Lots of stuff has been happening around here in the last week, so I think this will be "part 1" of a 3-parter! We've been wanting to buy a new vehicle before winter: something with 4-wheel-drive for the snowy winter ahead, and something with more space for the carseat, dogs, strollers, and lots of guests.

After some research we decided that the perfect vehicle for us is a 1998 Mazda MPV with 4WD. We had a '91 Mazda before when we were living in Vancouver. We loved the space, the 4WD, the look of the vehicle, etc. However, the particular one we owned turned out to be a lemon with all sort of problems.... blech. But other than the problems we had with it, we really loved the MPV. This is a "cool" vehicle (for a minivan) - it's built on a truck chassis so it can tow, has higher ground clearance, and "real" 4WD (not all-wheel or anything like that).

The 1998 was the last year they made the MPV that we liked (it was majorly redesigned after that and wasn't the same at all). It was also the year they added a 4th door (instead of only having access to the back seat from one side). So that's the one we wanted.

After lots of searching, Ted found a 1998 MPV online that sounded good. It sounded like it was in good shape and had low kms. However, it was located in Toronto. He arranged long-distance to have it inspected and stuff, and it checked out really well. So, last Wednesday (Sept. 21) he took the day off work and we did a quick trip to Toronto to pick up our new car!

It is a 5 hour drive each way, so you can imagine that would be hell with a 13-month-old. I was especially dreading the drive home, where one of us would be driving the new car so the other would be alone with Peyton without an extra person to entertain her. However, the munchkin slept almost the whole time and seemed very groggy and out-of-it. We figured out that she was coming down with something... to be continued...

But anyway, we've had our new MPV for over a week now and we're really enjoying it. We plan to sell the Passat when we get around to doing a good cleaning job on it.