West Coast Winter Escape- First Week in CA

The second half of February we got the heck out of frigid temperatures and headed West! It seems that the second half of February tends to be the coldest, a norm the last 3 years of our living here.  We have been really fortunate to escape the worst of Winter, (great planning on my part, may I add!)  This year, the boys and I, fled the East a few days sooner than daddy, especially since this year the school district observed a ski week starting the 15th of February. It was the first time I flew alone with the boys across the country, almost the same amount of flight time as flying to Charleston, SC last Spring. The Charleston trip was actually the very first time I flew solo with the boys, and that was probably far more tiring than our direct 5 hour flight from CLE to LAX! The boys know the ropes and so familiar with the whole airport scene, and this time we only lugged one car seat with us (used this as Jax's stroller with the wheels attached, and in CA ended up borrowing an extra car seat my sister luckily had!) We also ditched the bulky DVD player this time for a new Ipad mini with downloaded movies and games! Smart move! Our usual flight times have been 4-5 hours on most trips so now I always say that we'll be at our destination after 2 movies and a game or 2! Makes it seem easy breezy, doesn't it? Our flight from CLE left at 6pm Monday the 15th, and arrived in LA at 8pm! I just love flying west with the time change! Uncle B (Bryan) was waiting for us at our arrival and drove us back to my sister's where Chloe was excitedly waiting! The kids were ecstatic to reunite!

That whole week we played every day, all day, with Babi and Deda, and then we would pick up Chloe from school and continue the fun. We had beautiful Southern CA weather all week so we hit up the parks, the pool, ice cream and a Mexican dinner by RSM lake... I even went jogging with my dad! We celebrated my sister's birthday on that Wednesday by going on an unexpected 3 mile hike in the Holy Jim Canyon! The boys (well, mainly Taj) are expert hikers..... Jax likes to be carried or ride on someone's shoulders most of the hike! After getting back from our long hike, we feasted on In N' Out burgers (Yum!), and then I took my sister to this Asian massage place for quite the birthday massage experience! Lol We also pampered ourselves with a pedicure right after. Babi made a great Czech dinner (Koprova) and we had cake! The next evening, Thursday, my sister planned a girls night with her friends and we started off evening with a blow dry at a new blow dry salon, then drinks and a really fun dinner with her friends! On Friday, daddy Brad flew in and we had a great time catching up with my sister and Bryan! After a wonderful week spent with Babi and Deda, Chloe, celebrating my sisters birthday, and getting in a lot of quality grandparent-grandkids time, with Brad's arrival, the Grovers were on their way to their next adventure: Our first Hawaiian family vacation!

Our Mexican dinner out on Santa Margarita Lake, second night in CA.  We indulge in mexican food on a regular basis when we visit in CA.

Our Holy Jim hike...

This was the waterfall our hike led up to!  A bit funny going all that distance for something as puny as this, but we can't forget that CA is still in a drought.

Pool time with Babi and Deda

IMG 4847 from jana grover on Vimeo.

girls night celebrating my sister's birthday-- last year of her 30s!

Park playground fun with Babi and Chloe…. and Bronco too :-)

Oh yes, even in CA you get a chill.  I probably get more cold being in CA because if I don't dress in layers or have a sweatshirt near, I get cold as temps cool in the later part of the day.  In WNY, its either really cold or warm….  its so black and white, nor grey area! So you leave the house dressed appropriately.  In CA, you dress in layers and peel or put on layers as needed.

Valentine's Soiree & Grandpa Grover's 75th Surprise Party

A Valentine's Soiree our friends the Churchills hosted.  It was a fancy affair, we had a private chef that cooked 5 course meal for all of us!

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Grandpa Lee's surprise 75th birthday party that Brad organized at the Randolph American Legion.  There was food, a band, and even casino game tables!  Grandpa had a great time and was overwhelmed with emotion when seeing his family and friends travel in from all over.  The best part was Brad's speech to his dad.  There was not one dry eye in the room.

 The boys got to see their NY cousins…. the older kids Christian and Sylvia, and their little cousin Finley who is similar age!

and learned how to play poker! 

Our 3 year old Peanut

Our Peanut is 3.  And he is still the size of a peanut….. definitely sprouting up, he's long and lean, but not as hefty as Taj was at this age.  His picky eating has improved….. and that depends on the day.  His new thing is chewing the same thing for an hour.  He has the hardest time chewing up beef, chicken, fish, shrimp…. you know, all the healthy protein stuff.  He can chew up the hardest stickiest candy in a millisecond though.  Hmmm.  

