Mission: lightweight compact stroller

We were unable to take our Peg Perego Aria to Minnesota with us because we didn't have room for it in the car. The Aria is a nice stroller (and has come down in price enormously according to that link!), and more compact than the usual American monstrosities most people's kids roll out in these days, but folded, it still takes up a lot of the back of the car, and on this trip, space was the one thing we didn't have. It's a fact of having kids, and choosing not to upgrade to the requisite gas guzzling SUV or mini-van, that everything must be more compact than what Average America is buying off the shelves at Wal Mart. We fight this battle already with car seats, and do ok. We somehow overlooked the stroller issue until our trip, though.

Doing a nearly two week trip to MN without our stroller was ridiculously more difficult than it would have been had we had it, so when we got home, we knew what we had to do. We looked up lightweight and compact strollers to see what we liked. We already knew that we liked Maclaren because their product is excellent quality, will last for years, does exactly what we need it to do, and looks awesome. I've wanted a Maclaren for years, ever since Erin was a baby, but could never afford one. Now that we can, I thought we should just go ahead and get one. We had just about decided on the Maclaren Techno, but decided to look around a bit more.

We like Peg Perego products, and figuring that the Techno cost almost as much as the Peg Perego Pliko P3 (the stroller I actually wanted when I bought the Aria. The only reason we didn't get a Pliko right away is because we bought our car seat in a discontinued color, and could only find the Aria to match.) we'd go ahead and compare the two. We were surprised to find that Peg Perego had actually come out with a cheaper option than the Pliko (apparently, they're replacing the Aria with it), called the Si. I like the Si, so I put this Pliko thought out of my head, and had 90% decided to just order the Si, because it's car seat compatible (for the next baby), which the Maclaren isn't, and is so similar to the Pliko, which I've wanted for so long. Then I watched one of the promotional videos for the Si on Peg Perego's Italian website (hey, if you can speak Spanish, you can understand enough Italian to get by! They didn't have this video on the English site.) and I noticed that when folded, it's barely any more compact than the Aria, and then realized that the Pliko is about the same. That won't work.

Then I remembered that Britax (our favorite car seat company) had come out with a lightweight stroller recently also, the Britax Blink, so I thought we could go ahead and have a look at that. When I first googled it, I saw that it retails for only $150, which is roughly half the price of any of the other options we were looking at. It also closely resembles a Maclaren in style and function. We wanted to get something high quality, that would last a while, that we can use with the next baby, too, and that will not look like crap in a few months, so we didn't mind spending some money to accomplish that. However, we're not stupid. The Britax Blink being only $15o suggested retail was an attractive quality. Plus, every Britax product we have is excellent quality, so we know they make good stuff, and figure that their stroller will likely be no exception. Then I clicked on one of the links, and found that the Blink was on sale for $99!!! I texted Thak immediately, and he said to do some more research on it, so I did. I found reviews (although I hate parent reviews since most people don't know what the hell they're talking about), and most helpfully, videos done by parenting websites not affiliated with Britax, which reviewed the stroller and showed it in action. I was sold, and when Thak came home for lunch, I showed him one of the videos, too. He liked what he saw, and told me to order the stroller!

And as of today, our Britax Blink in Cowmooflage print is on its way to us. We're expecting it to arrive on Tuesday! Our next road trip will not be nearly so difficult because we will have a nice compact stroller to bring with us. I can also grocery shop without worrying about whether or not I put the stroller in the house before leaving, and I can leave the Aria set up at home for walks around the neighborhood, or use in the yard (like when I need to have Orren contained while I clean out the car or something.) I can't wait to receive our new Britax Blink!!! I love the quality of Britax products, the style of this stroller, and the cowmooflage print. I'll post pics when we get it!!