TERRI'S TRAVELS: Halloween: Birthday Party + Haunted House

Since Hunter's birthday was October 29th, it was celebrated with a combination

Halloween / Birthday Party this year.

Three candles for the big three year old!

Christa's whole side of the family was there, too,

so of course he got spoiled with lots of presents from everyone:

Had to try and get a selfie with the cutest Mickey Mouse

ever before we went trick-or-treating!

My pumpkin was all lit up outside! Turned out pretty good if you ask me.

Shannon and I before and after trick-or-treating with all the kids.

It was a cold night in KC!

Two-thirds of my family: (missing four) (And yes, Shannon counts as family.)

So the whole night, Allie was asking if I could take her to the haunted houses downtown. I always let the kids choose something fun to do for their birthdays (experiences over material gifts!), and she chose this.

Haunted. Freaking. Houses.

And I can't tell her no. Ever.

So at 9pm, we drove to my house, Shannon and I changed clothes, and we headed downtown to visit The Beast -- which happened to be ranked the second most haunted house in the nation!

As soon as we got out of the car and started walking towards it, this crazy looking thing came up and grabbed my neck and made the creepiest/scariest growl or snort noise I've ever heard.

I screamed -- then laughed. It's what it's all about! Getting scared! Allie, however, teared up right away. Scared tears. Not like the, 'That was so funny I can't stop laughing" tears.

Begging, pulling on my arm, "Pleeease Terri! Please don't make me do this!!"

Ha - I thought it was kind of funny, but I have to admit, I felt bad for her. She was clearly terrified, and I didn't know why! I mean, what did she expect? To not be scared at all? She couldn't explain to me how or why she went from all about it to I'm waiting in the car in 5 minutes, so I put her on the phone with her mom.

Didn't help. She still wanted to leave. Shannon distracted her by taking her to get some hot chocolate, and we calmly talked about it for the next 45 minutes while we waited in line (shivering from the cold).

We barely had her convinced to just go in with her eyes shut for two minutes, holding on to me, and then she could leave out one of the chicken exits they have. She wasn't happy about it at all, but gave in. (I wasn't about to let her not go in anyways...)

While we were waiting, this creepy thing was riding up and down the block:

Left pic: Shannon is holding up Allie's arms - trying to pretend she's excited.

Right pic: Allie showing is how she was going to walk in to the haunted house.

Tickets in hand! No turning back now!

It's not even worth it to try and describe the scene that went on once inside. I'll just say it was a human train - me leading, Allie literally attached to me as close as she could possibly be, then my bosses 15 year old son, then Shannon.

Pretty sure all three of them had their eyes shut the whole way while I was trying to be the brave sole walking around in the dark getting freaked out every time someone/something else jumped out at me.

It's worth mentioning that at one point, we had to crawl on our hands and knees through a small opening. Except Allie literally would not get off of me. I was crawling with her ON my back. That's how attached to me she was the whole time!

I turned my cell phone on here to see just what exactly I was getting myself in to. A pitch black tunnel / slide. Not cool.

The good news is, by the end of it, Allie LOVED it more than anyone else. She was all high-fiving and screaming about how much fun she had.

And I was, like, excuse me? Little miss I'm not turning loose of you or opening my eyes for anything?? Haha. Kids are the best. I'm so glad she went and I'm so glad she had fun. Good times, for sure. And a really late night. I dropped her off at home at 1am!