Saturday was a very busy day for us.  We schedule haircuts for noon at the mall.  Then we needed to be at the photo studio at 1:30 p.m. off Centerville Rd in Lancaster county.  Then pickup the new 2008 Toyota Sienna van in East Petersburg, Lancaster county by 4:00 p.m.

The kids were good for the hair cuts, except for Anna.  She was fine playing with another little girl that was there while the other two were done.  But she wiggled and screamed for her turn this time.  Mommy managed to find a way to hold her so the lady could cut it (we were only trimming the girls, so it wasn't too bad).

The photo shoot didn't go as good as we hoped.  They were not cooperating, and really didn't want to get together for a group shot of the three of them.  We might have one group shot, but we haven't decided yet whether we'll order it or not.  We did get some nice shots of each of them individually.

By the time it came to pick up the van, Lydia was just being down-right cranky.  We signed our life away (and some of the kids college money [just kidding]), and were ready to roll.  As we don't get out to diner much anymore, we wanted to get out while Mommy had off.  We wanted to go to Ponderosa, but Daddy thought the one in Lancaster closed up (some at the dealership confirmed they had).  So we thought we'd try Old Country Buffet in Lancaster instead.  We got to the lot to find three buses there!  And in trying to get the kids out of the vehicle and change their full diapers, Lydia just went off completely.  So we just threw our hands up, and gave up!  We just drove home, fed the kids Spaghettios (AGAIN).  As soon as they were fed, Daddy called up Marino's Italian Resteraunt and ordered two Chicken Parm. diners for pickup at the drive-through window.  So even though we didn't get to eat our food out, at least we ended up having some good food.

It will take some time to learn how to use everything in the van, as we got it loaded up will most of the goodies that might have been put in it.  We wanted leather interior, a moonroof, a DVD player for the kids, the integrated satellite navigation system, XM Satellite Radio, tow hitch (so we can easily add a bike carrier in the future), and backup camera.  It also has Bluetooth wireless capabilities to work as a speakerphone with our cell phones.

It rides nice and should have plenty of room for our needs.  The Ford Explorer worked ok, but it would be impossible for only one of us to take them somewhere by ourselves since you could not easily get all three out of the vehicle from one side.  With the options for seat configurations in the van, we will be able to get them in and out from one side much easier.  We kept the Explorer, as being a 2002 with just under 28,000 miles in perfect condition, it would be foolish to give it up.  Especially when SUV trade-in values are very low due to the run-up in gas prices.  And we also kept the Grand Prix.  Its a 2000 with almost 143,000 miles on it.  So it is worth more to us to keep it than to trade it.  So we're back to a three car family again.

We still need to get the kid's seats moved over.  So they haven't had their maiden voyage in the van yet.  Stay tuned.