Puzzling It Out (The Backlog!)

On Sunday, Shane and I went to Marshall's after church. I don't remember why, but it turned out to be a fun trip.

I picked up some specialty coffees for Carrie, a pair of thermal socks, and Shane and I got to make faces into the security camera.

I picked up a new puzzle on a whim. It was only $8! There had been a sale at Barnes and Nobles one weekend I took Shane out book shopping, but none of those were a theme at a price that interested me. This one was Avatar: The Last Airbender. I figured I could get Carrie and Shane to solve it with me!

Though neither of them likes the initial phase. It's not my favorite either, but I got to sorting out everything I could.

In retrospect, the puzzle was too big for the amount of space half the table provided! It made things more difficult to sort and assemble.

The puzzle process continued over the next week.

Carrier started to help on the border pieces I sorted out.

Carrie's help naturally brought a cat to help, too.

I pushed for puzzle time over Thanksgiving Break!

I enjoy the cooperative solving. I took pictures to chart our progress.

Technically, I have time stamps on everything. I could make a timeline, but I'm in catch-up mode.

Shane helped some, but it was mainly Carrie and I. At least he got to see us doing stuff as a happily married couple.

I replaced the table top whenever we weren't working. However, to make room to work I'd assembled similar pieces into piles inside the box lids and stored them on top. It's a miracle that we didn't lose any pieces. I found Tsuki playing with one all the way across the kitchen!

I took care of some the morning Shane and I went to NoVA (more on that later). Carrie was off foxhunting. I was in the mood, and wanted to surprise her. Carrie initiated a counter-surprise by working finishing most of Zuko while we were out!

Shane interest always spiked whenever big progress was being or about to be made.

He doesn't like the nitty gritty parts, but Carrie was into it so he was into it! I would have liked to have been into it, but there wasn't room!

So I stood back and took pictures while Carrie and Shane had some fun.

Learning how to solve a puzzle is an enriching experience. All puzzles are solvable. Even if you just try each piece against every other piece. Skills help you solve a puzzle faster, but victory is assured as long as you don't give up. Every kid should solve at least a small puzzle or two, before they're grown!

That said, the last pieces were a pain in the butt. Shane wandered off for video games while Carrie and I ground out the final victory! Grandpa Vern had the patience to handle much larger puzzles than I can. I like the 500-1000 piece range, but I think he went much higher than that! I remember there was frequently a puzzle being assembled on the table at the bar in his basement whenever we visited.

I didn't leave the puzzle assembled for too long after we finished. I think I left it a couple of days to bask in the victory. I'm still shocked we didn't lose any pieces with Shane and the cats helping (Kila loves the taste of cardboard and paper products).

I haven't been able to get Carrie or Shane to play any board games lately, so the puzzle counts as a huge success! Eight bucks for hours of entertainment? That's a massive return on investment! There were some odd shaped pieces that made this one harder than some, but if you like puzzles and there's a Marshall's nearby you may want to take a look.