From Sunshine s 'sunny days' to a beautiful ' hillside retreat '

There is nothing like a vacation in Bombay and whilst i have no complains about the busy and fast life and im only counting my blessings for this precious time  - free time more so bcos the biggest challenge in this fast city is' time' everybody  from a household maid to vegetable seller will say 'Mala time nahi' in fact the priests at Siddhi vinayak temple keep chanting 'chala chala lawkar chala' meaning lets get going lets get going fast :))) there is just so much of pressure and stress to even pray in  short to pack up and end the day in this city that actually never sleeps. 

So my folks wanted to break free from the mundane routine of the kaamwali s & cooks,  grocery shopping, answering phone calls and door bells and running all sorts of household errands and we decided on a weekend getaway the obvious choice is a hill station in Maharashtra. As a child wed always break our summers visiting our grandparents in Chennai and a mini weekend break in Lonavla, Khandala,Matheran etc

Its been over 10 years i have'nt really been to the hilly side of Maharashtra the ghaat section drive. So we decided on Mahabaleshwar thanks to a few friends who recommended that with the express way its easier to get there. We chose our lodging at a cosy cottage like hotel that was in the woodside slightly away from the main market and im glad we did that. although we were there in the peak of summers the temperature just suddenly drops towards the sunset hours.After a swim in the pool we sipped tea on a bench which was a tree branch  and oh what a sight it was the most clear sky that one can imagine. uncountable stars, so densely scattered across the sky and one big fat moon smiling at you. I was forced to humm the nursery rhyme to my sunshine who was excitedly running around and counting the stars like the sardar  kid in kuch kucch hota hai :)) and shouting out in his baby voice 'so many stars,see the Moon ..'

Star Light, Star Bright, The first star i see tonite, 

I wish i may, I wish i might, have the wish i wished tonite!!!

I see the moon and the moon sees me,

God bless the moon and god bless me!!!

I truly felt the above lines from my heart whilst i sang these rhymes for sunshine boy. 

Strawbberries Strawberries Strawberries it is!!! Having visited Mahableshwar after so many years, i can say im a different person, as a teenager nature does not interest you as much  i must have surely visited this strawberry garden but did not admire it as much as i did this time.The wind blowing through my hair, colorful flowers all around, a beautiful valley view, some cool strawberry punch/milkshake sips and above all an over enthusiastic toddler running around the garden adoring the colorful flowers, the pink strawberries & listening to the waterfall sound patiently were some blissful moments!!!

The sumptous strawberry garden!!!

Ahhh Waterfall!

The Thinking tree !! My Adda for penning down my thoughts!

Horse rides to the various points which are a closer view of the valleys and mountains joining together perfect for a click, boating in the cool river with a cute temple view on the other side of the river, some cheap street side shopping for sling  bags,toys ,footwear and soveiners packed my extra luggage to the rim. A good afternoon nap after a sumptous gujrathi thali is what you deserve but what you dont is a heavy tummy not feeling hungry until late dinner hours. Stuffed stuffed again till my neck this time with food :))

 So our evenings were lazy and cool the hotel had some entertainment magic show,jugglers show  and some DJ music by the pool. Bold not so conscious Vivaan matched his steps to some super fast remix of bollywood numbers whilst we got busy clicking his pictures and caputuring his dance moves a few other visitors in the hotel clapped hands for this little things  s 2 minute bum movements. Im not sure if city life had made me wary , but i could feel every moment and thought life deserves so much time and every moment counts. I'd sit by the tree bench after a light dinner and this is the place where id sit and watch the starry nights and think about my love my husband , how much i miss him not being here for this vacation at this moment but convincing myself that he cant take such long vacations like me :) he has to work,  nevertheless i thanked  the stars for eternal happiness in love and longing to get back to him soon!!

Day 4 - We drove back chatty and happy busy scrolling through all the clicks and deciding what can be my DP on watsapp ;-P editing a few pics , listening to some bollywood numbers grooving back to the traffic jams of the city life. 

Long live Mahabaleshwar !! You surely gave me a lot of time and positive energy to enjoy every bit of you and mother nature surrounding thou!!

 beautiful view from Mahableshwar hilltop - glarring straight at the river Wai '

 

I like the way you do it!!

So just when i posted my previous blog about the park stories  'id mentioned that sunshine is little and really does not have an opinion and plays happily wherever mommy takes him. Those were the days the cute little baby s day out stories but  the recent ones have been a lot different Ya Ya i know about the terrible two s and the panic most mommies gave me about the do s and don't s and tantrum handling tips especially when the tantrums strike in public  but i'd positively turn down all of that advice :) okay  but now i have to press the buzzer and admit the terrible twos  s are playing an active role (all of a sudden) The co - operative little baby is soon growing up to be a boy and wants his cupcake topping his way. Am i ready yet for the big shift ? duno yet.

