Dad's 50Th Birthday ...ideas??

Figure out what is your 'broken' thing. Dad may try to fix it over the phone instead of driving over to your house. Maybe you need a tool that only HE has that way he HAS to come over. And he may arrive in his 'handy-man' work clothes. So consider that too, when deciding WHY he needs to come immediately over to your house. Granted, luckily your mom is there to say something like "Oh honey, you don't need to change into your work clothes. Just go in what you're already wearing."

Good point Joanna - lots of cars near your house might be a dead give-away. Maybe have them park mostly all on one side of your house instead of on both sides so it looks like a neighbor down the street is having the party - and so he doesn't see cars he recognizes, they need to park so that he doesn't drive BY them on the way to your house, but that they park on the other side of your house. Get what I'm saying?

have lots of family pics for everyone to look at - especially if you have young ones of him!!!

i'd say the biggest thing is the cars - my friend's surprise efforts went down the tubes once her boyfriend pulled up and recognized about 4 cars on their street! It was still a surprise and a great party, but he knew before he walked in the door.
Have fun!!

Just have some nice music going in the background and make sure people don't park their cars where your dad will see them when he arrives. Other than that, it sounds like you're well on your way to having great time! I gave my hubby a surprise party for his 50th. It was soooo much fun!

Sounds like a fun day...one tip: make sure your guests park around the block from your house. You don't want to tip him off when he approachs and recognizes a friend's car or the car of one of your siblings. Have fun!!

If he knows certain cars, make sure they are parked somewhere else (temporarily?) Oh, oops everyone said that, why did I think I had something different? (Old age I suppose, I am a little older than dad.)

We did something similar for my Dad years back. :) This is so nice of you and your family....your Dad will appreciate it once he gets over the shock of it all. :)

One thing that was nice is to put out a journal for people to write down memories with him. People also sent me letters to him that I compiled and put together for him. Memories are always fun. :)

Also, not sure how many people are coming or how long it has been since seeing them but nametags are helpful...if only for other guests. :)

For my Dad, we created a video montage of pics of him...we also had an open microphone at one point so my siblings spoke of fun moments with our Dad and then many guests also came up and spoke...and he likes to paint so I had some of his artwork on display.

Make sure that someone is on camera duty to capture all of the people that come. You can even capture video. With the journal and other items, you can put together a memory book to solidify the day. :)

I hope the weather is beautiful and that you all have a wonderful time! :)