The Band.

It's happened, guys. Brad and I have joined the ranks of real adulting parents. 

We now drive a mini-van.

It's true. Over Christmas, my father-in-law found a really good deal for us on a 2012 Honda Odyssey. We never really saw ourselves in a van, but now that we have one...we love it. Like, genuinely love it. Apparently, we grew up somewhere along the way.

We had briefly talked about upgrading vehicles when we added another baby, but we decided to table that discussion and had been planning on continuing to use our CR-V, as it seats 5 and has a lot of trunk space (and I've always been really in love with my vehicle). We knew it would make getting around town when we had company more complicated, but that wasn't a good enough reason to change our situation.

Well, Brad's dad is a genius vehicle-finder. It's like his super power. Unbeknownst to us, he started putting his skills to work, keeping an eye on vans in a few different locations. He revealed his little project to us right before heading out of town for Thanksgiving, when he suggested we swing by a dealer in Durham and test drive one that he'd found there. WHAT?? We didn't get to test drive it before Thanksgiving, but we did shortly after...and found out that we thought it was awesome. The trunk space! The smooth ride! All the tushies and car seats that can fit! It definitely mesmerized us.

That particular van ended up selling a few days later, but we knew we were fans of the Odyssey. Over Christmas, Bill had located a few other potentials that Brad test drove, and it confirmed that the Odyssey was our van of choice, assuming all the stars aligned.

Which they did! Through a flurried series of events, we ended up acquiring an Odyssey of our very own to bring back to Durham with us after Christmas. Who saw that coming?? 

There is our very own mini van, sitting on our very own parking pad.

Some of our favorite features that were totally unexpected blessings:
*8 seats. EIGHT SEATS. The middle row, which in most vans has two captain's chairs, has a third, REMOVABLE seat. This means that if my parents and sister came to visit, for example, the four of us Boswells + the three Brassarts could fit with a seat to spare! (or, you know, to hold diaper bags and purses) It enables the middle row to be captain's chairs OR a bench. I love having options.

Just check out Claire's car seat filling up that third, removable seat. This van is such a catch.

*The third row folds down into the floorboard, creating a ginormous trunk area. We actually keep it tucked away most of the time. It leaves gobs of room for stroller storage, grocery hauling, extra stuff that we keep in the car. It's awesome.

We could basically move in, it's so big. That's Claire's stroller on the right, and let me tell you, that thing is large. This picture kind of dwarfs it, but it is quite big. On the left is a box of stuff for the the car, as well as my reusable bag full of reusable bags. I'm kind of obsessive about taking my own bags to the grocery store. #erinisquirky

*There's a built-in DVD player. We weren't searching for this, and it didn't come with the van from the factory. Apparently, the dealer added it, and it was a bonus we weren't expecting. Our goal is to reserve it for extremely long trips, so that it remains a novelty. Until her birthday (when we traveled to western Carolina for the weekend), she had no idea that it existed. Her world has been rocked.

We tested out the DVD player at Christmas. So OBVIOUSLY, the dvd of choice was Star Wars. Also, did I mention that the system came with wireless headphones for watching? Because it does.

*Automatic sliding doors. I love this so much. I think I'll love it even more when toting a newborn and wrangling a Claire. I can open the sliding doors from my key fob, touch a button by the steering wheel in the front, or use a button in the back seat. How Jetsons am I? It's so convenient when carrying things and keeping an eye on Claire. I can open it (from my key chain) when we step out the front door, send her down the front steps to get in the car and climb into her car seat, so that I can lock the front door and then just buckle her into her seat. A DREAM COME TRUE. (note: my mom used to drive an Odyssey before another driver totaled it- RIP, Mom's van- and it also had automatic doors. Since I did not have children for most of my experiences with Mom's van, I saw the doors as more of a frustration than a help. Amiee and I dubbed it "worst getaway vehicle ever" because of how slowly the doors would open and close. I sing a different tune now.)

Here's Claire demonstrating the back seat button. She LOVES to use it when we let her.

*A back-up camera. Now, I would have traded something extremely valuable to have had this feature while driving (ahem, PARKING) in Boston. But, we actually end up parallel parking in Durham more than you'd expect (like at church), so I'm pretty happy to have it here, too. 

That is a back-up camera. In MY car! How cool is that?

Bonus: the sunglasses holder on the roof will also catch halfway to reveal an extra mirror for watching children. A mom engineer TOTALLY designed that.

Anyway, we're super grateful to Bill and his skills and are thoroughly enjoying driving our Parent Vehicle. Claire calls it "The Band," which absolutely makes it sound cooler. We've gotten all prepped for various and sundry potential situations, by getting a dust buster (that sucker is currently clean, and we plan on keeping it that way!) and a trash bag. We care about you, Van, we care. We're also really looking forward to buckling a second car seat in there and adding another passenger. And, if you come visit, we will totally let you experience the Awesome that is The Band.