But we don't play soccer!

It’s done. We are now the proud owners of a black 2006 Town & Country minivan. And the process went pretty well. We got more features than we were expecting to get and paid about what we were hoping to pay – so it was a bit of a bargain. And I love that. Now I just have to cross my fingers that it will serve us well. I honestly hope to not have to buy another car for ten years. By which time we should be able to get a nice hybrid.

Gas prices are astounding. I went to visit my Dad last week and figured out that the trip including gas and tolls probably cost $30. And it’s only like an hour away. I don’t know how commuters do it. We’re lucky in that we can use mass transportation, only need one car for our family, and because of proximity don’t typically have to drive that far to places we need to go. Trips to visit family are our only big gas expenses since our parents all live between an hour and hour and a half away. But the minivan can cut down on our short trips which will also help. Noah’s last day of the school year is tomorrow. However he will go there for a summer camp program in July and August on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 10:15 am to 12:45pm. And since my neighbor Kate’s daughter is also going, and I can fit another kid in my car we can split up the trips so that Kate takes the kids to school and I pick them up. This is incredibly handy since drop-off is smack in the middle of Ray’s nap. Oh minivan – and this is why we love you.

We were at the car dealership until 10:30 last night. The kids were amazingly well behaved considering they were exhausted and trapped there. Some of the highlights of the experience were Noah deciding we had to buy the convertible Crossfire with red leather seats (“Mama! There is a car with no roof!”), Ray eating his first lollipop (or Taffy as the true Philadelphians say) and holding on to it like a smack addict, and Noah’s wonder at the whole process (“It comes with it’s OWN KEYS!” and “There is so much room. It’s magical!”) Also I refrained from turning on the TV in the playroom until after we had been there two hours. At which point Noah became instantly enamored with the Dora DVD. He’d never seen Dora before and this morning he keeps asking me about it. “Wasn’t that Dora movie fun? Didn’t you like it?”

Next week we leave for a short vacation to the exotic hinterlands of Scranton, PA. No, I’m not applying for a job at Dunder Mifflin. We are renting a small cabin on Lake Henry for a rural getaway. I’m not too into woodland myself – probably because my Mom’s house is in the woods and as a kid I felt stifled by my inability to walk anywhere and do anything – but I know Noah will enjoy it. Plus it will be good to get away. We haven’t been anywhere since we went to the beach with my Mom last June. Unfortunately it looks like it’s going to be a rainy week. I think I may have to run out and buy us all rain boots (wellies!) and ponchos.