Miss Emily called  the  critters  over to her and said, "It's time for us to have special company.“

The critters cheered and Scamp ran around in circles.

Miss Emily giggled and said, "The children from the children's home are coming to spend Halloween with us. So today we will get the buildings and barn ready for spooky fun.“

The critters cheered and then settled down quickly to listen to the rest of Miss Emily's instructions,

“Some of your favorite people are going to be here to help with the setup and get the children ready for all the fun.  The children will have a sleepover with us."

The critters were excited about the visitors coming.

“Each critter will have children sleeping next to them," said Miss Emily

Miss Emily and her helpers worked on getting the buildings decorated. Scamp was following around Miss Emily letting her opinion be known. Sparky came over and grabbed Scamp by the tail and dragged her away from the orange paint before a disaster happened. Scamp was howling at the top of her lungs when Cutie the cat came over and put her paw over her mouth and the rest of the critters were laughing so hard at the antics.

Finally, it was time for the children to arrive. Miss Emily had the costumes ready for each child to pick from.

The bus pulled into the circular driveway and stopped; the door flew open. The kids tumbled out and headed straight for the animals and each animal got hugs and smooches from the kids.

Miss Emily said, "Welcome children we have a fun time planned we will have a picnic then trick or treating around the farm, and finish the day with movies and a sleepover in the barn.“

The children went to the front porch and picked out their costumes then raced off to change into them. The children came back and raced to the picnic tables finding their spot with their pumpkin-shaped treat bucket. Miss Emily also had a duffel bag filled with toys and things they needed for each child. They oohed and ahhed over the things. Then it was time for the picnic. They topped off the picnic with homemade strawberry iced cream.

They cleaned up their mess, and then it was time for trick or treating. Each building had a helper passing out candy and trinkets. When they were done it was time for a story on the front porch. The children each showed Miss Emily their loot and she hugged each of them and then they settled down for the tale of the ghost who laughed.  

After the story, they headed to the barn for the movies and found special Halloween PJs, blankets, and pillows with their names embroidered on them. They went and changed into them. The children got settled on the mattresses and climbed under their blankets. They watched It’s The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown and Halloweentown. One by one the children and critters drifted off. Miss Emily and the helpers tucked them in and kissed their foreheads. The adults tiptoed out of the barn.

The next morning, after breakfast, Miss Emily and her helpers packed up all the things for the children. She made sure they had their goodies and trinkets and candy in the matching backpack and the duffel bags with the toys, pillow, and blanket. They also had their overnight bag. They always went back to the home with twice as much stuff.

They played until well after lunch then the bus pulled up and Miss Amber stepped off the bus.

She said to the children, "Say thank you to Miss Emily and get on the bus.”

They hugged Miss Emily one by one and said thank you.

Miss Amber said, "Thank you for having the children for a visit."

Miss Emily said, “You’re welcome we love having them here and they are welcome anytime you want to bring them.“

Miss Amber and Emily loaded the luggage into the luggage compartment of the bus, and Miss Amber got on the bus. The children and critters waved goodbye to each other. The bus drove away and the critters plunked down on the grass and yawned. 

Miss Emily said, "My little critters are tired, you had a busy day.“

One by one, the critters wandered over to the big oak tree and curled up on the quilts Miss Emily spread out and fell fast asleep. Miss Emily went back to the porch and watched her little critters sleep. 

They were dreaming of their next adventure.