10 January 2009

Chariot fit for a Little Emperor

Posted by BaBa under: Daily Life .

We have been on the stroller testing circuit almost since we returned home from China. Strollers (buggies as we call them) have been of immense interest for Magoo since his first in China. He initially did not like the buggy in China until he realized that it would take him where we were going and provided a great source of comfort and an envelope of safety.

We have tried many. We started with the one from China. It was a basic umbrella model with Pooh on it. It was light and easy to work and of course the price was right. MaMa also bought a jogging stroller (though neither of us jogs) to move him for longer trips. It was great and easy to use, but bulky and difficult to carry this all terrain vehicle (our nickname for it). She snatched it up at one of the consignment sales before he came home.

We then tried a Chico buggy. It was an umbrella stroller on steroids. It was like an umbrella stroller in all but the most critical areas of being lightweight and easy to move when collapsed. This one did not last long and it went back to Babies R Us from which all things Baby come.

MaMa had looked at the Mclaren brand of buggies. Great line. Made in England and well constructed. She snagged one at another consignment sale and we used this for several months. It was lightweight and easy to carry, fold and unfold. Unfortunately he continued to grew as children will and soon it was not a good fit. We also had problems with the sunshade on this older model. The newer ones have this fixed.

Back to the search for a new buggy. We got the most deluxe version and it would have worked OK. Magoo is very tall from the waist and thus lies the problem. He really is not old enough to go without a buggy, but his head is hitting the top of most all of the buggies. The Maclaren would work and was the best fit in a reasonable price. We used it on the trip to Minnesota to visit his sister for Christmas. It did the job and we were happy.

Today marked really the end of our search for his buggy. We found the very expensive Chariot Cougar at REI on the 50% off sale. It was last year’s model. These sell for big bucks since you can tow them behind a bike, snow ski with them, jog or use them as a buggy. It all depends on the accessory kit that you buy to go with it. Our new purchase was a last year model that was marked down and then 50% off the markdown bringing it to less than the Maclearn. We snatched it up and were thrilled as it gives Magoo the most head room and space of all the buggies we looked at.

We also could still return the Maclaren to Babies R Us as we had a 90 day return time frame. The salesperson at Babies R Us told us about the return policy and that it did not matter if it was gently used in trying it out during this time frame. In fact the Maclaren we had was a previous return and year old model as well.

So with our new Chariot, our little guy is riding in style. At the next consignment sale, we will part with the original jogger (all terrain vehicle) and his fist Maclaren. We are thrilled to have a great buggy and it does fit into the trunk of our little Corolla. So Magoo is riding in style.

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