This project incorporates a years worth (from age 4 to 5) of “girl” drawings by my daughter Sophia. Here are a few pics showing some of the process! Good old fashioned quality time, good fun and awesome art!

By Sophia: Age 5.

Well, is it a midlife crisis? A project? A headache? A wise decision? I’m not exactly sure, but according to my friends who own these things… they say things like, “You’ve crossed the vortex…welcome to the other side my friend” and “Tell Jack we said hi…” (local VW mechanic). Or, “HA! A magic bus was my dream car in high school. Even better than the Dr. Pepper wagon. Just watch out for the lawn mowers that will pass you on the hills!” These comments make me smile.

It’s never been a dream to own one, or even a desire. In fact, I always thought it was unnecessary to want a van to sleep in. But, for some reason I got the itch and it just seems right. Although I may regret the trickle of time and money, I foresee many fun family times ahead. Traveling with no place to stay, no reservations, no worries about rain and soggy gear. Gone are the days of cramming gear into our sedan, or my jeep!

I took a leap of faith and searched the country (via eBay and Craigslist). I found this 1984 VW Westy eBay and won the bidding! It sounded like the one… and it was for sale by the “original” owner. Lot’s of miles but, supposedly garaged for most of it’s life. We’ll see It’ll be a couple weeks before I get the car to Seattle (shipping from California). The whole eBay process was kind of stressful, but hindsight not that bad. Arranging bank transfers is easy and finding a shipping company is easy. eBay makes it simple to buy or sell a car. I’ll most likely list my Jeep Wrangler on eBay too. Here are the photos from the listing:

As designers, we are continually striving for the most strategic or creative solutions. If you find yourself stuck on a problem or are thinking everything has been done before. Or, maybe you just need a little boost of creative inspiration? Watch and listen to children. Kids love to play, learn and create! Their purity and innocent approach is the foundation of creativity and discovery. When I watch my daughter paint, draw, do crafts, or play… it’s always refreshing and a powerful reminder that creativity and discovery is infinite.

Artist: Sophia (age 4)
Title: “I love you Disneyland”

I took Sophia on Forest Queen at Crystal Mountain for the first time. It was a perfect, sunny day, and she did really good! She even got the snowplow down. Pizza and Pasta… she’s learning quick!

More than anything this is a test to include personal slideshows from Picassa. I suppose this particular album is also a glimpse into our family vacation over the 4th of July. We spent a fabulous long weekend with our good friends in Sandpoint, ID. This may be a tradition in the making, as this was our 2nd year in a row that we’ve watched fireworks off the banks of Lake Pend Oreille. Sandpoint is a great little town with so many outdoor activities to endulge in. Mountain biking, hiking, skiing etc…etc… Good times.