We hadn't thought about it in years. Then, somewhere along the way, we started missing it. Not in a big dramatic way, just a small, specific thing: how colorful it was, how simple the whole idea was, how kids don't really get an hour like that anymore. Now it's a tablet before it's ever a rug.
So we started drawing. Not a redo of the vague, made-up little town from the original, though. This time we wanted it to be real. Actual streets. Actual landmarks. Somewhere a kid could recognize, not just imagine.
It was just nice to look at, and even nicer to disappear into.
We picked Los Angeles to start. We'd spent time there before, and it's about as recognizable as a city gets: the pier, the observatory, the stadium. It felt like the right place to prove the idea before taking it anywhere else.
Give it to your own kid, or box it up for someone else's. Either way, it's not something that ends up forgotten in a bin by spring. It's colorful enough to actually want on the floor, and different enough from everything else in the room that lights up or beeps.