Olivia's third birthday arrived to much celebration around our household. We decided to throw her a real party - her first ever, and the event was a success!

I know most people throw a big bash for their child's first birthday, but that tradition didn't resonate with us. We wanted to give her a party when she could understand and appreciate it, so friends told us three would be a perfect age.

I've been thinking about this over the months, bookmarking ideas when I came across something I liked. The first firm idea came to me about ten months ago, when I met Sally Ventura and her miniature horses, and decided I wanted that for Olivia's party.

The next big idea came to me in the winter, after I enrolled in cake decorating classes. I decided I wanted to make Olivia's birthday cake.

The rest of the party plans gelled over time. And before we knew it, the week of the party was upon us!

THE TIMELINE

We set the timeline around the horses' comfort. Sally said it would be best in the morning or late afternoon, so we picked afternoon.

My invitations described a 4 - 6 p.m. event that started with an hour of horse riding, followed by dinner and a few games.

In reality, it went from 4 - 9 p.m., and we ran out of time to do half the games. Ran out of time!

SETUP

I have really, really good friends. I asked six people to come two hours early to help me set up, plus some neighbors helped me set up tables and chairs (that they also loaned me.) I also had the babysitter take Olivia for the day so I could, myself, start at 11 a.m. with day-of procurements (like 80 pounds of ice).

I didn't want to spend hours and hours setting up, but it sort of turned out that way as the guest list got longer and longer. I actually initially thought we could keep it to 20 guests, but here's the thing to consider that was a new concept for me: when you have a kids party, they come as a family package. Foolish me.

Whereas I threw adult events in the past and factored in My Friend + 1, I had to amend my thought process to Olivia's Friend + Parents & Siblings = Average Family Size of 4.

There were friends she wanted, friends we wanted, and friends my parents wanted. Pretty soon it was creeping up to 50.

I was actually more nervous about this, than my own wedding reception. I had 70 people at that, but I also wasn't baking the desserts, making the food, or setting up the location for my own wedding.

HORSE RIDES

My Gal Sal is the name of the horse rental company. It's a woman, Sally Ventura, and her assistant. They trailer two horses, Magic and Misty, from their home in Kaneohe, to you. Sally says they are called miniature horses - not ponies.

When they first arrive, Sally gives a brief speech to introduce the horses and answer some frequently asked questions. She talks about where they live, that her primary job is as a flight attendant for United, that the maximum weight for riders is 70 pounds, and never to stand in the back where you can get kicked.

I actually met Sally when I went to visit my friend, Dave. Sally lives across him. I saw two horses tethered to the front yard with hearts shaped on the fur on their behinds, and braided manes, and I knew I had to meet them.

They are lovely little critters, Magic and Misty. The children lined up to ride them. It was an extremely popular activity, which I'm really glad I booked. Sally was totally professional, doing a dry run before the event to size up the parking situation and such.

"By the way, Magic was filmed in May for a BBC documentary on therapy/mini horses for the number one European children's channel and then will be shown on Animal Planet this fall. The BBC chose three Hawaii animals and each had a full eight hours of filming," adds Sally.

I would totally recommend this, though my only wish was that there was a larger horse that adults could ride, too!

My Gal Sal - Sally Ventura - (808) 778-3784

THE MENU

I seriously considered catering, but in the end, my best girlfriend Jen convinced me it was possible to cook for 50. Being that she is 1) brilliant 2) trained in food service 3) the best, I decided to go with that. Plus, she and another friend Val K grilled everything, so that took care of the entree.

Our friend Janel insisted on making pasta salad. Claus cut up the green salad and the fruit salad. I made the cake, coffee jello, and sugar cookies.

THE CAKE

I baked the cake. I made a small two-tiered cake for show, and then I supplemented with cupcakes. I started it a week ahead, baking and freezing the cakes one day; crumb coating them the night before; and then icing it the day of.

I sketched out a cake on paper that had gumpaste peonies on the second tier, but - what a rookie mistake - I didn't think about the actual dimensions and there wasn't enough room on the second shelf for flowers.

My neighbor stored it for me. I brought it over a few hours before the party and as I was walking into the house, I tripped on the step up and tumbled forward! Oh, hello!!!

I caught myself and the cake was unharmed - but what a close call. I spent six hours on that darned thing. What a near-disaster.

Now to the coffee jello: My coffeemaker died in the middle of brewing a pot for that. Really??? Now, of all times?