'

I have to explain this a bit now - So unlike other boys and girls who'd play with their toys in the lawns  or slide and swing away a bit, Sunshine spots a few ants marching in any damn corner along the pathway of the park and can sit there for hours together. Ants yes Ants-  it is. He simply loves watching the ants move one by one in a row :-!

This was the first time he spotted ants in the bathroom :)

although i quickly get to catch up on some watsapp conversation with my buddies during this time  but my legs ache after a while and i sit down wherever he is and people do wonder what are we upto :-@ hmm my guess is he loves seeing creatures live in action bcos  i must admit its me who got him addicted to these two dvd s of nursery rhymes that id play at least thrice a day during his meal time precisely right from the time he learnt to sit. it was just so easy to push those spoonful meals into his tiny mouth. So these dvd s contained some fabulous old classic english rhymes with awesome animation these were mostly animal rhymes like 'the ants go marching one by one hurrah'  bumble bee, lady bird and so on.... so this little thing s' little earth was gluing his eyes sincerely  on to the laptop or TV wherever id play these rhymes( just for meals) and  hence his connection with ants and many more bugs insects birds & animals hehe.  i know  i know it aint good to show TV to a small kid and so much of exposure to a laptop etc will destroy their attention span but hello i'm the one who has to feed him all 3 meals and i think this is better than running with a plate and spoon all over the house so this was a tried and tested method by a mommy and it set in just so perfect for some peaceful meal times. Moms can never be wrong ;0

So coming back to the park stories  i decided im not taking him to the park anymore bcos its killing my patience level besides there is no going back home and here comes the tantrum bells and crying through out the way back home for those tiny little  ant friends of his phew!!

Friends & acquaintances told me about this aquarium closer home where there are lots of other pet animals too and i thought this is just the right thing for the little thing. Of course a few hygeine conscious Moms told me about the place not being good and the bad smell of fishes, not so good crowd blah blah . Well im in Bombay and i love the people of Bombay and to top it all im a pure bombayiite  i dont care much about sanitising the auto rickshaw i travel in etc etc  i totally believe kids should be exposed to everything and thats how they grow up to be super strong kids  thats my funda!!

 So i excitedly arrived at this aquarium its an auto ride from my place i've given up on driving in Bombay more so bcos i fear my car getting towed for parking it wrongly or wotsover . So this aquarium was not just an aquarium technically,  It was this huge piece of land well diversified into a pond in the middle, a cute little boat ride where you can buy food for the fishes and turtles and ducks swimming in the pond. What a feast it was for sunshine s animal loving eyes. The boat was in the shape of a swan that itself excited this little thing and he kept screaming see duck ... see fish ...see turtles 

Again was tough to get him out of the boat as he cried for his fishes and turtles but the real aquarium visit was pending it was displayed well around 8 to 10 large fish  tanks with a variety of fishes the gold fish  kept him busy.

Outside on the pathway surounding the pond were variety of birds, rabbits, and we even saw some fat turkeys and just one owl. Sunshine  recognised the turkey and could say his gobble- gobble. Last but not the least the outing to the aquarium was completed with a horse ride just outside the aquarium was this ghoda wala you can ride him for 20 rupees and i was 'nt too sure if this little duckling s soft  bums can bear the leather  horse seat but sunshine very excitedly sat on his horsy -  porsy and happily rode almost homeward bound.

So that was a lovely evening but I must admit i did complain a bit about this terrible/tantrum phase but it all faded off when i let him do what he wants and let him play the way he wants i simply  love the way he is and i like the way you do it Sunshine!! I dont believe in 'terrible twos' or tantrum threes' its all just so negative. For me the most important thing is sunshine remains totally connected to me and i love seeing this little thing s face all lit up and happy when he sees me enjoying his play - time and taking back this tired little thing back home after his evening' masala' is nothing but happy high times!!

So before i had my sunshine id religiously spend my friday evenings catching up with people and enjoying a high @ happy hours but being a Mom is such a high and although it drains down my energy especially  spending hours outside in the peak summers but when i see this tired little thing sleeping cozily besides me wrapped in a blanket  after his tiring day  I thank god everyday for the lovely evenings and park times i get to spend with sunshine. Its very very important for me my evenings with him yes.  I'm the happiest when he cries for me and is looking out for me in every room, I'm the happiest when he waits for me to get to bed with him and put him to sleep. I'm totally on a high when his sweet little  Daddy and he facetime me to show how much Sunshine misses me even  when i get out just to fetch some grocery.

Sunshine  - I simply like the way you do it just bcos you are you and you make me. 

Love you... my little ant.