Birthday Party Help!

[TaChapm]

Jackson's 5th birthday is fast approching and I am trying to put together an awesome Fire Truck Party. I contacted our local fire department and they will either let us come there and tour the fire station to see and try on the gear, take a ride on an antique fire truck and do a puppet show or they can bring a truck here for the kids to see. I am not sure if they will let us do cake there (still waiting on an answer on that one). I really want to do the fire station but DH thinks it will be too much with a bunch of 4-5 year olds. (10-15 kids invited) IF we can't have cake there the parents would have to transport the kids to our house (3-5 min away) for cake. As a parent what would you do? Do you think the fire station is too much for that age group to handle?

Also...if anyone can help me figure out how to make a Fire Truck photoshop invite or something like that I would greatly appreciate it. I got photoshop last year for Christmas and STILL haven't figured out how to use it! :(

Any other suggestions are appreciated!

Tara
http://lilypie.com/pic/070612/X6DW.jpg http://b5.lilypie.com/IwLRm5/.png

http://lilypie.com/pic/070612/Wd24.jpg http://b3.lilypie.com/0pI0m5/.png

http://lilypie.com/pic/070822/Zysn.jpg http://b2.lilypie.com/B5tom5/.png

[lovin2shop]

We attended a Firestation birthday party for a 4 year old recently. In my opinion and my DS's opinion, it was the best party that he's ever been too! He loved being able to crawl around the fire truck, ring the bell, etc. They also got to try on/play with the gear. The firemen were great, one got dressed up in the full outfit and then played around with the kids so that they wouldn't be afraid if they ever were in a situation where a fireman needed to help them. The party was outstanding. I looked into it for Drew's 5th birthday, but our town did not really offer a party per say. You could schedule a tour, but then the party had to move on for cake, etc. Too many logistics for me to handle at the time, so we opted against it. But, if they do offer a kids party, I'd do it without hesitation. Oh, and even better, my friend's party was completely free! They just brought the cake and goodie bags. Such a nice departure from the routine chucky cheese, bounce house parties!

[SnuggleBuggles]

That's a lot of kids especially if there are no other grown ups to help. Are you friends with any of the parents? If so, I would see if they would be willing to hang around and offer a hand. With an extra pair of hands you could probably walk the kids back to your house for cake if needed, right?

It does sound like a lot of fun!

Beth

[Happy 2B mommy]

A firehouse party is great for that age (my friend had one last year for her 5 year old). My friend actually had parents (mostly dads)ask if they could stick around for the tour - so if you can't do cake at the fire station, perhaps you could add 'parents are welcome to tour the fire station' to the invite? Regardless of how it works out, I think you might need a little extra adult supervision with 10-15 kids.

[sand82552]

I agree, I think it sounds perfect for a 5 year old. I am not sure about how to create an invite on photoshop, but I always love looking at plum party for Birthday Ideas. Here is a link for a firetruck theme!
http://www.plumparty.com/partysupplies/firetruck.html