We struggled over the whole car issue as we already had three children when we found out we were having spontaneous triplets. We ended up with an 8 passenger Toyota Sienna and we love it. We can fit the triplets across the back and there is plenty of room for two car seats in the middle and if you only need 7 seats, you can remove one of the side seats to make it really easy to get in and out. We love the versatility and the seats are very comfortable. The back will even fit three Britax husky car seats which are very wide. As far as the cargo storage area, I can fit my Peg Perego stroller by stacking the seats and the base stands next to them taking up a little more than half the back area. The back area is so much larger than other mini vans we have looked at. Then I have half of the back area for a crate that has some "just in case" items in it. I can get lots of grocery bags in the back and then we use under the girls feet if we have bulky items like boxes of diapers and cases of things. There is room under the seats for diapers and I have a low basket with books for the girlies. I keep a travel potty chair under the driver seat and we are set for most emergencies. Check out the Sienna if you want to stick with a mini van. We were amazed at the amount of room inside and how it differed from other mini vans. We have an '04 model and I have not checked out the Odyssey since they re-did it in '05.

Good luck and best wishes! Susan (6-pack mom!)