I had spilled grounds in the water well so I tried to rinse it out, and I think it shorted the machine. In the middle of a 12-cup brew, the machine started leaking coffee all over the counter, and then it would not turn off. I had to unplug it. A
bout two cups leaked out. I made the jello with ten cups and that actually worked out fine.

THE GAMES

1) The piñata

Did you know piñatas today are politically correct? Instead of the danger of smashing anything with a bat, the piñatas have pull-strings. It's been so long since I was around anything of the sort, that I forgot you have to blindfold the kid first.

Except, that's changed, too. Sean Clark explained to me that you have each child go up and pull only one string. There is only one that will release all the candy, so you don't even need to blindfold anyone.

The fourth kid to pull a string was cousin Cammy, and I could tell it was the one, because she tugged and tugged and it didn't give, like the fakes.

There were about 15 children at the party. They were all psychically in tune with the chocolate. They too seemed to know something was up, the way wild dogs will stop in their tracks when they smell raw meat.

Then, the piñata broke, and three pounds of chocolate came tumbling out. Those kids descended upon the candy like starved animals, grabbing up the Snickers and Twix into their hot paws and stuffing it into empty cups or favor bags or pockets, or into the hands of nearby adults. Anything to GET THE CANDY.

If there was water, it would be frothing.

Some of us adults were a little stunned at the sight. It was very primal. That ended with screaming and crying. Candy sure brings out the best in kids.

2) Kingyo Sukui

I learned about this Japanese "goldfish scooping" game from aforementioned Dave. I know kids love getting their hands wet, so I decided to offer this. I used guppies instead of goldfish because that's what I had access to lots of.  Jen has a kiddie-pool sized water garden and she let me harvest about 100 guppies.

To make the game more challenging, the Japanese use a flat net made of rice paper. This way, you can only swipe the water a few times before the tissue breaks. (Note to reader: if you are attempting this, stay away from high quality tissue. I used Tiffany & Co. tissue and that darned thing held together for a long, long, long time.)

We put the fish in two shallow tubs, which they immediately started jumping out of. They probably knew what was coming up, poor things.

When it was time for this game, I got as far as announcing, "Who wants to play the fishing game?" before I had 15 kids swarming around me, grabbing at the tray of nets, insisting they get two nets, and generally not listening to me give out the rest of the directions.

What drives me crazy about kids is that they will all try to talk to you at once, and they will ask their question over and over and over until you finally answer it. Even that might not stop them. I immediately vote to give teachers a 1,000 percent raise.

Broken nets did not stop the kids. They just used their hands or the little bowls I supplied to store the fish in. This was a really nice discovery, to realize this kept the kids occupied for almost an hour.

Could have been longer, but I wanted to move to the next game. Next party, I shall plan fewer games and more fishing. SO easy.

3) Water balloons

I was going to have them do water balloon-on-a-spoon race, but the toddlers did not get that concept. "If you don't want me to drop it, why don't I just hold the balloon in one hand and the spoon in the other?" questioned Olivia. Those crazy adults.

I tried to explain why the challenge is fun, but she and her cousin Carson ran off with balloon in hand. I give them points for logic.

So I then just handed everyone a water balloon and told them to throw it at each other. That was great fun, but 50 balloons ran out in about three minutes.

I had a fourth game involving donut-eating, but the crowd started thinning and the remaining parents said there'd been too much sugar already. I had to concur.

As it was dusk, I started breaking the tents down, before I had no light to see. And everyone was so nice to pitch in. It all got done in half an hour.

THE AFTER-PARTY

I don't drink when I host a party. I want to make sure everything and everyone is taken care of, and alcohol would impede my energy.

However, when it's all said and done, and we're unwinding, I don't mind enjoying a beverage. So a small core of parents sat around the table drinking a cold one - just one- while our kids played.

It was a pretty energy-intensive event. I'm happy we did it, I'm glad Olivia had a big party, but I'm not sure it's going to be an annual thing.

THE DAY AFTER

It took me a day to recover. Really. I've thrown large parties before and have felt tired, but I always attributed it to the late hours. (Again, I don't have more than one drink when I host an event, and it's only at the end of the night when there's nothing more to worry about.)

I now see that it was the intense amount of labor and brain power that goes into planning and managing the event. Other moms I talked to later, nodded in agreement. Well, I'm glad it's not just me, or I'd feel like a wimp for not being able to handle something that sounds simple.

It feels like I had my butt handed to me on a platter - a birthday cake platter. At least it was all worth it.