Caromont Farm Snuggle Sessions

Cuddling baby animals provokes glee in children and adults alike, as well as dissolving the stresses of the world for an hour or two. Caromont Farm, in rural Esmont, Virginia, is just about the warmest and fuzziest place you can find near D.C.—both figuratively and literally.

A small artisan cheese farm run by Gail Hobbs Page since 2007, Caromont opens to the public several times a year for special dinners, culinary workshops, and best of all, "snuggle sessions"—opportunities to canoodle with the baby goats born every spring. The very smallest of these kids are about the length of a terrier, and in separate pens, there are larger "teen" goats.

Cuteness warning: baby goats in sweaters.

All of them are friendly, interactive, genuinely cuddly creatures. I have been to Caromont's Snuggle Sessions two years running, and the goats are utterly delightful. You really haven't lived until you've had a baby goat chew on your hair or sleep in your lap. During my visit this year, one of the kids in sweaters fell asleep in my arms within about 20 seconds of being picked up. It stayed there, completely zonked out, until my foot fell asleep and I had to move.

Taking a goat nap.

If you get down on all fours, the goats will climb on you as if you were a small hill. Naturally, watching goats clamber over you and chew on your clothes also provides great amusement for the other visitors in the pen. If you lay down in the grass or straw, they will nap along with you. This phenomenon made the Caromont visit a huge hit with my animal-loving boyfriend.

Visiting with the "teen" goats.

If you tire of goat cuddling, you can move on to trying samples of Caromont cheeses, which employees offer at tables under a nearby tent, as well as take your favorites home. Unfortunately, you are not allowed to take the baby goats home.

Two gorgeous peacocks wander the farm as well, showing off their impressive plumage, and they are quite vocal, so you can't miss them.

Book early in the season to get tickets for a Snuggle Session, which are listed on the farm's website and its Facebook page. They are hugely popular, and sessions can sell out many weeks in advance.

Pro tips:

• Wear clothes you don't mind getting a little dirty, and be mindful that your hair, jacket edges, shoelaces, and hat brim will all be nibbled.
• Make sure you've charged your phone, because you'll want to take photos and video.
• Leave your purse in the car. There's nowhere to set it down while you're playing with goats.
• Bring baby wipes or hand sanitizer if you like, but an outdoor sink, soap, and paper towels are also provided for visitors, next to the surprisingly clean port-a-potty. They think of everything!

Afternoon Jaunt: Frying Pan Farm Park

Disclaimer: I'm not a kid. Well, maybe a kid at heart. But actual children, their parents, and any other people who like cute things will appreciate Frying Pan Farm Park in Herdon, Virginia. In addition to preserving a 1930s family farm, the park offers learning activities, wagon rides, a carousel, a general store, and seasonal activities.

Vintage wagon and machinery in a shed looking toward other farm buildings.

I went for a Fairfax County Parks program called "Putting the Animals to Bed" that was billed as age 3 to adult. All the attendees assembled in the dusk at the beautiful vintage farm buildings, where the session leader and a handful of 4-H girls split us into two groups. We toured the paddocks near the Kidwell Farm building, visiting cows, sheep, turkeys, ducks, chickens—and best of all, piglets—as they prepared to settle down for the night.

Learning about baby animals.

The sheep were hilariously vocal as we approached with their bedtime snacks. Feeding them and the calves was very popular with the small fry (and with me and my friend). The chickens were in their roost, already sleepy, when the group leader picked one up carefully and allowed each of the guests to lightly stroke her feathers.

Sheep love snacks as much as children do.

But the piglets, who had been born not long earlier, were the highlight. They were nursing when we got to the farm, and they were still hard at work when we left. Intensely focused, they clambered over one another to find the best feeding spot and kept up a continual squealing.

I broke away from this absorbing entertainment long enough to partake of the juice and animal crackers that the children were snacking on as they practiced making different farm animal sounds.

You can see recent animal baby arrivals and upcoming expected ones on Kidwell Farm's New Arrivals page, should you wish to time your visit to see a newly delivered creature or two.

Fairfax County offers a lot of programs in their various parks, many of which are suitable for families and children. Or for anyone who likes juice boxes and piglets.