Sarah, in as kind of a way as possible, has reminded me that while my Piaggio Fly 150 scooter has been great for me over the past year, I should probably start looking forward to the day when we may need to trade it in for something that…oh I don’t know…can carry more than 1 person comfortably on it. We’ve really had some good times together. But…as hard as I’ve tried, I haven’t been able to figure out a way to rig two baby seats to the scooter and feel good about driving it around.
So of course the question is…what next? Do we jump on the bandwagon of getting a minivan (which is what people said when they found out we were having twins; “might as well jump straight up to the minivan). But I’m sure there are other options out there, other “cooler” vehicles that will safely transport us, the Cleakers and all our stuff.
But if I have to get a minivan, right now, I’d probably go with the “swagger wagon” – the Toyota Sienna of course. And if you don’t know what I’m talking about, you need to turn up the volume and watch this amazing video. And if you DO know what I’m talking about – what a brilliant marketing campaign, eh?
So – did you make the leap to a minivan? Or did you find other vehicles that were way “cooler” than a minivan, but still got the job done?
Bethany says
I don’t have my own kids yet, but I traveled with my sister and her two little ones last weekend. And crawling over a car seat to sit in the back of a Chevy Malibu between two unhappy children could probably be a new obstacle for the Wipeout TV show.
Gail Doering says
Adam, don’t do it! Please find something more fuel efficient. We didn’t have twins but two children two years apart. You really don’t want to be able to travel with a driver and 7 or 8 children. We got along just fine with a 5 passenger vehicle. I’m sure you can find something with 6….room for one friend per twin!
Dazed Dad says
Gail – I would really like to be able to find something other than a minivan – guess I’ll have to start looking around. I think having something other than a sedan would be great, but yah – if I could avoid a minivan – even a swagger wagon, I would welcome the option….
Mary says
We got a Mazda 5. It’s still classified as a “wagon” not a mini-van so I was happy to make the switch (though I was switching from a pontiac Vibe, so not too far of a change). I really love it and to be honest the sliding doors makes putting the carseat in SO much easier. Also, when it comes time to look at carseats let me just say right now to buy the Chico Keyfit, it is so easy to install! I originally had a Graco and my husband had a horrible time trying to get it latched in, the Chico is amazing!
Colin Carmichael says
I second the Mazda5 recommendation! We have 4 car seats in ours. The twins, at 15 months, have the middle row while the 3 yr-old and 5 yr-old are occupy the third row.
With ours so fully loaded all the time, we don’t quite get the advertised fuel economy, but we do far better than an average full-size minivan.
Since you’ll be loading two infants into the car, I highly recommend anything with sliding doors – it really makes life so much easier.
Dazed Dad says
Thanks Colin! I looked at the Mazda 5 last night and it does get better gas mileage than the minivans that I looked at as well…all of these things are just so damn expensive….it’s making me REALLY appreciate our brand new 2007 Toyota Yaris that we bought (fully loaded!) for $15k. Goodness…
Colin Carmichael says
One more to add to the mix – though I’m not sure it will be in showrooms in time for you.
http://jalopnik.com/5359407/ford-grand-c+max-return-of-the-truly-mini-van
Landon says
We’ve run the gamut of vehicles hauling our four boys around ,and it does not get better than the minivan.
Work it, Ladybug. Work it.
Dazed Dad says
Hmmm, so many conflicting opinions…some say definitely go minivan – others say go with a Mazda 5 or something like that…I was just checking out models/prices last night and DAMN they are all so frickin’ expensive!
Peter Analore says
I love the Swagger Wagon video. I’ve been meaning to post it on my blog as well. You’ll definitely need someting big with twins. Congrats!
Peter
http://www.firsttimefather.net
Colin Carmichael says
One more thing to add – as long as we’re talking about parenting and cars…
Go for the leather interior – really. Pay whatever it costs and thank yourself later. No amount of ScotchGuard (or whatever cloth protector they’re selling these days) will make your interior as easy to clean as leather. When you have kids, leather is not a luxury item – it’s a sanity-saver. Really.