Just a brief note that when I picked up Luke the other day from school, one of his best friends came running over to me and declared
“It is so cool that you are working with Luke on the Minivan conversion”
My heart sings!
minivan
Post 363: Super Charged Minivan Heaven
Ever since reading that you can change the startup screen on the Toyota minivan console I have been meaning to. I just love that kind of stuff.
Yesterday I was finally ready to do it and realized I didn’t know what I wanted my custom image to look like?, then I thought, hey why not photoshop up a minvan-copter? The kids will love it!
Of course the idea of adding some sort of aeronautical device to the minivan is almost as old as this blog, but for whatever reason, Luke has been talking about it a lot recently.
The original concept was wooden wings, but Luke soon confessed he felt they would be too cumbersome. The recent version is a helicopter prop, so I put both ideas together and came up with this:
I loaded into the car, I go get Luke from school, he sees it instantly and goes:
“What’s that?”
I explain it was something I did.
“That looks pretty good, Dad, good idea. If that is your finished plan then all I think I need to add is some polyurethane.”
Sounds great Luke.
A day later he comes up to me and states very matter of factually:
“I’m going to have to see the gas tank. I need to see if there is enough room for a super charger?”
Ok, Luke, sounds good.
“The super charger will allow the minivan to go 120,000 miles an hour” he says with raised eye brows.
“It will only take two minutes to get to Legoland!”
I do some quick math out loud and discover it will take closer to 2 seconds at that speed to get to Legoland and Luke is now REALLY impressed.
The other part of the equation is how much is NOT on his radar and I believe it is linked to access to media. My example is this. Luke loves Lego’s, Luke will stroll down the Lego aisle at Target and study the boxes and point out all kinds of detailed thoughts. Luke has never seen a Lego movie. So why is it that he never ONCE has asked about the Lego movie posters that a strewn about the world, on the side of buses only inches from his face sometimes, never says a word. If we had seen a Lego movie I believe it would be otherwise.
Meanwhile a super charged mini-copter is TOTALLY on his radar, big time!
Day Two Forty Two
Bumpy Hot Dog Lane.
I looked it up and can confirm it is purely in Luke Wallace Cline’s mind.
He started talking about the goings on on Bumpy Hot Dog Lane a few months ago, and now it is a regular part of his riffing. All I have to do to get him started is ask what’s new in the invisible newspaper (luckily he installed an invisible newspaper stand in the minivan) and he usually comes back with:
“Oh my goodness, more bad guys found on Bumpy Hot Dog Lane!!”
From this point it is often a long and involved description of what happened on Bumpy Hotdog Lane did how close the police are to apprehending the bad guys.
I love this type of meandering, especially because it comes 100% from his imagination, not from a book, tv show, movie, internet site, etc, etc.
For me a child’s imagination far exceeds anything we adults can come up with and the more we stay out of the way in their creative process, the better.
If I ever write a book, I hope to call it
Life and Times on Bumpy Hot Dog Lane
Day Two Forty
I just want to go on record stating that I love driving a minivan. Anyone that down plays it has no ideas the immense joy it brings to a family guy like me.
It completely satisfies the “cockpit” envy many drivers have, it feels more like I am driving a ship than any other automobile I have ever owned.
I drive slower (because I want to enjoy every minute of it)
I have room for anything I want including eleven eight foot 2×6’s
I listen to music all the time. (flawless bluetooth integration)
Kids love it. (of course they do)
So far, there is no down side.
Day Two Thirty Six
On the same day Luke falls off a jungle gym and shakes it off Lily says to me as we are driving:
“Me eyes hot”
She had the sun in her eyes. I told her I would pull the shade up on the window when I had a chance and she said ok. At that time this tune was playing on my kids playlist:
You Were Meant To Be Here
I burst into tears in my 2015 Toyota Sienna minivan because it all became clear, I was meant to be here right now with these kids. I was meant to hear the voice mail from Luke’s school and then play it cool when I picked him up, letting him tell me about what happened. I was meant to acknowledge Lily using a full sentence for the second time in her life to ask for help.
They say it all goes by so fast and I know it is true and I only wish I have a moment to cherish each day as I have had today.