Klein Family Blog: Hiking in the Hills

The last few weeks have been jam packed and crazy busy for our family. The boys and I have tried to slow down the last few days while daddy has been out of town. So when we got an invite from some friends to go on a hike to a nearby fort, we jumped at the chance! In our state, there are 400 forts, once controlled by Shivaji. He was the founder of the Maratha Kingdom and there is at least one statue of him in every Maharashtran town and city. Today we took a hike to the 'youngest' of his forts and one of the better preserved. It was a pretty easy hike, minus a pretty steep climb or two. But both boys did really well, and with only a hand to hold, they both made the climb to the top on their own two feet. I ended up hiking down with Hudson on my back, which is the last time I ever do that! My hips are dearly paying for it today which is pretty sad to admit. 30 is nearing on me...only months away...and I already feel like I have 'old lady' hips. Sore hips and all, it was totally worth it. We had a great hike, an amazing view and breeze from the top, and were able to watch deer, birds, butterflies, dragonflies, frogs, and no other people (which is hard to do in India). The boys found some 'crystals' as they called them, and really enjoyed the outdoors and our time with sweet friends. We stopped at a road-side waterfall on the way home and tried to get as close as we safely could. We are in the last few weeks of rainy season, which is the perfect time to hit the hills. Everything is lush and green, the waterfalls are flowing, and the rains are pretty predictable to come in the late afternoon.

Here are a few pictures from our day out. We sure missed daddy, but now we have a great place to take him.