Globe-trotting Grovers: Patterson Apple Orchard, OHIO

our story

It all began on the evening of Nov 29th 2003, at former Chat Noir French Restaurant in Costa Mesa, CA. Brad approached me [Jana] and we instantly connected; it was love at first sight. The next 4 years that followed were a whirlwind of romance, growing pains, and adventures. We circled the globe, traveling to South America, Europe, and Asia. Then one night, Brad surprised me with a romantic beachside proposal. We made it official on August 23rd 2008 with an intimate wedding at a hip art gallery in Laguna Beach. A year later we finished redesigning our home in the beach village of Corona del Mar.

On May 18th, 2010, we were blessed with a sweet little miracle of our own, our baby boy Taj Leon. He stole our hearts and took our breath away! Then, 19 months later, his incredible little brother, Jax Franz, arrived on Christmas morning (December 25th) 2011. What an amazing gift we received! In an effort to slow down the clock and enjoy our beautiful family, in Spring of 2012, we sold our CA seaside home and moved across the country to our dream lake house in Brad's hometown of Bemus Point, a resort village on Chautauqua Lake in Western New York! Even though we are living a more slow paced life, we are living a life far from ordinary!

From the West Coast to the East Coast, our Grover family adventures continue! So won't you come along and join us on this journey of love, family, and travel we like to call our La Vida Grover!

Saturday, October 19, 2013

Patterson Apple Orchard, OHIO

On one of our free Tuesdays a couple weeks ago, our friends in Ohio invited us to come out and spend the day with them. Our friend, Lynn (Brad's buddy Greg's sister) lives in Chagrin Falls, OH and has 3 girls and 1 little guy Benson, who is just a few months older than Jax. I can't resist a day trip of course so my little boys and I headed out to Cleveland and first met Lynn and Benson at the Art Museum. They had a section for kids that had all these amazing tactile and creative things for them to do. After playing and being artsy, we headed to lunch next door at the Botanical Gardens, and sat outside near the Koi Pond. Its always a comfort and a relief to see other people's kids having meltdowns in public, not just my own! Our 3 boys gave Lynn and I a workout and tested our patience to the max. Sometimes when you get this age group together, and they are all boys, they really rub off on each other and almost try to take you down! We divided and conquered, but there's nothing more that you can do but laugh, and know that we have each other amidst the staring and frowning public eyes! After lunch and a couple meltdowns, we strapped the boys in the car and drove over to Lynn's house, in her charming town of Chagrin Falls. I have discovered how much I love Northeast Ohio! It is so NOT the stereotypical description you hear about Ohio. Northeast Ohio has forests, hills, gorgeous communities, really cool malls and shopping plazas, and lastly, this region of the state has a lot of money and successful business entrepreneurs living here. The other 90% of the state is definitely flat and farmy. Just shows you how you shouldn't always believe the stereotypes and to go out and travel to see for yourself and form your own opinion. You may just be surprised at what you stumble upon! Being that the surrounding Cleveland communities are just 2 hours aways from us, whenever we do go out there, it reminds us a lot of Southern California!

Chagrin Falls, OH is the quintessential charming small town..... yet they have a Starbucks within the original historic shopfront. The town even has its own waterfalls.... who would have thought?! Jax napped in the car en route from the museum to Chagrin Falls, to the Patterson Apple Orchard, where we ended our day out. The kids had a BLAST! There was so much to do, it was like an apple orchard amusement park but using all the farm vehicles and equipment as rides and play!