Connor's First Sentence

Connor's been putting "more" and "please" together for a while now and we have him say "all done" at the table when he's done with his meal, but those have been specifically prompted, so they don't really count.

Yesterday morning, we were getting ready and he heard the trash truck outside moving from house to house and was fixated, saying "car" repeatedly as he got dressed. On the way down the stairs, the truck drove past our front door to pick up our trash and he saw it and spontaneously said "bye bye car". Yup, beaming. Misha told me he also said "bye bubbles" as the tub drained (she had given him a bubble bath).

Next stop: Quantum differential equations

"Hey, there's a show on HBO about our minivan..."

So we bought the Entourage.

We got lotsa nudging toward the Odyssey and the others, but in the end it came down to a few facts:

1) We got all the extras we wanted and none that we didn't for a lower price than any of the competition.

2) The Odyssey was too stiff, the others were too loose, the Entourage was juuuust right.

3) Misha told me we were getting the Entourage.

Ok, so I'm exaggerating a bit on #3 there, but since this is going to be her primary vehicle and since we were trading in her only vehicle for the minivan (for those keeping count, I have 2 cars of my own), her vote definitely had more weight than mine.

I'll be honest, it was a close race between the Odyssey and the Entourage, but in the end the Entourage just made sense when you factored in extras and price. To get the features we wanted in the Odyssey, we would have paid about $4,000 more.

So far, so good. We're enjoying the minivan (and the fact that it sounds like a muscle car when you open it up helps a bit) and are looking forward to many, many years of family adventures.

You Odyssey the Entourage

Since my SUV vs Minivan post, we've looked at a few of the higher rated models out there.

The first two we saw were the Hyundai Entourage and Kia Sedona, and we discovered that they're actually both the same company. We liked the Entourage better anyway so Kia got kicked off the list. Unfortunately, we ran out of time to see the Honda and Toyota that day and very shortly after that, Connor arrived.

Last weekend we finally felt back up to going car hunting again and had planned to go see the Dodge Grand Caravan, Chrysler Town & Country and the Honda Odyssey. We were kinda biased against the Odyssey, mostly because Misha's not thrilled with her current Honda (Accord) and because I've never been one to root for the winner. Still, I wanted us to get to know it so that we had a bar to measure against with all the others out there.

The Dodge was a gadget freak's wet dream. Bluetooth, 20GB of Media storage, 2 DVD screens, Satellite TV, a touchscreen media system that turns into a backup camera... it was all there. But then we drove it and discovered why someone invented sway bars. The thing cornered like it was about to derail. Add to this that it wasn't very large-feeling inside after you factored in the low ceiling (and the DVD modules which brought the center ceiling even lower) and the fact that both the Stow-and-Go and Swivel-and-Go seats weren't that impressive* and we quickly dismissed it from our finalists. And since the T&C is basically the same car but a bit more posh and $1,000 more... that was gone too.

*(Stowing was harder than it should have been and required you to move the driver's seat completely forward with no memory option to reset it and Swiveling meant that you and the people in the third row now shared about 8 inches of knee space. Kinda like flying backwards on Southwest without the witty overhead addresses.)

We finally got to examine and test drive an Odyssey on Wednesday and it was a surprise. We liked it and it drove better than the Accord. The rear seats folded down in a really easy and completely different manner. The controls seemed well laid out (though there were a ton of radio buttons thanks to the XM Radio) and my only gripe was that the seat warmer buttons were low enough to be foot activated. I really liked the 2nd row center seat and the reconfigurable captains chairs that could be made into a "bench" without the center seat. Getting in and out of the third row wasn't as nightmarish as I thought it might be and even when I gave myself legroom in the front and 2nd rows, I was still able to sit comfortably in the 3rd row (which is important since the 3rd row can't adjust forward or backward). The suspension was solid, if a bit stiff and the ride was comfortable.

From Honda, we drove over to Hyundai immediately to get as close to a side-by-side test drive comparison as possible. We figured this would tell us clearly who was the winner, but the ended up liking both cars pretty equally. The Entourage has smoother suspension without swaying and also has some high-end features that would have required us to move to the Touring model on the Odyssey (at least $3,000 more than the EX-L).

At this moment, we're leaning toward the Entourage since it has almost everything the Honda has, plus a motorized tailgate, adjustable pedals and memory for the driver's seat, pedals and side mirrors... all for $2,000 less. Sure, it doesn't come with XM, but since I don't have XM currently, I'm not missing anything (yet). And the few other features (center 2nd row seat, MP3 player jack, rear climate control, etc) are all non-essentials. The only real benefit I saw was that Honda has an engine management system that shuts off 3 of the 6 cylinders when coasting and only uses 4 when cruising, which saves gas and the environment. Hyundai, on the other hand, has received stellar safety ratings from the IIHS and they just gush about this at the dealer. If one more person tells me about the breakaway engine mounts...

