K is for Keys . . . to my new minivan (Don't be jealous)

A few of you might recall that when we first moved to Ruralville, we bought an old Honda Accord to save gas on trips to town.

In a nutshell, here's what was wrong with the Honda:

1)  It was too small.  In order to fit all the car seats, my hands would be scraped raw.

2)  The air conditioning did not work.  It might surprise you, but our area does get high temperatures eventually.

3)  It had a small colony of mice living in the trunk.  

That was their nest.  FYI.

Alas.  The Honda did not work out so well for us, so we sold it. And, yes.  We did remove the nest.  We are considerate like that.

For about 4 years, we have had this beast of a rig:

It is a diesel Ford Excursion.  We like it because it can tow our camp trailer and it seats 8.

8!  That means we could have two MORE kids, Lumberjack!

It's also great in the snow and I'm pretty sure that if I were to hit a deer, I would win.

But, it is not the most thrifty of options when it comes to the gas mileage.  And, since I drive an average of 100-130 miles during a trip to town, we decided we needed something more affordable.

So, without further ado, I would like to present to you:

Taylor's Sweet New Ride

(Don't be jealous)

I asked David if I looked "cute" driving my minivan and he said, and I quote,

"NO."

David is still mourning the soon-to-be loss of our Ford Excursion.  He needs time.

So, yesterday, I took the kids into town to register the new rig at the DMV.  And, as usual, it was a madhouse there and we had to wait for years on end.

There are some strange, strange, strange people at the DMV.  Where do these people come from?  I am pretty sure I would never see any of them anywhere else around town.   But that's not the point.  The point is this:  there were other kids there running amok and I would not allow my kids to follow suit.

Just because we live in the boonies and have been to known to get naked and jump on trampolines, does NOT mean we act like we live in the boonies and bustle about sans clothing when we are town.

No, dear readers.  We act civilized.

When we were all done with the DMV, the gal looked at me and said:

"Boy!  You've got your hands full!"

Because, have you heard?  A day in town would not be complete without one stranger saying that sentence to me.

But then, THEN, dear readers she added this:

"And your children are very well-behaved!"

!

Now, this, dear readers was a treat!  So, I took the kids to the park.  Apparently one is supposed to reward good behavior.

 

 See that building behind Handsome Dude?  That is the library.  Sweet Pea is apparently too old for things such as the park, so I let her head into the library and check out an American Girl magazine to peruse while the other kids ran about all crazy-like.

She thought she was hot stuff, sitting there on the bench and reading her magazine.

We also went to Awana last night and afterwards, we were taking a friend home.  I was listening to the girls chat in the back seat:

Daisy Mae:  Don't you just love our new minivan?

Friend: *no response*

Daisy Mae:  And it came with tons of free stuff!!

This is where I paid close attention.  Because I was unawares of anything free the van came with.

Daisy Mae:  I mean, check this out!  It is long and green!  Isn't it so cool?

Friend: Um.  Yeah?

Daisy Mae:  I just can't believe they gave it to us!

Me:  Hey!  What are you talking about back there?

So, Daisy Mae shows it to me.

It was a straw.

An old, disposable Starbucks straw.

From someone else's lips.  And saliva.

Super!

Happy Thursday!