Day 3!

Reindeer Farm!!!

They have some CrAzY antlers!!

Checking out those Reindeer!

Is that cool or what???

So many amazing structures!

This is one of my favorites!!

Couldn't get that pesky peacock to move!!

Very cool!

He had way too much time on his hands!!! Who would build something like this????

Simply amazing!

Cute little house!

That little house is balancing on that little spindly thing underneath it!

A girl and her gnome...it's a beautiful thing.

Love this picture!!

And this one!

How cute is this?

We call him The Bird Man!

The cemetery.

At my grandparents home.


Friday morning we got up and again, made lunches. Then we headed out to one of my favorite childhood places: Peterson's Rock Garden! I love that place! Still do!

This is the most quirky yet fascinating art display anyone could ever see in the Northwest. The garden contains four acres of all kinds of structures built merely from local rocks mortared together. There are castles, replicas of historic buildings, miniature bridges, terraces, towers, lagoons, monuments, light houses, fountains, and more. We also enjoyed the tranquility of the area, which is beautifully landscaped with lily ponds and picnic tables, lush gardens and small streams. Wildlife such as ducks, chicken, cats, and peacocks roam free around the property.


The structures and statues were created by Denmark immigrant Rasmus Peterson. In 1906, Peterson had settled in Redmond where he began his life as a farmer. The Cascade Mountains have seen a lot of volcanic activity, making this area a lush museum of rare and beautiful stones. Peterson started collecting rocks within an 85-mile radius of his home as a hobby. Some of his common finds include Oregon agates, petrified wood, obsidian, malachite, thunder egg, and jasper.

Over the years, Peterson's rock collection grew enormous. He finally used his collection to build monuments, bridges and miniature buildings in 1935. It instantly started attracting attention until in 1950, the place opened as the Peterson Rock Garden, spanning four acres around Peterson's farmhouse.

We spent a couple of hours there, roaming the grounds and then finally eating out lunch there.

When we left the rock gardens, we headed into Redmond. I wanted to stop by the cemetery where my grandfather is buried. I have never been back since the funeral, almost 18 years ago.

We also stopped by their home that they moved into back in 1980. My grandmother still lives there by recently went to Colorado to live with my Aunt for awhile, so she wasn't there.

After that we headed over to the Reindeer Farm!!! Real, live Reindeer!!!! We're still trying to convince Levi that they are real! He doesn't believe us. He's just sure it goes along with the whole Santa scheme......so funny.

We headed back to the house for a yummy dinner and then Scott took the older kids to the Sports complex to play basketball while the little ones all hit the sack!!