Globe-trotting Grovers: Chautauqua Institution Week, Summer Camp

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!

Sunday, October 5, 2014

Chautauqua Institution Week, Summer Camp

This summer, my friend Susan and I finally did what we've talked about since last summer….. sign our 2 oldest kids up for Children's School at Chautauqua Institution! CHQ is such a neat gated community/ cultural center on the lake….. every summer for 9 weeks they bring in speakers, hold classes, put on events/ performances, and every week is a different political topic. Many prominent figures and presidents have spoken here, as well as sang! They have a Children's School starting age 3 that has summer camps for kids, and gets them really involved in the arts, music, and topics they have right there at CHQ, from 9-12pm every day just for the summer season. For many kids, its their summer tradition and most families will rent a house at CHQ and stay so many weeks in a row. Brad and I have visited CHQ many times, and even brought my parents here in the off season, but we had never gone to a lecture, performance, concert, or taken a class. Susan and I thought it would be fun to enroll the oldest kids for a week, and every other day bring the younger ones with us and stroll through the grounds. With Jax and Susan's littlest Jack, we visited the Farmers Market, the beach, park, and even attended a story time at the library. On Monday and Wednesday of that week, we left the littles at home with their sitters, and after dropping off the older ones at their school, us mommies indulged in a nice coffee break, breakfast at the Athenaeum Hotel, and both days attended interesting lectures about the food industry. It felt like we practically stayed there all week long from our daily CHQ quality time! Next year, Susan and I are already looking at 2 different weeks of enrolling the kids in the Children's School (the littles as well since they will be 3 years old.) We love the topics "Boys Will Be Boys, then Men" Week 2 (July 6th week) and "Vanishing" Week 6 (Aug 3rd week).

On the last day of the week the kids were signed up for the Children's School, happened to be 4th of July, and they had a patriotic parade involving all the kids. Brad and Susan's husband, Rob, joined us and we watched the parade, had lunch together, and the kids had their faces painted! It was a beautiful sunny day and a nice place to celebrate Independence Day and begin the festivities!