My son's fifth birthday is coming up and as usual it's becoming a big production. Not that I mind - it's a fun way to get creative and he really loves it. Some day he'll be older and want to go do something with his friends, so I'll just enjoy it while I can.
I employ a variety of technologies to make the party happen (note - my wife actually does the hard work and planning).
This year he wants a "Scooby Doo" party - what is it with kids and Scooby Doo? I think the scary part is fun for them and also it must be comforting to know that the "monster" usually turns out to be just some disgruntled janitor.
I start with an invite that I create using plain old Microsoft Word and Paint Shop Pro to place my son's head on Fred's cartoon body. He becomes one of the Scooby gang and I just print and fold them into quarters. You can get fancier with MS Publisher, etc. but Word seems to ge the job done for me.
Another thing I do is mix a CD of his favorite tunes from the past year. I design a with his picture on it and then hand out the CD as one of the party favors. It also serves as the soundtrack for the party. This year I'll be using my Creative Wireless Soundblaster to serve up that playlist right off the PC using WiFi. I'll also be using a wireless speaker from Advent outside for an easy outdoor speaker you can drop down virtually anywhere.
The Advent is not bad for $75. The sound is a little compressed and the range is not fantastic (certainly not 300 feet as claimed), but you can run it for a long time on a battery or plug it into an outlet. You plug a small module into your stereo and it broadcasts a line level signal out to the Advent. The Advent has it's own volume knob.
I'm also turning our Nissan Quest into the Mystery Machine. You'll enter the party by going through the back hatch of the Machine (exterior will be suitably decorated). Inside we'll have all seats flat in the floor, both LCD screens playing a Scooby Doo DVD and I'll rig up my notebook, flat panel display, binoculars, flashlights, a few spare remotes, and various other mystery solving gadgets and tools. The kids will exit out the driver door and enter the house.
I thought about turning the hi-res image from the invite (with my son's head on Fred's body) turned into a photo icing layer for the cake. That would be cool but I can't imagine eating frosting that's come through the mail. Plus, we have a local bakery that makes a delicious cake and I'd hate to mess with it.
Usually I have the PC in the kitchen on a screensaver with a random sort of my son's photos for an added touch and I might be running another Scooby DVD in a the TV in the family room. I'll take a bunch of photos and then upload them to Ofoto for the grandparents to see.
The big gift for him this year will be a Leapster, of which I have only heard good things. Neat!
So we'll see how it goes. Looking forward to the cake.
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