Asher's New Ride

About a month or so ago, our Chicco stroller bit the dust when Stephen ran over it in the garage. It had been collapsed and propped up against some boxes, but, apparently, at some point in the day it had fallen over. When he entered the garage, he didn't notice it and...el snappo. Luckily, I wasn't with him when it happened so I didn't freak out too much...although, it still sucked because it was a fairly expensive stroller that we got for next to nothing thanks to a gift card from my office. But it was an accident, and that's just my luck, so I mostly got over it. Mostly.

So, once again, Stephen has been on the prowl for a good deal on a good stroller. We've been to just about every place in town that sells strollers - which aren't that many. We were unable to find anything we really liked. It seemed like even the more expensive strollers just weren't that great. Everything was either too bulky, too wimpy, too wobbly, or just plain too ugly. Nothing that wasn't $300+ felt very solid and sturdy.

Stephen found some great reviews online for a certain line of Fisher Price strollers that aren't made anymore. Lo and behold, he stumbled across a website, AlbeeBaby.com, that not only had some really good deals, but had some really good deals on those discontinued Fisher Price Strollers. They originally sold for around $150 as travel systems, which is still a good price, but, because AlbeeBaby only bought the strollers and not the car seats, they were selling the strollers for just $35. I was apprehensive, but Stephen told me about the fantastic reviews and about the fact that the strollers are actually manufactured by Britax. In the end, I caved because they were so cheap. I figured I'd end up with a piece of crap no matter what, since I'd hated all the strollers I'd seen up to that point, but, this way, if it turned out to be crap, then at least I bought a cheap piece of crap instead of an expensive piece of crap.

We received the stroller on Saturday. Being a good parent and concerned consumer, I immediately took Asher and his new stroller to Clay Terrace for a little test drive (read: shopping) and - HALLELUJAH, PRAISE THE LORD - I love it! It rides so smoothly with its big wheels and shocks, and it's super light with its aluminum frame. Plus, it collapses with just one hand. Lots of strollers make that claim, but don't seem to live up to it (or I'm just too slow to figure them out). With this one, you press a button and - voila! - down it goes. Most importantly, I think the basket on this stroller is larger than the one on the Chicco. Awesome.

Sometimes, once in a blue moon, you can get something that you didn't pay for. Of course, we haven't even had it for a week, yet. It might fall apart over the weekend. If that happens, Asher is just going to have to suck it up, quit being such a big baby, and learn to walk already because I am DONE with stroller shopping.