2 years, 10 months.

Dear Jack,

So let me catch you up… back in July I was invited to the Sienna AdVANtures Tour in Las Vegas where everyday dads like me were asked to test out the 2013 Toyota Sienna and all its new features.

Hey, I’ve never been to Vegas… I would have loved to have gone; except the dates interfered with our family vacation in Sacramento.

However, I think it all worked out all right, because… we get to test drive the Sienna for a whole week, 3 days of which will include our family’s road trip from Nashville to Lousville with my side of the family.

Yes, there will be 8 of us, but there will be enough seats for me to be able to shuttle us around Louisville, KY. The zoo is our special stop!

Needless to say, you’ve been loving getting to cruise to school in a minivan.

The concept of “the ceiling window” (moonroof) is something totally foreign to you; as well as the huge window next to you so you can look rare sights… like the pink flatbed truck we saw and the three hot air balloons, which were landing dangerously close to the Interstate.

We even got to see 3 deer crossing the road on the way home the first day.

That’s what you’ve enjoyed the most so far about the van; getting a great view of what’s going on as we drive.

And there are a couple of other things I’ve enjoyed watching you be fascinated by, too…

Like being able to see what’s behind us with the integrated backup camera that automatically replaces the GPS whenever the vehicle is in reverse. You were confused by how I got things to appear on there, so I got Mommy to wave at you for a few seconds, while I obviously kept my foot on the brake, for the quick demonstration.

That cleared things up a little; but then you asked to watch her on there the next morning after she had left for work.

And you think’s really cool being able to open the sliding doors by pressing a button.

As for me, I have found the blind spot monitor to be especially snazzy. This little orange light pops up on the outer side of the rearview mirrors whenever another vehicle is passing me or trying to get by.

Now that we’ve tested it out for a few days, we get to leave in the morning for our family road trip, minivan style.

What an interesting time for this to happen, considering that for the past two weeks we’ve watched your new favorite movie, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, a minimum of 23 times now.

You are totally enthralled by the thought of such a magical car.

I think, in your mind, the van we get to have for our Louisville road trip is our real life version of a Chitty Chitty Bang Bang car.

In other words, you’re a fan of the minivan! I’ll write more about our family road trip as the adventure begins.

To be continued…

 

Love,

Daddy

 

Disclaimer: The vehicle mentioned in this story was provided at the expense of Toyota, for the purpose of reviewing.

P.S. To see more pictures of our family road trip, go to The Dadabase’s Facebook page and click on the picture folder, Louisville AdVANture Road Trip October 2013.