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Tyler got started on his Christmas LEGO, building Old Trafford - Manchester United stadium! ⚽️ This is going to be amazing to see finished!

LEGO Creator Expert Old Trafford Manchester United set box with numbered parts bags spread across a wooden table, instruction booklet visible
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Mazie started her Christmas LEGO today too, the Roller Coaster! 🎢 She has already complete the Carousel 🎠 and Ferris Wheel 🎡 and this will complete that set. We may need to create a motorized display for these.

LEGO Creator Expert Roller Coaster set 10261 box with numbered parts bags spread across a white table.
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I got Trekking the National Parks Trivia for Christmas this year. It is a fun and fast game to play. You get to learn things too. I got Trekking the National Parks in 2019 by the same company. Great gifts for fans of the National Parks.

Trekking the National Parks Trivia board game box with question and answer cards spread on a table beside a gingerbread house decoration.
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Land of Things Christmas Puzzle

Today Tammy put together this years custom Christmas Puzzle that we made for her and it came out really well. It was definitely the hardest puzzle we have created yet. We titled it “Land of Things”.

Illustrated map titled Land of Things showing colorful island towns connected by waterways with a sea dragon, octopus, whale, and tiny figures

And here it is put together in 18x24" 500 piece jigsaw puzzle.

Completed 500-piece jigsaw puzzle titled Land of Things showing a colorful illustrated map of fantasy islands with small buildings, on a wooden table.

We took a unique approach this year. Tyler and I have been having fun with Townscaper so I asked Tyler to create the overall base of the puzzle using Townscaper. He used the iPad and spent a while creating various islands and buildings. We thematically tied each location to houses and neighborhoods we have lived in. We also included our cabin as an island that you had to get to by boat.

After we had the scene in Townscaper I loaded the city on the desktop version of Townscaper in Steam because it could render it larger and export a higher quality image. Using a screenshot on the iPad wasn’t high enough resolution.

I took that image and then we loaded it into Procreate and Mazie went to work drawing on top of it. We added grass, various scenes, decorated some things, a big sea dragon, etc. The details were really great.

Completed 500-piece jigsaw puzzle showing a colorful illustrated island town with orange-roofed buildings, stick-figure characters, and a cartoon whale in a teal sky.
Notice the GEM Tomatoes stand that was so awesome in our old neighborhood.

Completed 500-piece jigsaw puzzle showing a cartoon island town with red-roofed buildings, green parks, stick-figure people, and surrounding blue water.
Our old neighborhood in Minnetonka with the Rock’s next door having rocks in their yard.

Partially assembled jigsaw puzzle showing a colorful cartoon village with orange-roofed buildings on islands surrounded by water, with small illustrated figures throughout.
Lucky is hanging out in the back yard playing with a tennis ball.

Completed 500-piece jigsaw puzzle showing a colorful illustrated coastal village with a lighthouse, sailing ship, red-roofed buildings, and a purple octopus.
I love the lighthouse with people hanging out on it, and the ice cream shop with people waiting in line.

We could have spent so much more time adding special details but we had to finish, we took well over our deadline as it is. It is incredible how much time a good jigsaw puzzle takes to design!

We are already thinking about 2022’s Christmas Puzzle! 🧩

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The Angry Bunny Club has been on a roll lately with active trading driving the floor price up significantly. I dig my collection of 19 bunnies that I’ve accumulated over the last couple of months.

Grid of 19 cartoon rabbit and cat NFT characters wearing varied hats, glasses, and outfits on colorful backgrounds

Also floor and inventory stats.

NFT floor price table and Angry Bunny Club line chart showing floor price rising to 0.55 SOL with 750 items on market late December 2021.
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All of my deep knowledge of technology, software, networks, WiFi… it all comes crumbling apart when there is no hot water and the water heater won’t work. 🙁

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LEGO World Map

Starting in on my Christmas LEGO project: World Map! Item 31203, 11,695 pieces. Unlike any other LEGO project I’ve ever done. 🤩

LEGO World Map set box propped on a wooden table surrounded by black base plates and dozens of sorted bags of colorful 1x1 round tiles

Painting with LEGO?

Ten white bowls filled with small colorful LEGO round flat tiles sorted by color including orange, tan, coral, green, white, teal, navy, bright green, yellow-orange, and cyan

World Map LEGO is a giant pixel art project. Each tile is 16 x 16, 256 pixels each.

Three white bowls of tan, dark navy, and teal 1x1 LEGO round tiles above an instruction booklet and a partially completed black baseplate with teal, green, and yellow tiles placed on it.

Completed first tile of LEGO World Map. Thirty nine tiles to go. 10,240 pixels in total. 😮

Overhead view of a partially completed LEGO mosaic tile beside its color-coded instruction grid, with bowls of sorted blue and teal pieces nearby.
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Hit a poor raccoon that was crossing I-35 on our way to the cabin tonight. Couldn’t see it at all until it was too late. Struck driver side front fender at 70 mph. 🙁

Silver car front bumper damaged and partially detached after striking an animal, photographed in a garage with fog lights still on.
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I thought I knew all the esoteric strategy lawn games, and then Tammy surprised me with Kingdom! I’m intrigued! May this usurp Kubb?

Kingdoms Lawn Game set with wooden balls, throwing sticks, painted block pieces, and a canvas tote bag on a table.
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Covid Christmas is Complicated. 😬🎄