A New Car Latte

I guess the first rule of a latte and a new car is to watch out for spills. As much as I enjoy the aroma of a good latte, the new car smell is pretty great, too. Yes, we got a new car. It's a beautiful new Volvo XC90, and we finally have a 3rd row. The kids are thrilled, we'll see if they still love it after we drive to Chicago and back in June.

We still have our faithful 4 Runner. It's still going strong at 105 thousand miles, and it is now Rob's primary vehicle. It has been a great car, and I even wrote a latte about it last year. Here it is...

I recently rolled past 90,000 on my 2003 Toyota 4 Runner. Those miles all belong to this family, and I couldn't help reflecting a little on where we've been on our journey.

We bought the car brand new about a week before Mason's 1st birthday. We needed 4 wheel drive for Colorado, and we needed a place to put both a carseat and an excited 80 pound dog. 2 weeks after we got it, we took a 2 week road trip that started in Denver and included stops in Atlanta, Hilton Head, Boone NC, Ohio, and the Twin Cities to name a few spots. As a doting first-time Mommy, I spent much of that trip riding in the back seat so that I could entertain Mason who was still rear-facing in his carseat. Over the next 2 years, while still in Denver, we took trips to Vail, Aspen, Mount Rushmore, and Jackson Hole. Our sweet dog Sadie took her last ride in the back of the 4 Runner, and her nose prints were on the back windows for a long time after she was gone.

Once we moved back to Atlanta (loading up the top carrier for the ride), we soon added the third carseat to the back. Our kids don't have lots of extra space, but they do now have a DVD player for long car rides such as our annual trips to Hilton Head and Ohio, and 2 trips last year to Washington DC with a side trip to New York City.

All of those big trips add up to alot of miles, but most of the miles are probably from trips to the mall, doctors, karate classes and ballet, the zoo, and botanical gardens, and, of course, the coffee drive-through. In other words, everyday life with 3 kids who are getting bigger by the minute.

I realize that 90,000 isn't a huge milestone (hopefully) for vehicles these days. We're planning on keeping our 4 Runner for as long as we possibly can. It's not the greenest car out there, but at 25 miles a gallon on the highway, it's not a bad way to get my crew around town. My latte today came to me as I drove around town drinking a latte, take a break from all of the chaos of the holidays to reflect on your journey - and don't forget to buckle up for the ride.