Play Dough

Calder likes his Play Doh, but up until this past Monday he would play with it only on occasion for approximately 15 minutes per sitting. On Monday things changed. He got a Play Doh Cars - Lightning McQueen set for Christmas and in the midst of overindulgence and spoiled rottenness we put it away with his other Play Doh stuff and completely forgot about it until Monday morning.

The McQueen set was so great he played for 3.5 hours with it on Monday. Up until this point the only things to occupy Calder for that length of time were cars, monster trucks, or hockey. By the time Tuesday hit the Play Doh was dried up and worn out. If Calder was going to put in another long stint of playing, something had to be done. I ripped out THIS recipe I had pinned on Pinterest and with the help of a trusty assistant, we made play dough.

 The green and red/pink are two separate batches. You can see the blue "Raoul" mold on the left and the completed "McQueen" car in front of the green play dough. Calder wanted to be sure you could see the 95 on top of the car. Obsessed with numbers much?

 Making the play dough was a breeze and even with my assistant's help it only took about 10 minutes per batch to make. I LOVE the recipe and would recommend using hot water to make (cuts down stirring time on the stove) and adding the food coloring into the water. Your hands will only get as red as mine if your assistant "accidently" leaves one of the food coloring bottles open and tipped over in your massive container of cake decorating items in your pantry!

A single batch fits perfectly in an icing tub. I often buy pre-made icing to make cake pops, so I plan to save the next couple of cans for play dough! I love reusing things :-)

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On Tuesday I had a doctor's appointment in the afternoon and was late getting home. As I cruised down the freeway I received a text from Hugh. "Uh oh. Calder is having a melt down! Cleo ate Francesco!" Cleo = our dog;  Francesco = character from Cars 

I immediately felt sick to my stomach. Calder LOVES those molds. He had spent most of the past two days creating, racing, and smashing up those play dough cars. I wanted to cry. Would he still want to play with the set if he only had 2 of the 3 molds? 

The minute I pulled the van into our garage the door opened. Calder peeked his head out and told me the news. It was true. Cleo ate Francesco. Teary eyed, I sent Calder back into the house and told him I wanted to hear all about it. The moment I stepped in I started asking for details. It turns out Calder didn't leave Francesco on the floor. Francesco fell and the moment he hit the ground Cleo pounced. Hugh had ran down to the basement to get supper when all this happened. He heard Calder's scream and them subsequent wailing. Hugh came running up the stairs to see Calder laying on our entrance floor wailing. For over 10 minutes Calder was inconsolable. 

As I listened to these details I came up our stairs to the kitchen. Calder reenacted the entire sequence of events for me at the table. He asked me if I would make him more play dough. I of course agreed. As I continued to listen I glanced across the table and saw the green Francesco mold in perfect working order. I was confused. Wasn't that what Cleo ate? NOPE. Cleo ate a play dough Francesco. Calder was in hysterics over 1/4 cup of play dough in the shape of Francesco being devoured by our dog. 

OMG.