I wish to go to the Hot Wheels Factory in Los Angeles, CA and build a custom Hot Wheels car.

Caspian was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-Cell, high risk) when he was two years old.

We've known about Make-a-Wish for so long, but wasn't sure he was eligible until our social worker informed us. It was great knowing that we'd be able to experience something exciting while knowing he was going through something so horrible. It was a little bright spot amidst all the darkness.

We went through a few different ideas, but it soon became apparent what Caspian wanted to wish for.

When he first diagnosed and stuck in the hospital, he'd stay in the hospital bed and not want to get out. To get him up and moving, the nurses would put Hot Wheels cars around the hospital floor. For each car that Caspian walked to and picked up, he got to keep! The was the beginning of an intense love of Hot Wheels!

So it was no surprise that Caspian wished to go the Hot Wheels "factory" in California and design his very own Hot Wheels car.

The wish itself was perfect for Caspian. A limo picked us up from our hotel and drove us to Mattel HQ in El Segundo, CA. We were welcomed by Mattel staff and got an exclusive look behind the scenes of everything Hot Wheels. Caspian LOVED looking at all the Hot Wheels in various display cases throughout, launching cars down the many tracks positioned around the office space, and particularly enjoyed playing with the Hot Wheels design team. He got to play with unreleased Hot Wheels tracks, showed off his knowledge by naming off all the cars he found throughout his HQ journey, and then teamed up with the Hot Wheels designers to customize his very own Hot Wheels car (a Lamborghini Sesto Elemento with a special, one-of-a-kind Caspian design).

After designing his car, Mattel treated us to lunch, where they surprised us with a table full of gifts for Caspian - Hot Wheels cars, tracks, and clothes, as well as other Mattel toys. We then continued our tour of the headquarters, where we saw life-sized Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars and trucks, a super special Hot Wheels F1 car, and exclusive access to the Mattel Store! Mattel even surprised us with a mini shopping spree at the store!

We've asked Caspian plenty of times what his favorite part of his wish with Mattel was, and no doubt about it - it was playing Hot Wheels with the design team guys. He really loved hanging out with them and actually PLAYING!