As soon as Jasper was born I was eager to start thinking about his first birthday celebration. Although it needn't been elaborate, I knew it needed to be special. Between our love for the outdoors and the beautiful area we live in, I knew it needed to be connected to nature. I was uncertain how to make my dream a reality until I started to look at venues and nothing felt right. My husband suggested a place we have visited the year prior; a beautiful glass house in the woods. Immediately, I knew the house had the vibe I was looking for, the only problem was it was small and almost two hours away from Seattle. Would my guests be willing to spend an entire day traveling to my son's birthday party? Would I be able to pull off a party in a remote location?

Once we settled on a small guest list, I decided to keep things simple. I wanted to serve a similar menu to our gender reveal party, but I wanted to incorporate the change in season and drop in temperature. I wanted there to not be a lot of running around or serving during the party, so I laid out all the food buffet style. We had mini pulled pork sliders, fresh fruit, veggies and dip, and chips. Pans of simmering milk awaited the guests and a hot chocolate bar by Ticket Chocolate started off the party on a high note. Everyone loved the interactiveness and novelty of stirring in their own chocolate. We had a variety of flavors for our guests to try; salted caramel, belgian milk and peppermint. My dear friend, Brenda, made the most delicious homemade marshmallows to accompany our hot chocolate.

After lunch we played an Outdoor Scavenger Hunt. With a room full of adults I wasn't certain how into our guests would be, but it proved to be a fun activity for all ages and a great chance for everyone to stretch their legs. Once back inside, we opened gifts and watched Jasper demolish his adorable adventurer Care Bear cake. My mother has been making Care Bear cakes for me my entire life and so it was a sweet tradition to continue with Jasper. Then we enjoyed cake and ice cream and had our guests fill up their make their own trail mix for the long drive home.

Not only was it a gorgeous venue to have a party, but the perfect place to spend the weekend as a family enjoying what we love most- the outdoors and each other. As a take away for each of our guests I hand stamped a rock onto each muslin bag and then hand stitched the phrase "You rock". I then filled each bag with candy rocks.