Puzzling it out in Colorado

I don't know why but Thanksgiving and Christmas always seem like a good time to do puzzles. We took that to an extreme while we were visiting in Colorado. In the past, at nighttime we might sit down and watch TV or a movie together. This visit though, there was very little TV watching. Most every night and even during the day, we'd all sit around the dining room table and put together a puzzle. 

We're visiting Colorado for 14 days and in that time, we completed a total of 16 puzzles!

It all started on the first day there. My mom had this garden landscape halfway finished on the table, so a few of us sat down and finished the rest of it with her. 

We raided the basement to find another puzzle to solve. Everybody here likes ice cream! 

We gathered round the table, people taking different sections, and then putting it all together. 

Beats watching TV. 

Alli putting the final piece of the puzzle into place. 

Nice work team!

I asked Theresa which one we should do next. She said "You can pick for me. You know what I like."

I came back with this one, and apparently I don't know what she likes. It was too busy for her liking. 

But soon enough we completed it anyway. 

Some puzzles could be solved in no time at all. The distinctive colors helped to group the sections together and led to easy assembly. 

While others had so much going on, along with areas that were vague and generic. 

Last piece!

This biking puzzle took a while, and a lot of people, but we did it. 

"The World Is A Book And Those Who Do Not Travel Read Only One Page. - Saint Augustine"

We are certainly reading a lot of pages on our little adventures! 

For Christmas both Ian and Alli got these United States of America puzzles. 

And they put them together by themselves, with just a few suggestions. 

My brother Patrick is a big fan of Lord of the Rings. If you remember the retail chain "Media Play", he bought a few puzzles from them when they were going out of business back in 2005. 

First we completed the Heroes puzzle. 

Then worked on the Flight of the Plainsmen puzzle. 

It's nice to get back rubs while doing it. 

The Evil Forces puzzle was a bit more difficult than the others. Sauron, the Dark Tower, and most everything else has an orange hue. 

We're missing the fourth puzzle with Frodo, Sam, and Gollum on it called Guide to Mordor. 

And I think someone must be messing with my brother, because each of these puzzles was missing a single piece. It was in a different random spot in each puzzle, and it was very odd. 

The kids kept wanting to help with the puzzles, and we wanted them to help out. We found this giant 300 piece puzzle that was just their speed and set them up on another table to work.  

Good job kids! 

My mother is big into quilting, and so for Christmas we got her this US State map with quilts representing each state. One night we sat down and completed the entire thing! The border made it interesting with no flat edges. 

Of course Megan would have a puzzle dedicated to coffee. 

My mom has lots of puzzles in the basement. This style isn't one of my favorite. The fat brushstrokes and lack of fine detail don't fit my puzzle style. I like to know that a piece goes in a certain location and definitely attaches to its neighbor. My mom groups things by general colors and has no problem putting together large sections. 

A lot of us worked on it. 

And finally finished it. 

It's always a gamble, but Patrick stopped by the local Goodwill to see what their puzzle selection looked like. The three of us solved this 3D Eiffel Tower puzzle even though it was missing a few pieces. 

I love this one! License plates from every state in the continental US!

And again a border that wasn't just a straight edge. 

It was a lot of fun doing puzzles with the family every night instead of watching TV, and it was much more memorable!