Today Gavin and I, with our dear friend Winter, had the pleasure of visiting the Sugarloaf Alpaca Company on an open barn day. It was a nice field trip for Gavin to gain some knowledge about the beautiful and friendly creatures known as alpaca.
If you have little ones I am sure you have seen the Disney movie "The Emperor's New Groove", in which the main character gets turned into a llama.
The picture on the right (and above from the animated movie) is a llama . Alpacas are not in fact llamas, but very close cousins. They do have many things in common though, like the fiber that they produce. Also like a llama, one of the main places alpacas are from is Peru. In addition,both baby llamas and alapacas are called cria. I find that if your child has seen "The Emperor's New Groove", this is a good way to start explaining the similarities and differences between the two cousins. As you will see in pictures to come, they both do in fact have obvious characteristics that make them look different from each other. 
To prepare for the trip, I made Gavin an alapaca fact sheet card. I also made an alapaca math and art knowledge card. On the math and art knowledge card I put together a multiplication word problem using an alapaca fact, and below I added an area where he could draw a picture of an alapaca doing something he learned about on his fact card. This way he could gain some facts about the alpacas on the ride to go see them, and then do the activities on the way back.
Alpacas are amazing and beautiful creatures. They are so different from any animals we have ever meet. Here is one of the areas the alpaca on the farm like to hang out to grab some food and get some shade. They have a wide grassy expanse of land to enjoy, but they like to come in from time to time. I assume they enjoyed it a lot today due to all the visitors handing them snacks.
They are certainly not afraid to get as close to you as possible to get their snacks of alpaca food mix and carrots.
They love their snacks so much, they don't mind craning their lovely long necks to get the pieces Gavin may have dropped. I do have to mention, a bit after this moment we witnessed a brawl between two alpacas in which they used one of their few defenses, spitting. I have to say, all of us quickly stepped out of the way, because you certainly don't want to get that stuff on you. It has a rather offensive odor.
There were about twenty new cria on the farm. Here were some taking a nice little nap in the sun, and others just grazing.
Cuteness levels were way too high!
Gavin could not wait to get in there. Once we walked up to the gate we were able to put our names on a list to go in, stand beside, pet, and feed the adult and baby alapacas. They only let small groups go in at a time. I assume it's for the animal's safety and not to overwhelm them with visitors.
While we waited our turn to go spend time with the alpacas, we visited the farm's little shop that was full of yarn, fiber, clothing, stuffed toys, and soap covers all made from the fleece that is produce by alpaca on the farm. Gavin bought his dad an orange dyed piece of fleece for only a few cents. Our friend Winter who loves to crochet bought some beautiful green yarn.
Outside they set up an art stand for kids with crayons and alpaca pictures. They were able to pick from boxes of different alpaca fleece and glue them to the alpaca on the picture.
Gavin also ate some delicious ice cream from the Antietam Dairy Ice Cream Vendor that was parked on the farm.
The time finally arrived, and our names were called to spend time with the alpaca. The alapaca's favorite place to be pet is the neck. They are really not keen to people touching their heads, and usually try to avoid it if you try. There is no need to really even go right for the alpaca for their attention, because they go right for you, especially if you have snacks. They are very friendly and lovable, and it's enough to make you want to take a few home if you could.
This was the moment Gavin waited for, pet a cria. This little one is called Nala, and one of the women working at the farm was kind enough to call for Gavin to come over so he could pet her. Nala was very open to love and attention.
After spending lots of time with the alpacas, it was time to head out and let the next group in. Gavin was sad to go, but feeling so happy about the time he got to spend with them. As we left he asked one of the women who worked on the farm "Can I come back again?" and she replied with a smile and an "Of course you can." Gavin was all the better for knowing this would not be his last time visiting the alpacas.
It was time to go, but not before we got a very interesting demonstration of the contraption that brushes the raw fleece.
We had a fantastic time a the Sugarloaf Farm Company, and if you have any more questions about other dates that you can visit or just questions about the alpacas in general, take the time to visit their website to learn more.
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