Stroller Crisis!

Okay, let me just preface this by saying that we have bought way too many strollers in the two short years that Jack has been alive. Let me see, there was the first one, that fit with the infant car seat. That one lasted about 2 or 3 months before it broke. Then I bought a new cheaper stroller and the last I saw of that one, it was sitting at the end of the gangway just before I got on a plane in Denver. It wasn't in Detroit when I got there. Nice huh?

There were many other strollers along the way. Including one that Papa and Grammy A. bought and that one lasted about 5 months I believe until the strap broke and you HAD to have the strap or the boy just slid right out of the thing. I even searched all over the internet for replacement straps for the thing, but of course not, they just wanted me to buy a whole new stroller. *Grumble Grumble*

We currently have 3 strollers. The really nice, but incredibly huge Graco stroller. It is great for the power stroller walks, perfect height and the most important part? The huge storage basket underneath for the mall shopping trips. We also have a small blue stroller that we bought last year before we went on our cruise, however that is so small that Jack has a hard time fitting his big toddler frame into. And of course there is the umbrella stroller that will now NOT close up. Yeah that jammed somehow, so now it sits in our garage, open.

So now you know our stroller problems. And you are asking why I am bringing this up now. Well after researching renting strollers at Disneyworld (because that is me, I have to research every last minute detail of our trip. Yeah you can say it, I need medication. I know it.) I have come to the conclusion that we just would NOT be happy with the strollers available at the park. I read some reviews and people say that they would never rent a stroller ever again. The reasons include the stroller is made of a hard plastic and in the hot sun has been known to scald kid's legs - not good. Then the fact that their strollers do not recline, therefore not be able to lay back and nap when the grouchies come out. Not that Jack takes a whole lot of naps in his stroller to begin with, but the minute we don't have a reclining stroller, he will want to recline and then make all of our lives miserable.

And the final reason for not renting strollers? Having to carry a dead-weight sleeping child back to the car with no stroller. I did that when Jack was 9 months old and let me tell you the boy was heavy THEN, I would never make it back to the car if I had to carry all 33 toddler pounds.

Sooooooo, after all that, I have decided that we need yet ANOTHER stroller to take with us. Because the big one we have takes up half the back of the van. Not good when you are packing 3 weeks worth of goodies back there also. Also the thing weighs a ton, at least. And the other two strollers we own, well they just won't work.

Soooooo, last night, I spent about 2 hours researching new strollers. I don't really want to spend more than $50 on this thing. It was quite shocking what some strollers cost! Did ya'll know that there are some strollers out there that cost over $300!! Good grief people, it is only a stroller, not a Lexus! And the cool new gadgty one where you can plug your ipod in and let baby listen to your tunes. Cool, but I don't own an ipod (I know I know I am just sooo out of it).

And after all that research of going from website to website and reading multiple reviews, I think I have come up with a possibility that meets my requirements. And my requirements for this next stroller purchase (our 7th or 8th?) are the following: lightweight, small when folded up, a basket underneath, snack try with cup holder for the kiddo, and cup holders for us big people. And my result was the Avila stroller by Safety 1st. And notice it even has 3 cupholders for the big people! That means Jim, me and Laura all can have drinks! Wahoo!

Now, my mission is to try to find this particular stroller in the stores today. And if I find it, that means poor Jim has to assemble yet ANOTHER stroller. Poor Jim, he literally could go into stroller assembly as a profession.

And, I seriously did not mean to write an entire novel just to explain that I feel the need to buy another stroller. Yeah medication is needed.