Any thoughts from the fray? Too late to talk us out of a minivan at this point. I'll admit that the Odyssey is a great vehicle with a solid fit & finish and some nice options, but the Entourage is just solid enough to make it a true competitor and leave us with a few dollars to put towards Connor's college fund.

To SUV or not to SUV

With 2 pugs and a baby on the way, we're going to need a bigger automobile to cart everyone and their stuff around town.

But the question at hand is: SUV or Minivan.

Now before you slap me and scream "why would you even consider a Minivan?!", let me play out the logic here.

1) SUVs come in all sizes and prices from small and cheap to large and pricey. Minivans usually start at the lower end of the SUV price range.

2) Small SUVs can only carry 5 people with limited cargo space. Large SUVs can carry 7 people, sort of, and have more cargo space, but not much with all 3 rows set up. Minivans can carry 7 people more comfortably and more cargo. Most minivans have more cargo space with the seats taken out than the entire cabin and cargo areas in a Large SUV.

3) Large SUVs have low MPG numbers. Minivans have MPGs closer to smaller SUVs. Gas is expensive. (In case you hadn't noticed...)

Yes, they're soccer wagons and grocery getters, but you can't argue that a minivan is more practical than a SUV. Besides, I've always seen SUVs more as gas-guzzling status symbols than anything else. How else can you explain the lifted compact station wagon that is the Lexus RX? (ok, so they've made it larger since the first model... but it's just fun to pick on.)

So, I guess we're pretty much going to go with a minivan unless someone knows of some redeeming SUV feature that might sway our opinion. Any suggestions on the different makes of minivan would also be appreciated.

So hop to - it all 3 of you who read this little blog of mine - and help a dad-to-be out. ;)

Babies R Us R Cool

This past weekend my wife and I spent a combined total of 8 hours at the 2 Babies R Us stores in Charlotte. I'd scream, but I'm too tired.

You see, we're cursed. We like something and there's a good chance it won't be available. Or, if it is available, it has been or will soon be discontinued.

My wife found a bra she really liked: discontinued.
We registered for this really cool bar ware: discontinued.
I think we've got a list somewhere.

Anyway, my parents wanted to buy the furniture for the baby's room, so we went to purchase it this weekend. But the set we wanted to get from before was out of stock and not at the warehouse either. It would be at least 2 months before they got it in. Trouble is, we're due in 6 weeks. Not going to work.

It's available in white.
But it doesn't look good in white.
86 that set, let's find another.
Cool, found a great one: crib, dresser/changing table, hutch, armoire.
Except the hutch is on backorder.
No problem, it's not essential, we'll pick it up later.
10% off for opening a new credit card and 15% off for buying 3 pieces of furniture.
Except cribs aren't included in the deal.
But the hutch would have been.
Ok, let's get the glider and matching ottoman too while we're at it.
Sorry, that glider's been discontinued from the store.
You can special order it from the manufacturer, but it will take 12-15 weeks.
Can we get the grungy floor model?
Yes, $200 off.
Ok, but we'll need to order new cushions.
That'll be $200 and 12-15 weeks.
*sigh*, ok. What about the ottoman?
That's broken, but they've got one up in Concord (35 miles away).
Do they have a newer glider?
Yes, but it's incomplete, they don't want to sell it to you in that condition.

So to get all the furniture and discounts, we buy the floor model and I fly up to Concord in my old BMW to pick up the ottoman. Turns out the glider up there is only 2 months old (compared to 4 years of people "test-gliding" the one we'd already bought).

Will they sell it to us?
Yes, but it's missing a spring.
Why's that?
We took it out for a customer that wanted 4 springs (instead of the 3 it comes with).
If I say I don't care, will you sell it to me?
Sure. $50 off.

I buy both the glider and the ottoman and manage to squeeze them into my car and drive home.

The next day, we go back to our local store and return the old glider (that we never really took possession of yet, it was going to wait in the back room until all our other stuff showed up from the warehouse. BUT, my wife now wants 2 gliders so we'll be able to have one upstairs and one downstairs. So we special order another glider. Oh, and we get them to give us one of the springs from the old glider so we can fix the new glider.

All said and done, they managed to coordinate all the coupons and incentive discounts, the staff was super helpful and patient and we got everything we needed, including a much nicer bedroom set than we'd originally planed to get.

And it only cost us twice what we'd gone in to spend.

Yeah...