Friday, April 19, 2000

We've done the research and made the purchase.  It was a very difficult decision to make.  It seemed to us that transporting quads is a bit more difficult than transporting triplets.  With triplets you can put three across a row.  With quads, you have to go with two rows which is more inconvenient.

After Pam started bedrest, Lee looked at minivans, Suburbans, Astros, and conversion vans.  Minivans, Suburbans, and Astros seemed too small.  Not much leg room, not much cargo room, and not much room to get to the back bench seat for the babies.  We've read posts from other quad parents and they all wished that they had larger vehicles.

We settled on a full size 2000 Chevy Express high top conversion van.  It has four captains chairs and a large back bench seat.  Plenty of cargo room and plenty of room to get to the babies in the back.  It also contains a TV and video player which will come in handy.  It rides like a car and is comfortable to drive.  Even with a van of this size you have to take the back seat out of the Runabout stroller and telescope the handle down in order to get it in.  By the way, we bought the quad Runabout stroller from the used stroller section at tripletconnection.

The Express conversion van only has seating for seven passengers (we originally wanted seating for eight).  It is possible to get Chevy Express vans with more seating, but they look like airport shuttles.  We wanted something a bit more stylish than that.  The van is huge and is a bit tricky to park and maneuver in tight spaces.  Rear ventilation was a must-have feature.