The internet is going wild for this dad who got extremely excited about alpacas

Texts from your parents can be wonderful. Sure, most of the time it’s just “Call us when you have the chance x” or “How do you use the DVD player?”, but sometimes they can drop an unexpected dollop of joy onto your phone.

Here’s an example. Alexandria Neonakis is an illustrator from California who has worked on video games like Uncharted 4 and The Last of Us. She got a photo from her dad of him meeting some alpacas in Peru, and it is *adorable*.

This was the absolute SOFTEST ad most HUGGABLE animal ever… I couldn’t stop hugging it and kissing it and putting my face on its thick soft wool.

Awww. Alpacas, in case you didn’t know, are domesticated members of the camel family, which are kept by farmers in South America for their wool. And in case you couldn’t tell from the photos, they are utterly delightful.

Alexandria shared her dad’s messages on Twitter, and it turns out everyone else loves alpacas just as much as him.

The photos have gotten over 18,000 retweets, and lots of people have said it was just the ray of sunshine they needed.

Her dad has been just as big a hit as the alpacas.

Alexandria told indy100 that her dad met the alpacas while travelling:

He's basically just traveling around for fun at this point. He's wanted to visit Peru for a while. He had never seen an alpaca before, so my siblings and I got a flood of photos and messages about them. He absolutely loves Peru. He thinks the people are wonderful, the country is beautiful and the alpacas are cuddly.

And what does he think of his internet fame?

He thinks the whole thing is pretty hysterical. He's excited that alpacas are getting some recognition and wants to make sure an alpaca rescue gets a shout out.

So if this has given you a new-found interest in alpacas, Alexandria's dad urges you to check out Cross Creek Alpaca Rescue.