I can officially say that Peanut is a stinker, and ever since he turned 3, the tantrums and stubborn streak has worsened.  He is so indecisive, and will change his mind several times when given choices which usually leads to a meltdown.  He even bangs his head on the floor when he doesn't get his way.  Definitely a stinker these days, and an emotional puddle that can be very difficult to mop up sometimes.  I have read that at the 3 year old stage, Jax wants to be independent in everything, even call the shots.  He wants it to be his idea, not yours.  He wants to control the situation, just like with the eating…. its all about control.  He is Taj's little shadow and copies EVERYTHING.  Taj is his hero.  Usually, its good habits he picks up from him, but sometimes its the negative too and it ends up sticking the longest.  Peanut is excellent in his toileting, holding his bladder all night and staying dry, and dressing himself.  His signature fashion style is wearing his pants backwards and wearing his hats to the side (like in many pictures… he's our little Vanilla Ice rapper.)  

Of the 2 brothers, Jax is the ringleader when it comes to mischief.   He thinks of it, plans it, orchestrates it, and even somehow gets Taj to help him.  They have gotten in huge trouble drawing with crayons on furniture, throwing all cushions off the sofa and chaise, making massive messes…. the kind only a tornado could accomplish.  But don't let his new emerging attitude, mischief, and tough exterior fool you, he's all jello and mush on the inside.  Hence the meltdowns.  He's so sensitive and emotional, and just craves attention.  He still has a soft spot for Frozen though!

IMG 3169 from jana grover on Vimeo.

In January, we took Jax to see the Frozen Disney on Ice show in Cleveland, 

and he was dancing and grinning from ear to ear the whole show.

Peanut has stopped napping. Officially.  Prior to his 3rd birthday we got him to stay in his room (via tying his doorknob to another doorknob so he couldn't escape…. don't tell CPS on us LOL) His door does not latch so its not like we could lock it, and he is so strong that he would often pull so hard on the door and squeeze in through the crack…. so the tying of the doorknob wasn't very successful.  I finally gave up and gave him the choice to either nap or read quietly during nap time (we began calling it quiet time.)  Once given this choice, he took took it to another level and decided he wanted to take his quiet time in Taj's room.  Well, ok.  So now both boys sit in the same room and look at books or play quietly.    They usually take their "quiet" time downstairs after a few minutes, and it turns into just "play" time!  How did this happen?  Stinkers.  Boys are happy.  Mommy is exhausted.  Mommy misses her quiet time.  Just didn't think Jax would drop his nap so soon, I thought I had another year!!!  The great news is that now nap time quiet time does not restrict our day events or activities, and when we are out playing during the time we are usually stuck at home for the quiet time, the boys fall asleep and technically nap in the car when we are driving home from somewhere.

Both boys are also sharing a room now.  Taj has graduated to the top bunk, and Jax is on the lower bunk with an inflatable bed rail.  No more babies in the house…. or toddler beds!  The boys are inseparable in that way.  They play, shower, eat, go to school together, and now they sleep together all night long.  They were so attached when we got back from our CA (Feb/March) travels and got very used to sharing a room that upon returning Taj really missed Jax…. so they bunked up!  I need to take a photo of this because I don't know how long this will last before they get annoyed with each other.  

In school news, Jax goes to his own 3 year old preschool in Lakewood, Mondays and Wednesdays from 9-11:30am.  He started going just after his birthday at the beginning of the year!  He loves it.  Especially all the art and crafts they get to do…. its a very sensory hands-on classroom.

On Tuesdays, he accompanies me to our weekly Story times that we put on for our little friends at the Ashville Library.  Its something special him and I do together, and I just love it.  He loves the library, and the fun craft we always manage to pull together thanks to Pinterest.  We will continue with our Tuesday story times next school year, and Jax will go to the same preschool 3 days a week.  When he starts UPK like Taji at the public elementary school, Jax will already be 5 only because the cut-off for birthdays is December 1st.  We are hopeful that Jax will catch up in size…. he's just a bit smaller than kids his age…. must be in the genes! Having that extra year will also help in his emotional development and maturity.  The boys will end up 2 grades apart. 

