Goodbye Toyota Sienna

Loooooooong gone are the mini van days!!! In 2008, I was told I was having a set of twins, along with my first born, and my Toyota 4Runner would no longer be large enough to cart everyone around.  I did the deniable (I didn't think a mini van was COOL) and purchased a 2009 Toyota Sienna Mini Van.  I absolutely LOVED having my mini van.  It was very helpful having the electronic sliding doors and deep trunk space, used for a mom with full hands/heart and a double strollers, but QUICKLY 8 years later the time has arrived where my children are now old enough to get themselves in and out of the car, on their own, so we decided to move on. Score!! It's bitter sweet because NOW the car has the potential to get filled with unnecessary stuff and real people are making real messes, but I have always had pretty strict rules in my van, so it hasn't been too bad.  

We had my van on the market last year and every single person that looked at it, made an offer, but I wouldn't budge.  I took it off of the market after test driving the ONLY vehicle that I really wanted (until I drove it), but I didn't really seem settled on it. It just wasn't large enough and for the price, there were no great amenities.  

Two Fridays ago, I put my van back on the market at 3:00 p.m. and it sold to the first person, who contacted me, within 3 hours. Winning!!! It's crazy how sometimes it doesn't sell and sometimes it sells in moments.  Whoop, Whoop!

I drove to Collinsville, VA, with Lilah, after TWO, youth football games, to meet the couple who expressed an interest in buying it.  I felt confident in their desire to buy OR I would NOT have driven that far.  It sold within 15 minutes of meeting up with them.  Lilah and I waited patiently for Darren to come get us.  I joked and said, I was not only "carless", but felt "slightly homeless too" as I was basically on the side of the road, with a shopping cart filled with my old vehicles belongings.  I even had an older couple pull over and ask Lilah and I if we were okay and if we needed help.  So funny!

We had many wonderful memories with our van.  We brought our twins home in this van.  We traveled to the beach, the Great Wolf Lodge, Busch Gardens, Carowinds, Kings Dominion, Short Pump, Charlotte, Tyson's Corner, etc in this van.  Girls night out in this van.  Every season of sports: Football, Basketball, and Baseball.  You name it... this van has experienced it.  It was the most reliable vehicle I have ever had.  It was never in an accident.  And aside from replacing the steering bracket, I didn't have ONE single problem with it.  OH... let's NOT forget that Ty once carved his autograph into this van and chose to draw a tic tac toe board onto the exterior of the van, with a rock from Chick Fil A's landscaping.  Sigh.... Haha. I also was unfortunate to receive two speeding tickets in this van, BOTH with ALL three of my children in the it.  Eeeew! 

We waited patiently (an entire year) to decide what vehicle to purchase in place of our van.  Once it came out and we test drove it, we put the ONLY OTHER vehicle out of our distant memory and purchased our new love.  I will share it on the blog soon! Adios Soccer Football Mom Van, LOL! We are back on the road in a much cooler fashion.  Stay tuned...

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