Baby Kate's 1st birthday party

Its amazing the speed of 2013 ....

They say as you grow older the months and years pass by faster and somehow I am feeling it much.

I'm not much a fan of parties, drinking ones yes... anything else not so. As you read my last post,  am pretty much a loner. So preparing parties ain't my forte and if it was my choice, I will pay it to be done. But I have grown wiser (i think) and decided that it will be a small cozy party for Baby Kate. Made a decision to just have it at home... well, it should not be THAT difficult right?

I dread the usual function room thing (although after the party yesterday its seems like a better choice-  aircon, period).

I went slightly more adventurous and decided on a pool party. The pool at our place is da bomb and is the children's favourite place. If you come by and swim, you will somehow think you are in some resort, not exactly shangri-la but seriously beautiful place...  its like you are very much on a holiday.

So, I expanded on the pool party.. then realised that we never seem to have attended 1 pool party. Oh then realised, we never accept pool parties. Even if its all champagne all nighter, just found is too much of a hassle to bring so many things. But then... when you realised, that I do not care much of BBQ too.  You see its just me :D.

I googled much and saw how some parents go all way out for a party. Wow seems fun but logistics would kill me. But then there will always be those that go way overboard. Coming from someone who walked down the aisle without my flower bouquet coz I forgot, detailing are not much in my favour. so I decided.. Bottom line, the children must enjoy.  Took away all things that are not necessary, the balloon ppl,  the magician, the fairies, the clowns. It was not easy to take it out for , well.... what if its expected? Anyway, sought help from my mummy bloggers and man, they were a bunch when went all way out. Like OMG.... but 1 item caught my eye and it seemed like a good thing to have!  You can read on SANSES blog .

It was a HIT with the children! BB Kate had a blast in the Wet & Wild for it was so safe for her to be inside there than the waddling pool! The guys from Singapore Toy Club came by to help set up and we decided to do without the cannon water spray coz the water supply was slightly father away from the electric point. It was really simple -just an extension, a power plug for the blower and it was 3 hours of magic for the children!!! There was no danger like strings or difficult structure to climb except you still need watchful eyes around to be safe. The guys came back by 8pm to help dismantle the machine and I must say service was impeccable!

Goodie bag:

I chose my goodie bags from the impressive Daiso of course! I did some search and most of them didn't give me what I want. Something I don't do is to have sweets at a party, mainly because I can't stand when my child goes and gorges herself on sweets/cupcakes and not eat her food. If I don't like, I believe most mummies out there don't like it either. I never give sweets as any party favours for the children's birthday. Its like omg, seriously? So for  our goodie bag, I chose a water gun, a water shooter and a bubble wand and packed in a Cath Kidson inspired waterproof bag. I like it much!

Food:

We chose Botak Jones this round coz most parties have curry chicken buffet and it has become a bore.  Trev chose the menu... The fish, pasta with tomato sauce, baked cheese was a sellout. The mushrooms was aplenty and ribeye didn't go very well... not sure why? We had a children menu catered too which consists of burgers, hot dogs, ham and cheese .

MENU 4

FRESH GREEN GARDEN SALAD
DOUBLE BAKED CHEESE POTATO

GARLIC SAUTEED FRESH BUTTON MUSHROOMS BAR-B-QUED CHICKEN WINGS

SLICED NZ STRIPLOIN

CHEESE BAKED PREMIUM BASA

PASTA W FRESH GARDEN VEGETABLE TOMATO SAUCE

The above menu would run $22.00 per person inclusive of the 7% GST. 

Cake: 

We had to have our regular baker without fail just because the family loves her cake much. She does beautiful decorations too. I mean everyone can be a mean baker but not everyone can decorate it well right? Decoration is a skill on its own...

I decided to do without a professional photographer this round and got my trusty Nikon to do the job. We decided to take this same amount of money to do a photo shoot just with her alone. Seems like a apt birthday present from us. Till this 27th Sept and another round of photos for her actual 1st. Can't wait!

Disclosure: Flomummy and her guests would like to thank Singapore Toy Rental for their sponsorship of the Wet and Wild Castle! No monetary compensation was given and all opinions are purely mine and the guests. 

You can check out some ideas of 1st birthdays and pool parties here:

1. http://www.ourprincessdana.com/search/label/Birthday
2. http://sanses.com/2013/05/its-been-one-month-already/ 
3. http://www.missustay.com/blog/tag/sweet-treats-party/
4. http://growingwiththetans.com/category/birthdays/
5. http://www.meeningfully.com/2013/05/about-first-birthday.html?m=1