Life without a car

This year we decided to sell our car. Insurance, repairs, gas prices, it all adds up SO FAST.

Life with kids without a car requires special gear.

This McClaren stroller is what we have had for J since he was born.
The manufacturer boasts of it's strength by showing it unharmed after being run over by a car.
We've never put it to the test in that way but it's been an awesome stroller.
It has been with us to theme parks, walks around the lake, church, everywhere!
It is super easy to fold away/set up and it is so lightweight, with it's carrying strap it is super easy to throw over the shoulder when getting on the bus or when the kid just wants to get out to walk around.
The only negative really about this stroller is that on grassy/sandy terrain the wheels get stuck a lot. 

The Graco duo-glider double stroller. With baby number two on the way we figured we would need a stroller for two.
I would have loved to get another McClaren but it wasn't in our budget.
This stroller we found for a great price at a local thrift store. It's super easy to fold away set up, even despite how huge it looks. The basket underneath is almost massive enough for another kid.
Over all the steering is pretty good. What I discovered: when approaching a curb you pretty much have to turn around and back up to get a good lift. The doorways were another issue, it's so long that it's really difficult to hold a door and push the stroller at the same time. Because of these factors we rarely actually used this stroller. 

The Schwinn. Nate and I bought this after we had J and wanted a bike trailer.
 As a bike trailer the hook up was actually really weird. The joint was not very flexible so the trailer was always at an odd angle to the bike. As a jogging stroller it was pretty good. The front wheel would get wobbly at higher speeds, so we usually just picked up the front end by pushing down on the handle bar, which is a lot easier with the kids side-by-side versus front-to-back,  but I've noticed that front wheel issue seems to be the case with a lot of jogging strollers.  Surprisingly even with it's large frame I found this stroller would fit through most doorways just fine, and it was easier to push through, though some stores arrange their racks too close for comfort. When the other Graco double-stroller did not work out like we're hoped we ended up using this stroller more often. Fold up is MUCH more complicated so we'd hardly ever bother taking it on longer trips. Sometimes the age different made this stroller a bit more of a bonding experience than the kids were looking for, but that's not all bad, right?

The Chicco backpack. For longer trips on the bike or the bus we fell back on the single stroller or the monkey leash for J, and Sweet P would ride in the back pack. Neat think about this backpack is that it can stand alone when you take it off.

We also found this awesome seat, called the Yepp Maxi, for the back of the bike instead of the awkward bike trailer...