Recently I had two of my favorite boys over while their parents and my colleagues at ACS ran errands. The boys are 3 and 6-ish and full of energy. A. &amp; A. are very funny and cute.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="614" caption="Cars parked on the back of my sofa"]<a class="tt-flickr tt-flickr-Large" title="Cars parked on the back of my sofa" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/6100030071/"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6077/6100030071_1d591027d4_b.jpg" alt="Cars parked on the back of my sofa" width="614" height="410" /></a>[/caption]

They showed up at my house with a backpack each of toys. Ever wonder with a little boy thinks he might need for the afternoon? Each boy had between 3 and 5 cars, a stuffed animal, books including the picture encyclopedia of space, pens, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mad_Libs" target="_blank">mad libs</a>, dinosaurs and a large copy of Buzz Lightyear the space ranger from the children's movie Toy Story.

We raced cars for a while on my tile floor. Now I have to say, I've never loved an entire apartment of tile but man-o-man the cars really fly on the tiles. Then we flew the cars around and bounced on my bed for a while.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="614" caption="Making playdough"]<a class="tt-flickr tt-flickr-Large" title="Making play dough" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/6100575264/"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6064/6100575264_8320206674_b.jpg" alt="Making play dough" width="614" height="410" /></a>[/caption]

Then we got things together to make homemade playdough. It's not much basically salt, flour, water and a little food color. This is the <a href="http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-Playdough-Play-doh/" target="_blank">basic recipe I used</a>. It's quick to make on the stove and only requires a little bit of time to cool.<a class="tt-flickr tt-flickr-Large" title="Making play dough" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/6100031089/"><img class="alignnone" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6067/6100031089_9543536bc5_b.jpg" alt="Making play dough" width="1024" height="683" /></a>

You kneed it, add color to it and then play with it.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="614" caption="Making playdough"]<a class="tt-flickr tt-flickr-Large" title="Making play dough" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/6100576274/"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6066/6100576274_eb268b95cc_b.jpg" alt="Making play dough" width="614" height="410" /></a>[/caption]

Playdough is magic and takes enough time from start to finish that I had a captive audience for nearly two hours. A. &amp; A. kept saying: Wow, we're making playdough. Real playdough from food. There was also some concern about whether they could eat it or not. I told them they could but it would be very salty.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="614" caption="Play&#39;n with play dough"]<a class="tt-flickr tt-flickr-Large" title="Play'n with play dough" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/6100580402/"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6203/6100580402_760502be5f_b.jpg" alt="Play'n with play dough" width="614" height="410" /></a>[/caption]

Big A. announced that he'd eaten playdough before. Little A. was appalled and questioned: is it still in your stomach?! Big A: No. I pooped it out. Little A. was relieved by this.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="614" caption="Play&#39;n with play dough"]<a class="tt-flickr tt-flickr-Large" title="Play'n with play dough" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/6100036747/"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6062/6100036747_fbb374c303_b.jpg" alt="Play'n with play dough" width="614" height="410" /></a>[/caption]

Now I must report that I didn't see either boy try any which in my mind is kind of too bad because that's half the point of making your own playdough. Oh well. Maybe they snuck it behind my back.

At some point in all of this, two hot wheels found their way into my freezer. They change color based on the temperature. Thus cold water makes them orange. It's pretty great but then they were promptly forgotten.

After some serious playdough playing, the boys wanted to watch some tv. Then they wanted something to eat. I had pretzel sticks on hand. They ate those. I had peaches. They ate those. I had cucumbers. They ate those. Then they asked for something sweet. I gave them each a little cookie. They ate those.

Then their parents showed up. This was probably a good thing. I have a hunch that Big A. &amp; Little A. were in the process of eating me out of house and home.

Of course as soon as mom and dad showed up, the boys didn't want to leave but had to show their parents the homemade playdough. I sent them home with the playdough because really what I am going to do with it?

Only thing is that they forgot their in-the-process-of-freezing hot wheels. I found those a couple of hours later.

Little kids are funny.