Merry Christmas & our 3D Puzzle

Last summer, we went to a neighboring town for their city-wide garage sales. I found lots of bargains, including this 3D Camelot Puzzle for a mere two dollars. I opened it up and found that only one bag of puzzle pieces had been opened. There were several bags inside. The woman running the sale told me she took out a few pieces, decided it was going to be way too difficult and time consuming, and put them back. She assured me all the pieces were there, which I believed. (They were.)

I bought the puzzle because I knew we would be studying the middle ages and castles this year. I thought it would be a fun project. I didn't realize two things: First, that this castle would be sitting in my living room for almost two months. Secondly, that this castle is listed as advanced challenge on Milton Bradley's difficulty scale.

Now in all fairness, we had a lot going on in November. We were gone for two weeks. When we returned home, we were a little down considering we had just lost the Cowboy. So none of us were really feeling like working on the puzzle.

We put up our Christmas trees and decorated the house around the puzzle. (Yes, we have two fake Christmas trees in our living room.) The puzzle sat untouched.

Yesterday I was cleaning the living room for Christmas and I decided I had had enough of that puzzle sitting there. I sat down in the early afternoon. Eventually I moved the entire puzzle to my kitchen table -- much more comfortable chairs in there. Thomas helped off and on. Bob even sat down for a good five minutes. We worked and worked and worked. In between, we finished wrapping presents, made goodies, went grocery shopping, did a few loads of laundry, etc. Work on the house a little, work on the puzzle a little.

Finally, at 2:45 am, I had finished the puzzle. My Christmas wish of getting that thing out of my living room had been realized.

The sad thing was, there were four pieces that were left over. In the wee hours of the morning, I couldn't figure out where they went. Sick of the puzzle, Thomas and Bob sat down this morning and finally figured out where they went. Thomas dismantled the puzzle and put in the missing pieces. Let me just say it is a bear to take these apart.

I told Bob that he could buy me another 3D puzzle as a gift some day. I really enjoyed it. Thomas did, too, but he doesn't have the patience for puzzles that I have.

My two-dollar puzzle was quite the bargain. They typically sell for $29.99. In fact, my puzzle is so old that they have re-vamped it. It is now called King Arthur's Camelot and has much prettier graphics. I think I would like to do The Capitol puzzle next. I don't know if it's in the budget, though. Thomas is game, though I know I'd end up doing the majority of it. And that's okay.

From our castle to yours, we'd like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.