution? Trade them both in for something that meets our every (almost) need. We now own a Ford Freestyle (now the Taurus X) crossover. Part wagon, part SUV, it's just the right size for us. Lots of room up front, and two captains chairs in the middle that slide forward and back. We love the console in between for separating squabbling siblings and corralling their stuff. The third row is pretty much full-size (so much better than the old SUV), and not only folds flat to disappear, but it also folds backwards, for things like tailgating and parade watching out the back! The third row also has LATCH for carseats, should we be so lucky to add to our family.

The downside? Not so fuel efficient. But now that we do more carpooling and bike riding, we feel we help that a bit. Maybe someday there will be an even better option for us.