Looks super nice. Just want to warn you that any rocks that came from the river (the round ones by the look of them) have tiny bubbles of water trapped inside of them that will heat up and expand when heated and can sometimes make the entire rock explode unexpectedly if they are put in a fire. More on reddit.com

Add some weeble to properly balance it out. More on reddit.com

That's a pretty good budget for a project that size, so natural stone is an option. Something like this , an in-ground firepit with a flagstone surround. Since you've got a slope to deal with you'll have to do some excavating to level the area. Perfect opportunity to put a seat wall on the uphill side. I'd also put in a nicely curved path to connect your back stairs to the patio area. A few things to keep in mind: Natural stone looks great, especially in a mature wooded yard like yours, and it will last forever, but it will be a lot more expensive and a lot more work than concrete pavers. Especially the seat wall. Making a short wall from quarried wallstone isn't hard, but it's a lot more work than just stacking up retaining wall blocks. And mixing concrete pavers and natural stone tends to clash visually, so taking the easier route and using wall blocks on a flagstone patio will probably not end up looking great, although that's entirely up to you. OTOH, pavers come in circle kits (usually 8-10 foot diameter) that are dead easy to lay, and if necessary you can increase the area by adding a [soldier course] ( https://i.imgur.com/NVW0svM.jpg ) or two of regular pavers around the edge (pic from my own patio). I went with pavers because natural stone is prohibitively expensive in my area. The price gap will vary from place to place, but unless you know someone who owns a quarry pavers will always be substantially cheaper. Finally, whichever material you decide to work with, do not skimp on the base prep. How to prepare a patio base is one of the most frequent questions here, even though there are literally hundreds of in-depth articles and videos on the subject. Every big hardware chain will have the info on their site. I recommend this book which covers the basics of working with both natural stone and concrete pavers. It was actually written by Don Engebretson of the Renegade Gardener website, and he does incredible stonework. I got mine used for like six bucks. His site is a little 90s but if you browse around (or google advanced search the site for "stone") you'll get plenty of inspiration. More on reddit.com

That looks awesome. You must feel proud. Good work. More on reddit.com