Globe-trotting Grovers: Taj's Last Day of School at Hillcrest Preschool, Summer Kick-Off, and Mama's FIRST 5K!!

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!

Monday, September 22, 2014

Taj's Last Day of School at Hillcrest Preschool, Summer Kick-Off, and Mama's FIRST 5K!!

Bye bye Hillcrest Preschool! Great 3-year-old preschool year completed…. now in the Fall, Taj will attend pre-Kindergarten! It will be a nice change not to have to schlep it to Jamestown 2x/ week, and to just stay within our village of Bemus. We can't wait!

When the school year ends, that can mean only one thing….. it is officially SUMMER! I feel like right when we got back from our Mexico vacation, we stepped off the plane into the land of summer, heat, and sunshine. Ever since the 1st of June its been hot hot hot!

Boys enjoying their golf cart! Too fast and furious on this thing! Taj is a great driver though, and they have plenty of space to cruise around.

IMG 3225 from jana grover on Vimeo.

Bike rides into the village to get ice cream

Those pink sunsets Bemus is known for…

celebrating the kick-off of summer with our friends, and of course dining at the best place on the lake during the summer: Italian Fisherman (or The Fish, as we call it!)

as well as cocktails on the porch of the Lenhart Hotel…. another summer staple. Did someone say Rocker or Dark & Stormy? One of each please, ha!

The second weekend of June, I ran my first 5k right here in the Bemus Village! Check that off my bucket list! It was an exhilarating experience, one I will definitely do again… maybe a couple times a year! I trained and ran with my sidekick Melanie 1-2x a week, and a week before I pinched a nerve in my neck. :-( I was not going to say no to this planned race, so with a little muscle relaxers I ran 5 kilometers (3.2 miles) with a pinched nerve, in 29 minutes and 22 seconds (29:22)!! Go ME!