You can either pay to have the transmission fixed to the tune of at least $1500 or recognize it’s time to say goodbye.

We decided to say goodbye to our Grand Caravan..

She served us well, taking us on many family vacations, lots of soccer games and let’s not forget all those trips to school, as well as bringing two of our three babies home from the hospital.

But she had to go.

It was time.

Problem was van shopping while on vacation 400+ miles from home isn’t ideal.

Yep, you heard right.

We made it in one piece to PA only to have our van start acting up on us as soon as we arrived.

So we spent a lot of time online looking at vehicles, and even more time test driving and jumping from dealer to dealer.

It was high stress and a lot of frustration.

Monday night, which also happened to be Brianna’s birthday was the culmination of our efforts.

After spending all day van shopping, we took Brianna to Build-A-Bear and then to get her ears pierced, and then went off to see if my dream van was in fact at RideSmart Auto.

It was…

A fully loaded Chrysler Town and Country. I’m talking dual DVD people, and heated leather seats, up front and in the second row and power sliding doors, and a power lift gate too! And a back up camera! And.. and… and… so much more!

I am in love with this minivan!

So the very next day we went back to get the van.

After a very long day of waiting at the dealer, Brian taking it to the mechanic for a once over, waiting some more, talking endlessly with our bank, filling out lots of paperwork, eating some lunch, waiting some more..

Did I say waiting?

We got to take home our new baby..

I mean van!

I heart my Town and Country!

The kiddos love driving in style, their favorite thing to do, besides the DVD player of course, is shutting the doors with a touch of a button.

Brian loves the van too, not so much the spending money on a huge purchase, but oh well, you gotta do what you gotta do.

I will end with this..

Buying a van on vacation?

Definitely on my list of things never to do again!

Why you may ask, because he has been obsessed since he was born!

Okay, perhaps we had a little something to do with his wardrobe choices early on, but the trend has not only stuck, it’s become his life.

He loves watching, playing, wearing and talking baseball.

He has more baseball bats and baseballs than we know what to do with because every time we are in a store and he sets his eyes on a shiny new bat I can’t help but buy it for him. I think of it as an investment in his future and mine, I mean when he makes the big bucks he’ll for sure buy me a dream home!

Heck, the kid broke his arm at the age of two and the reason I knew something was wrong was because he refused to put on his brand new baseball glove. Didn’t stop him from playing though..

Alex started t-ball this year.

Every Saturday, unless it rained, we went off to t-ball with a very excited little boy, holding his glove, wearing a big dazzling grin, chattering up a storm about how he was playing t-ball that day.

His team was the Rangers. Being huge Phillies fans we just had to deal. He did wear his shirt and hat with pride. He also enjoyed playing with his friend Braelyn!

His favorite part was batting, and the poor kid only got to do 1 inning a game, but he loved every second of it!

Plus, and I can’t believe I don’t have pictures of this, he would slide at every base, including 1st!

Alex has acquired his first of many trophies.

We’ll be sure to hang on to it, he might want it on the same shelf as his World Series ring one day!

Congrats on a wonderful season Alex!

I am very proud of you!

Had to throw this one in too because I just love it..

Yep, definitely the future of baseball right there.

He was born to play!

I hated this floor, even worse I wasn’t a fan of my husband who did not see why we needed to spend the money to replace it.

Something changed in him this year, and along with his bonus from work we asked family for cash this Christmas instead of gifts so that we could get the dreaded floors replaced…. finally!

We knew we wanted laminate. The search went on for weeks. We went to several different stores. Some were too cheap, the big box stores were to expensive and some were just laughable. We had it between two stores and then we had to decide what type, color and price worked best for our budget.

Brian and I were at a stand still. He liked one type, I hated the color. I loved one type, it was too expensive. He went out without me and brought home two samples, we placed them on the floor by the kitchen cabinets and the decision was made…. finally!

We procured a wonderful man from church to install our new flooring. He used to do it for a living before he needed something more secure for his family and now he does jobs on the side.

Ryan, is amazing. Not only did he do an incredible job he taught Brian how to be a little more handy during the process. Even I got in on the action. I pulled a few nails which turned out I’m not a fan and took off some baseboards which was much more fun.

I don’t have a quality before picture as my husband took it with his phone and I never thought to take one at all. Why would I want to remember the horror that was my kitchen and foyer floors?

But here is what it looks like now and I am thrilled that it’s done.

Finally!

Alex and baby dressed in holiday beauty!

Big sisters strike again.

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