Globe-trotting Grovers: Fall-tastic 2014

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, January 10, 2015

Fall-tastic 2014

This was our THIRD and by far, the busiest, New York Fall! We weren't going to let the September Blues affect us like last year, and with the help of the late summer-like temperatures, we were able to extend our Summer with all the Presque Isle beach outings, bike rides, and family time spent outdoors.

We got into the spirit of things and fully embraced Autumn. In 2014, I was better prepared. It never hurts to do a little research and find lots of activities and places to go, and there is SO MUCH especially during the Fall months. If you plan right, Fall is the most beautiful and most fun time of the year in Western New York. We were lucky to get to do it all, except we missed the ball on the apple farm in Ohio we loved so much last year. After getting back from our awesome NYC-Hamptons road trip, we had many family outings visiting an Animal Safari, the Audobon, Port Farms Pumpkin Patch and Pumpkinville, and even Ellicottville Griffis Sculpture Park night hiking. We also hiked Rim Rock (a separate post) where we admired the fiery colors of the Fall.

Animal Safari at Hidden Valley Animal Adventure, East Aurora:

A wonderful gated animal park just 1 1/2 hours North of us, where buffalo, bison, cows, camels, giraffes, zebras, ostriches, yaks, etc roam free. We got to ride a tractor-pulled wagon to see these large animals and we even got to feed them! It was quite the experience for the boys, although you have to watch your fingers and stay clear of the animals' antlers and horns!

The Enchanted Forest @ the Jamestown Audobon
Every year on the first Friday of October, the Jamestown Audobon Nature Center holds an Enchanted Forest guided nature walk, where you visit 5 different animals (costumed animals) in their habitats, listen to their story and learn something about them. On our walk, we encountered a red robin, skunk, black bear, flying squirrel, mice, and a really funny mole. Afterwards, we stayed to play at the nature center and made some crafts.