Best. Valentine's Day. Ever.

Oh Silver Mini Van, you have been our faithful servant for nearly 10 years now.  You have driven us to Utah, Montana, Idaho and up and down the State of California many times (not to mention the millions of trips to school, church, the grocery store and kid's activity locations).  You've never left us stranded on the side of the road with a break down.  You've protected our family and never put us in an accident.  You have been a wonderful family car.  

But...

It is time for an upgrade.  Sadly, you have been bumped, thumped and dinged by other cars in countless parking lots.  We've never replaced your timing belt.  Your front bumper has been held on with black duct tape almost since day one.  You need a fair amount of work (and money) to keep you road worthy.  We decided to send you off to pasture instead.  You have been a wonderful family car and we have been thankful.

                                          

So, last weekend Will said it was time.  Time to trade our old mini van in for a brand-spanking-new one.  

                                          

I spent Saturday cleaning out the old van.  It was a little sad.  I remembered that this van had safely brought two children home from the hospital.  I remembered trips to the beach and to the snow.  I remembered all of the little "fixes" I invented to make the van more comfortable.  Like my "custom" center console (a plastic tub with plastic cups screwed into it--plenty of space for all of the crap I like to have in the car).

                                          

I remembered all of the things that I loved about this van and all of the memories made in the van.  I've been wanting a new van for a while.  But when it came down to it, I was sad to see it go.  

One hundred and thirty thousand miles--not to shabby.

I was sad to say good bye to the memories made in this van but I was not sad to see all of the embarrassing dents and dings go.  Did you know our drivers side mirror is held in place by bathtub caulking and twigs? Our rear fender was smashed twice in a parking lot by two hit-and-runs.  One side was ground along a parking barrier when Will was driving and tried (successfully) to avoid a car that had wandered into his lane in a parking garage.  Oh and the tail gate doesn't close properly ever since I left it open while taking groceries in one day and it got clipped by the mail truck.  The peeled up front licence plate--I cannot remember how that happened.  We never had head rests for the back row of seats.  The sliding side doors never gave out (although Will swore they would be the first thing to break) but they were starting to creak and bang when we opened them. 

Honestly, there were a lot of cosmetic problems with the van but it was a great car.  I don't want to come off as complaining.  Sometimes I even felt good about our humble looking van.  Just last week, at Kindergarten carpool a couple of Adell's classmates came over to the van to walk all around it and ask me where each and every ding came from.  They were a little astonished at how crappy our car looked...and that it still ran.  

Whatever sadness I felt at saying good bye to our old mini van--evaporated as soon as I saw the new mini van.  It is so LOVELY!  It has enough bells and whistles to be fun but isn't overwhelming.  The ride is smooth and it doesn't smell like feet (win!).  

We all fit inside the new van very comfortably.  There is a built in DVD player (what!).  There is an extra seat in the middle row so the back row kids aren't so squished.  There is dual climate control!  I could go on and on.  

Good bye old reliable, hello black beauty.