31 March 2012

Swagger Wagon

Ha! I still love this music video...


I know a lot of people have a stigma about one day owning a minivan. Hell, even some of their commercials start with "Frankly, the idea of owning a minivan use to make me cry myself to sleep at night." {via} But I think Toyota did an amazing job of making the minivan seem cool.

And they have officially sold us.
Last weekend I had the opportunity to ride around in a brand new {and fully loaded} Toyota Sienna. Why yes, I did have my choice of ANY Toyota... and yes, I chose the Swagger Wagon. I've come to realize that with baby #3 on the way, we are eventually going to need a minivan. It is almost inevitable. So why not try it out now?

Wow.

After driving it around for 4 days straight, we honestly didn't want to give it back.
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But the person who wanted to keep it the most?
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Carter. He absolutely loved it. He loved that he had his own sunroof in the back. He loved that it opened. He loved that his side window went all the way down. And most of all?
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He loved that he could watch his movies. Of course we have the portal DVD players and iPads, etc but it is not the same. He absolutely LOVED the flip down TV.

Do I look like a soccer mom?
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Good.

It seems like Toyota has literally thought of everything for this van, and we were so impressed with the features. Some of the things I wanted to point out were the easy-to-use navigation system and rear view camera...
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The amount of space in the van was unreal. A lot of times when the 3rd row seat is up, it leaves little to no space to put things in the back, but this van did not lack in the space department.
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Some other features that I loved were the push-button start, the automatic open and close side doors and rear gate {even with the car remote}, the reclining {w/ foot rest!!!} 2nd row bucket seats...
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...I mean, are you kidding me with that!?! It was difficult for me to restrain myself from sneaking out there sans kiddos for a little mommy time out! {Remember that commercial? Now I believe it.}

But even the little things, like a pull up sun shade...
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...has made me believe that they have literally thought of everything.

The Toyota Sienna is the most family-friendly vehicle I have ever driven in and I honestly can not wait to own one. My college self might have been saying ""Frankly, the idea of owning a minivan use to make me cry myself to sleep at night" {via} but my mommy self is now saying "Frankly, I'd be an idiot not too."
Poor Brynnie couldn't see any of the movies.

Now here's the part of the post where I'd put in all my complaints about the van. But I honestly can't think of a damn thing. We had it for 4 days and never had to get gas for it {after driving it quite a bit to birthday parties, into Philly for dinner, etc.} It drove like a dream... Bob and my sister, Kristi {who wants this exact van} were actually both jealous that they couldn't drive it {and I was glad I was the only one that could ;} And, like I said, even the kids loved it.

If you're on the fence about a minivan, give in. And if you're considering a Toyota Sienna, go for it. You won't be disappointed.

Disclosure: I was selected for participation in the TWIN community through a program with Clever Girls Collective. I did not receive any compensation for writing this post, or payment in exchange for participating. The opinions expressed herein are mine, and do not reflect the views of the Toyota.


14 comments:

Lindsay said...

we have the 2008 version of the sienna and we LOVE it! Traded our subaru impreza in once Jacob was too big to fit into his car seat while it was in the car because I'd have to origami myself to get him in and out of it...and almost always bonked his little head in the process. I don't miss my Impreza at all! :)

Hannah Rebekah said...

Wow that is a NICE mini van! I am now really jealous. lol

Mandy@ a sorta fairytale said...

Dude, Vans are cool. Seriously they are. I don't care what people think! We plan to get one down the line, and I will drive it with pride. Ha ha. I will admit, I will not be getting a Toyota, I'm a Honda girl. But that van looks suhweet!

Kristy Villa said...

okay - i am not a minivan gal, but this swagger wagon looks pretty cool! i do love their commercials haha.

ps. LOVE the new blog design.

Sara said...

We have a 2010 Sienna and I LOVE it!

I always roll my eyes when people say, "Don't do it!" or "I'll never drive a minivan" because most likely if you have more than 2 kids you WILL, at some point, end up driving a minivan.

I fully embraced the minivan and I absolutely love owning one. We have the middle level (an LE maybe?) and I did get to drive a fully loaded one while mine was being repaired for being rear ended, but I have to admit I found all the bells and whistles distracting (like the back-up camera). Plus, my kids thought every time we got in the car they could watch TV so I nipped that in the bud real quick, but when this one dies I will gladly buy another.

I have to admit, even though we went with the Sienna, the Honda Odyssey (which we also test drove) is nice as well.

The Mrs./The Mom said...

The reclining buckets seats are pretty cool. But a minivan is still a no-go for me,

ms.composure said...

Stumbled onto your blog via the blog hop and just wanted to show you some blog luv! def enjoyed this post!! def one of my FAVORITE TV commercials! new follower :)

http://infinitelifefitness.com
http://mscomposure.blogspot.com

Amy Nielson said...

whaaaaat? footrests?? dammit, why do they make them so cool??

Carla said...

Nice!! I love the footrests in it! I've heard that they are good on gas too, so that's always a plus!

Kiara Buechler said...

My first vehicle when I was 17 was a minivan, not cool. And I still stand by the "Frankly, the idea of owning a minivan use to make me cry myself to sleep at night". Not sure what we'll do when we have more than two kids, but we' will figure out something. Anything!

Olivia's Mommy said...

My cousin had this exact version. She said if she was going to drive a minivan it was going to be the luxury edition. That thing was awesome. WE took it on a girls weekend...Heck I loved it! Hate to say it Jenni once you get to the 3rd child, I think you can pretty much say SUV to MiniVan! Hey whatever makes life easier!

Corinne said...

I am on the fence lately, but I REALLY want a van :) We can still be bad ass cool moms with them, right?!

Anna & Kirby said...

This post cracks me up! Dang.... minivans are much cooler than when I was young and had to ride in one.

Two Journeys:One Life said...

Didn't you have Acadia? Where did that go?

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