Kristina and Ella's New Wheels

As most of you already know we only have one car. Doug takes it to work, unless I absolutely have to have it to go somewhere. Most of the time Ella and I take the bus, or I walk. I never, in my whole life walked as much as I do since we moved here. I know it's good for me, but the issue is the time it takes to get places when you are walking.

We have gone back and forth about whether or not we should get another car. When you crunch the numbers, it makes for a very tight budget. The price of the car first of all is much, much more expensive than a car in the U.S. Then there is the price for gas (around $7.50 a gallon). Then depending on the weight and size of your car the dutch government charges you a road tax. That is an additional 40 euro or  53 dollars a month. The roads are kept very nice, but in the end, that and insurance for the car makes it a bit pricey.

Bigger American looking cars and SUVS can definitely be purchased here, but with the tight parking spaces and narrow side roads, it is not something I would want!

So I looked around a bit and even though our Honda is great, and another would do just fine, I narrowed it down to my two favorites.

First of all, the most European looking car there is. And now that I know how to drive a manual, I would just LOVE to cruise around with Ella in this:

mini cooper

But...it's WAY out of our price range. So my next pick is the Fiat Punto 500. When I was 16 and buying my first car I really, really wanted a VW bug. I think the Fiat Punto looks like what a car would look like if the mini copper and VW bug were to mate. (haha, silly I know!)

So once again we talked and talked about it. We don't know how long we will be living in Holland and Ella and I being stuck in the house all the time is getting to be too much. With the help of a new set of wheels her and I can go to see some friends, get to swimming and her and my doctor appointments, venture downtown, or to the grocery store.

I am happy with our final decision:

Come on......did you really thing Doug was going to buy me a car!?!  At least this way Ella and I have some freedom. It's faster than walking and I will still stay in good shape. The cart is very safe for Ella to ride in and with the extra room I can easily bring food home from the grocery store. Now I just need to practice riding it!!