12 passengers

Chris and I are now the proud owners of a 12 passenger van. Actually I am. It's only in my name. It was just easier to have Chris stay out in the car with the kids while I did the paperwork on it. It's red. We bought it from a very small dealership in Tucson. So small that they don't have lights on their lot and so they close at like 6:00. It's almost a one man operation. Very small. Anyways, we finished up the paperwork on it and the we're getting ready to leave and it won't start. The dealership is already closed, we were their last customers, and the guy is already gone. He told us it sat for a year so we figured the battery was just dead. Luckily there was a Checker across the street so we took the battery out and over to Checker and they said they would charge it for free for us. It would take about an hour. We figured everyone was hungry so we went to get dinner. In the meantime, Derrick has peed through his pull-up, soaking his clothes. I have diapers in the car, but no extra clothes. So we went through the drive-thru. We finished eating and thought ok, what time is it, is the battery ready? No. Only 10 minutes had passed. Chris has been needing to get a haircut and there was a place right there so he went to do that. The kids and I waited in the car - thank heaven for DVD players. I don't know how we ever survived without them. The lady cutting his hair was so slow. Chris told her we were all waiting in the car and that Checker would close with our car battery there and we'd have to leave our new van in a 7-Eleven parking lot in Tucson and go home. She apparently didn't care. I could see her through the window stopping to talk to other people in the shop. Every so often she'd stop and look at Chris' hair and then cut a little here, a little there. I've never seen anyone do a slower haircut before. And it wasn't even that great of a haircut. It was good. But for how long it took, it should've been fantastic. Anyways, we make it there to Checker a few minutes before they close and the battery is no good. So we bought a new battery and the van started right up. Just to be safe we drove the van over to Checker so they could test the alternator. It was good. So we headed home and I have to say I really love the new van. I was a little worried about driving such a large vehicle. It is bigger than a suburban, but not by much. It was a very frustrating few hours with our new vehicle, but I think we're going to have this one for a long time and I'm really happy about that.