Tuesday, May 5, 2009

My New Friends Emma and Craig

Isn't she beautiful? Her full name is Emmaljunga Twin Cerox, but we just call her Emma. As if she were a ship, or some other thing you might give a female name to. She is kind of a tank. Do they get girly names?
I admit to feeling a little weird loving a THING this much, but oh! she's everything I wanted in a double stroller:
1~ side by side seating (wide is easier for me to deal with than long- maybe because I'm wider rather than longer lately)
2~a great big sunshade with an integrated sun/bug mesh for complete coverage (Bugs aren't much of a problem here, but sunshine is, and canopies that don't have full-motion or are aren't really deep are nearly worthless.)
3~ a rain cover (It does sometimes rain here, and we do sometimes travel to places where it might rain)
4~ four big wheels with wide PUNCTURE PROOF tires (increvable, we call them- can you tell we play Miles Bornes all the time?) because our town is less than 25% sidewalked, and covered in goat's heads, those nasty little pokies that wreak havoc with bike-style tires, even, as we've found out, the expensive "puncture proof" tube tires. If you don't find and extract the goat's heads the tires will eventually be shredded rubber flapping around the rims. No fun!
5~ reversible handlebar, so babies face Mom or the World
6~ adjustable handlebar, so Avery can push it as easily as I can or someone over 6 feet tall (not that people over 6 feet tall are knocking down the door begging to push the stroller for me all the time, but still, it's good to be prepared!)
7~ big storage basket (need I say anything?)
8~sturdy construction, because we are awfully hard on strollers. Really. Awfully hard. It's true. Three boys, who'd guess?
9~ fully reclining seats so babies can ride safely and sleep soundly
10~ 5 point harnesses (again, the safety thing)
11~ removable babycots, two of them, that transform into cold weather seat-buntings, because it is often very cold here, and I love the nap-inducing feature of a brisk cold weather walk and a warmly bundled baby! (Plus with a removable baby cot it's easy to take a sleeping baby inside without waking them!)
12~ good looks. She is lovely. By chance she's made of sage colored fabric, my favorite!
13~ nickname "the Volvo of strollers" (We do love our Volvo!)
14~ Sweden. She was made there, by people who were paid a living wage and have good working conditions and health insurance. No humans were abused in the construction of this stroller.
15~ What European strollers are called: prams, perambulators, buggies, pushchairs, and my favorite, sit-strollers.
16~ Oh yeah! It fits through doors. It might be snug sometimes, but it fits. Really. I said a silent little prayer of thanks when I saw the Mom at gymnastics have to take her little ones out of the jogging stroller, bring them inside, fold down her stroller, and then bring it inside. Could of been me, but Emma sailed right through!


We got it off craigslist, from a Swedish family who had grown out of it. It's in great shape- it looks brand new, really. And we got it for about 1/5 of what the original price was, not including the plane ticket! It's such a wonderful thing, now that spring is here and the baby is getting heavier and we're all getting warmer, to be able to go for the big long walks we like without a baby strapped to me, to be able to walk fast and push a stroller that rolls onto curbs and over ruts without pause and is comfortable for everyone. We were saving our pennies, planning to buy a well used jogger type stroller, but knowing a decent twin jogger with reclining seats and a big sunshade and a good sized basket would be, even used, a chunk of change. But now we have this amazing stroller for what we thought we'd get something just good enough! One more reason to have more kids- to keep Emma in our lives!

1 comment:

One Flew Over said...

What a fantastic pram! Love the photos with the two boys side by side, very sweet!