The Bus

Well, this is a our new mode of transportation. Rick is thrilled -- he has wanted a 15 passenger van for a few years now. The kids are excited about it too. I had been adamantly against purchasing one, but with seven kids you start to run out of options and so I finally gave in. The van is bi-fuel (CNG and regular gas) and so we will save money by using natural gas as our main source of fuel. The license plate is quite fitting -- and we didn't even request it -- honest.

We have FOUR car-seats inside (including booster seats) and so it takes at least ten minutes just to get everyone buckled in. (I'll post some pictures of that next time we get the whole family in the van).

I have driven it a few times and so far so good -- as long as I don't have to park in a parking lot that actually has other cars in it.

There are pros and cons to having a bus. First of all it won't fit into our garage. I also really miss having an automatic door that slides open and having a door on both sides (both features of our current mini-van). These doors swing out like a car and so it can be difficult getting in and out. And of course parking, U-turns, and anything else requiring a tight space will certainly not be easy!

But of course I do like the fact that the kids are not all on top of each other and don't have to climb over the seats to get in and out. I like that we can all travel together as a family and I especially like the storage space. We pulled the back seat out and so there is plenty of room to throw in strollers, bikes, and everything else! We also have room for more kids if anyone wants to take their friends on an outing. Rick also wanted one so that he could transport his caroling group at Christmas time. But since we aren't doing the carolers this year, that really isn't an issue. Well, it's time to go pick up Jaiden from pre-school and so I'd better start that long buckling up process!