Pool Party at Casa Minerva

My kids, like most other children, absolutely LOVE water.  So when my youngest daughter turned 3, we had a pool party at Casa Minerva.  I wanted a small, simple, yet creative and fun celebration.  I didn't hire any caterer or party host but I did have a lot of help from my aunt,  sister-in-law, staff, and husband.

INVITATION

This is my D.I.Y. invitation which I sent online to our relatives and my daughter's teacher and schoolmates.

DECORATIONS

Our decorations were simple but playful.  On the overhanging beam above the patio where our buffet area was located, we hung a cloth swag, made to look like waves of water.  To give our ceiling treatment a more whimsical look, we suspended Japanese paper lanterns and colorful beach balls. The cloth, paper lanterns and beach balls were all bought from Divisoria.

Made out of gift wrappers and paper cut-outs, our D.I.Y. banner provided a cute backdrop for the buffet table.

POOL GAMES

To make our celebration more fun and exciting, we played some party games. Since this was a pool party, all games were played in the swimming pool.  Prizes given to the kids were water guns, beach balls and plastic whistles, while waterproof cell phone pouches were given to the adult winners.

Scavenger Hunt
We gave the old familiar "Bring Me" game a new twist by playing it in the water.  We scattered floating plastic toys on the pool and asked the participants to search for an item.

Balls in a Bucket
We lined up plastic toy pails on one side of the pool.  Each pail was labeled with a child's name.  We then threw small plastic balls into the pool and asked each player to collect as many balls as she can and put them inside her pail. The child with the most of balls in her pail was declared the winner.

Fishing Game (Adult Game)
We asked the players to divide themselves into two groups.  Each group was given a fishing net. With their backs turned to the pool, I had two of my staff throw plastic toys randomly into the water. Each group was asked to catch as many toys as they can using their nets.  The group with the most toys caught was declared the winner.

FOOD

I was blessed with an aunt who has an exceptional talent for cooking.  Luckily, she volunteered to cook most of the food we served.  The dishes she prepared were Fried Chicken, Pancit Malabon, Baked Macaroni and Potato Salad.

Fried Chicken

Pancit Malabon

Baked Macaroni

My husband provided the barbecue (ordered from his "suki"), Lechon from La Loma, and hot dogs placed on sticks with mallows.

Barbecue

Lechon

For dessert, we had mixed fruits and ice cream.  However, instead of serving the ice cream as is, we made it more delightful by serving it as an "Ice Cream Buffet."  I got this idea from The Creamery, an ice cream parlor and restaurant where my daughter's first birthday was held.  We served vanilla ice cream and placed a variety of toppings in bowls so that our guests can enjoy dressing up their ice cream.  Too bad we weren't able to take pictures of their creations.

Mixed Fruits

Vanilla Ice Cream

Variety of Toppings

BIRTHDAY CAKE

We got a "Barbie Mermaid" Birthday cake from Red Ribbon, their most suitable design for a swimming party.

ENTERTAINMENT

I was lucky to have a talented staff who were game enough to provide some entertainment.  So before our guests left, they were treated to a dance number to the tune of "I'm a Gummy Bear" (a popular kid's song at the time of this posting) as my eldest daughter happily joined in.

SOUVENIRS

So what did we do with the plastic pails, balls and other toys we used for the games?  Gave them away as souvenirs!  Remember that we labeled each pail with a child's name during the Balls in a Bucket game?  We just placed some plastic balls and other toys inside, put in a Thank You Card, and gave the pail to the child whose name was on it.

And that was our pool party!  I think everyone left happy.  But the happiest of all were the kids and my staff. Many of the things we did were inexpensive but all together made for a great afternoon and a fun party :-)

Our group picture with the celebrant before we sang "Happy 'Birthday."

Interested to have your own pool party at Casa Minerva?  Call us now at +63916-2208322 or +63939-0276845, and we'll be glad to help!