Transportamatation

One material concern we face is the possibility that our vehicles may be inadequate to our transportation needs once we've got some kids running around. We have a small hatchback for commuting and a pickup truck with an extended cab. Neither is a problem if we wind up with 2 kids, but 3 will very quickly become problematic.

We don't want to be in the position of saying "no" to a group of kids who would otherwise be a great match for us, solely on the basis of not having the vehicles available to cart them around. Granted, we could always take 2 vehicles everywhere, but with gas prices being what they are, I imagine that will get old very quickly.

I also have an inexplicable fixation on the idea of (at least) 3 kids, and think it's likely that if it gets down to a choice between a group of 2 and a group of more, I'll probably want to go for the larger group. Our extended families live in Ohio, and we generally make that trip by car due to the cost and aggravation of air travel.

All this means we're on the lookout for a larger passenger vehicle. Used car lots are of course the pricier end of that spectrum, but fortunately the wife is a virtuoso of craigslist shopping, and she's already located some decent-looking deals. We're primarily thinking minivans/SUVs with 3 rows of seats, like the Highlander or whatever it was we took to Ohio with my brother one year.

I'm not anxious to run out and spend a few thousand dollars on a vehicle, and it may work out that we won't have to, but I don't want that to be an obstacle. I haven't checked, but I'm fairly certain it won't be a tax write-off like other adoption expenses, a write-off we're really hoping for on things like air travel if we wind up having to fly somewhere to meet some kids.

Anyway, I'm not really going anywhere with this, it just keeps looming in my consciousness like a phone bill that hasn't arrived yet after a month when you know you've been overusing it.