adventures of buying a minivan

Meet our new car. We went to just go look at some different cars on Saturday and ended up buying a minivan instead.  We knew going in that we wanted something with 3 rows because we didn't want to have to buy another car for quite a while, and something that seats 7 should last us forever. But, I have NEVER been a minivan person. Ask anyone. So, I was thinking of something more like an explorer or tahoe, but this Kia was such a great deal and was such a pleasure to drive, that we simply could not pass it up. She is a 2010 and only has 53,000 miles on her, and she was in her our price range, so we were sold. This was seriously the best car we found for the money we were willing to spend.

Down side:
When I went to test drive the van, it was dead, so they had to jump the battery. They assured me this was no big deal and we went on with our day. After 6 hours at the dealership, we finally went home with our new purchase and were feeling pretty good about our situation. Come Sunday, however, we were starting to maybe rethink things a little because that morning the van wouldn't start. Not only would it not start but it was also blocking our lemon into the garage so we couldn't use either car. Perfect. As the day went on, the van became more and more dead until finally it wouldn't make any noise at all. So, you know how they assured me the battery was fine? Yeah, they lied. Luckily, they towed it back to the dealership, fixed it, and gave it back without me having to pay for anything.

Now, here is where the story gets truly, truly tragic. As soon as Evie and I got home today from getting the car, I somehow managed to lock the keys, my phone, and Evie in the van. Complete panic. I obviously have no clue how to work this new car and I cannot even describe to you how mortified I was that I locked my precious baby girl, my life, my world, in this black van. So, I ran to every house on the block until I found someone who was home and he came out to help me. We spent quite a while trying to get it unlocked by ourselves, see evidence below, but to no avail. Finally he let me use his phone and I called a locksmith.

chipped paint from where we were prying the door open to get a hanger in. I was about 5 min away from smashing the window.

It took the locksmith about 10-15 min to get there, and by that time Evie was soaked in sweat and screaming. My heart was utterly broken. And then, like a knight in shining armor, the locksmith guy careens into our driveway (I told him to hurry repeatedly), jumped out of the car, and unlocked the door. It took all of 5 seconds for him. My hero. Never in the history of the world has someone pulled a child out of a carseat as fast as I did. I was so relieved to be holding her in my arms and that she was safe, they I immediately started crying. The nice locksmith guy didn't charge me anything (I would guess because of my embarrassing tears and Evie's adorable, sweaty face), but my neighbor took it upon himself to give him $40 anyways. I don't even know how to begin to thank these nice people. Without them, who knows how this would have turned out? Actually, I know. It would have ended with a broken window and a traumatized baby. I feel so blessed to be surrounded by such wonderful and charitable people and the only thing I can think of to do is to repay my neighbor and make them both brownies or something.

So, that's my story. In case you were wondering, I stripped Evie down to her diaper, turned on the a/c and mickey mouse, had her drink some water, and she was as good as new. I'm sure glad it's over.