So I went to BRU tonite since a little birdie told me that we finally got a MR. This was less than a week after the person in charge of the carseat department spent 20 minutes trying to figure out what I was talking about and kept insisting the seat was not actually out yet or she would have known about it, and that I must be confused because if
any BRU had it on their shelves, it would have undoubtedly been on their precious website.
I had a cranky kid, so I didn't want to even attempt trying anything in my van. So with the GN on the test bench and using the BV to attempt to place it so that the spacing matched that of my 3rd row... I went to work. First the MR. Then the EFTA. Then the MR again. Then the BV to make sure the GN hadn't moved. MR. EFTA. Then FF. MR. EFTA. Back and forth for about half an hour. And keeping in mind that there are no working seatbelts or lower anchors on this bench. So I'm just "placing" the seats...
My biggest obstacle - the cupholder on the GN. Why oh why can't it be on the other side?? My life would be so much sweeter if it were just moved to other side... The only seat that fits on the non-cupholder side of the GN in my 3rd row is the RN. Because of the way the bench splits, the middle seat is off-center. And the GN won't work outboard. So my challenge is to puzzle with the cupholder.
The MR seemed to fit nicely RF. FF was another story. It was tight. So much so that I don't think it would be possible to get it independently tight. It didn't just lay ever so gently over the cupholder armrest... it was being supported by it. I couldn't push the MR down into the bench, so I don't think I'd be able to tighten it. But it did seem to fit nicely on the non-cupholder side both RF and FF. No help.
The EFTA... well it just fit beautifully. So beautifully I nearly wept with delight. RF and FF. FF and RF. It was a dream of a match. And has anyone seen the sandbox EFTA next to the Mariposa GN?? Wow... the clash is amazing. It's fabulous, in fact. A perfect fit. They were simply meant to be together.
So after taking into consideration the fact that the overwhelming majority of you who voted (ok, 100% of you who voted), voted for the MR.... I bought the EFTA.
They had the sandbox in the store!! Which they've never had before! And the DOM??? OMG!! 05/18/09!!! This sucker is less than 2 weeks old!! And I begged a 15% off coupon from the gal at the customer service desk since I didn't have one with me, and I knew they expired after today. I actually intended to just order online since I had no idea they had the sandbox in the store, so I didn't bother to bring a coupon with me. The price came to exactly the same as it would have online with 20% off but having to pay shipping. And I got it with a 10 day old DOM!! And I have it RIGHT NOW! I don't have to wait for 10-14 business days constantly checking the tracking number every 37 minutes to see if it's made its way any closer to my arms. I can love on it RIGHT NOW! Immediate gratification!!
I probably won't get to really play with it until the weekend... but I might take it to bed with me tonight...