I’m a big family man, and after moving to LA, it seems like I haven’t been able to get back home as often as I would like. 

Don’t get me wrong, I love LA (with the exception of the traffic obviously), but there’s nothing better than spending a few days with the fam back home in Salt Lake City.  

I even got to have a slumber-party with my niece and nephews where we stayed up late saving the beautiful princess (my niece) from the wretched fire-breathing dragons (my nephews) – yeah, I’m quite the white knight, apparently!

And the end of the trip, my family decided they needed a break from the freezing temperatures so they decided to drive back out to sunny Los Angeles to stay with me for a week. It was the perfect time to be test-driving the new 2012 Kia Optima, let me tell you!  When we got into town, they wanted to do anything and everything – things that I haven’t even heard of, and I’ve lived here for over a year now. With the amazing 35MPG/Hwy, we were able to do just that without it costing an arm and a leg for gas.  

We went to Knott’s Berry Farm, the Aquarium of the Pacific, the Star Walk in Hollywood, you name it! And thanks to the UVO Infotainment System, we didn’t even get lost once.

I always get a little nervous driving with kids in the car with me, especially here in LA, but I didn’t feel the normal anxiety while driving the Optima.  With three kids in the car, things can get a little crazy, loud, and distracting but I managed to stay sharp and alert with all of the steering-wheel-mounted features of the car.  If they got too loud, I was able to turn up the music to drown out their hissy-fits.  If I needed to find a quick place to stop for an ice cream cone behavior bribe, I could just use the voice-recognition controls to change the GPS location and be guided to our new destination without even taking my eyes off the road.  Pure genius!

I have to hand it to the Optima – it made the driving experience with my family surprisingly easy for a change!  

Special thanks to Kia Optima for giving ModernMom a chance to test drive one of their vehicles.