Jax loves our story times so much, that sometimes he practices at home with his buddies during his quiet time:

IMG 4739-2 from jana grover on Vimeo.

the little trouble maker…. BUSTED!

All of his beautiful art work he did at school…. this is just from January through March:

Another NYC Weekend!

Two New York City trips in one month?  Yes, Please!!  

When Dina invited me to come out for another weekend in January after I saw her on New Years, I couldn't resist to have some girl time in the city.  Actually, I wouldn't mind going out to the city once a month with the family and have a little apartment vacation rental to stay at.  I wouldn't mind that the least bit!  I think it would actually compliment our small town lifestyle…. everybody needs a little big city culture sometimes!  I am a huge proponent of creating a life of balance.  You never want to teeter on one side or the other….. its like having the best of both worlds.  I couldn't raise my children in a city, but popping into the city on a regular basis or several times a year to explore all the amazing museums, parks, historical landmarks, and feast on different ethnic food??? Yes.   Could this be another solution to Winter….. when its too cold to ski? Possibly.  First we have to try out a vacation apartment rental through the VRBO website, have one or maybe two we can rely on to book whenever we feel like taking a long weekend in the city.  The drive isn't bad either, you can easily and smoothly get there in just 6-7 hours.  I can't believe I drove into the city to see Dina ALL BY MYSELF!  I felt so accomplished to be able to navigate the roads, especially in a huge city!  Its all so familiar to me now. 

Dina and I have been friends since our Greece- Turkey Study Abroad program in college, that's 13 years!  We have been through so much together, and she has been there to watch me walk down the aisle and marry Brad, and have both my babies.  We have always been in different places in life, both geographically and in life stages.  Now, for the first time in many years we are both living on the East Coast, and in the same state!  She is in the city, and I'm in the small town! lol

We had a good bonding, heart-to-heart time together for the 2 nights I visited.  We did some shopping, yoga, relaxing, sight seeing, wine-ing, and LOTS of eating!  I think living in a small town simplifies (minimizes) your choices and humbles you, so everywhere you go, you are impressed and so excited to have all these dining and entertainment options!

Winter Weekends in E-ville…. and our new SKI HOUSE

This past Winter we spent practically every weekend in Ellicottville, the ski town just 45 minutes north east of us.  Its a very scenic town with an Swiss Alpine feel, a couple ski resorts, and a cute downtown with many nice restaurants and shops.  When Bemus closes down for the Winter and becomes practically a ghost town, we like to head up to Ellicottville which actually comes to life in the winter time.  There are many Canadian and tourists from all over New York State, Pennsylvania, even Ohio that come out to ski in the winter season.

We have friends that rent ski houses for the season and so sometimes we would meet up with them!  The photo above is from one of the weekends in December where we spent time with the Persia family at the Holiday Valley resort, enjoying the jacuzzi outside!

There is nowhere else we prefer to be on the Winter weekends, then hitting the slopes and seeing a view like this on a gorgeous winter wonderland day.   NY Winters are about staying active….. skiing, sledding,  ice skating…. and especially with the boys getting bigger and learning how to ski, each year we are spending more time skiing as a family.  I especially love how much the boys enjoy their time skiing at the ski school and I enjoy spending some of that time getting to ski with just Brad (and friends).  Its a win-win, the boys have their fun, and the adults have their's (love the slope-side coffee and Baileys breaks!).  Then the four of us usually all go to dinner somewhere.  Ellicottville is our Winter time home away from home, so we decided to make a worthwhile investment and purchase a little ski home there!

Here she is: the Grover ski chalet!  Cute ski house with a separate bunkey (good rental income) out back!  Our ski house is located right in town, walking distance to everything and there is even a shuttle stop that takes you to the neighboring ski resort.  Its a 2 story 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom house, and it requires a lot of renovation (which we just LOVE to do!) and TLC, and it should be ready to enjoy come Fall of 2015!  When we are done with it, it will be a tad bigger, open concept living room-kitchen, with a large mud room- ski equipment storage, with a kids room/ playroom upstairs, and we are adding in 1 extra full bathroom and 1 half bath (downstairs).   This is our solution to the Winter weekends when we are not traveling.  I see us making many incredible memories here as a family, and with friends.  It will be a wonderful spot to host and entertain our friends and family too!

Apparently, we are a family that enjoys renovation house projects just as much as traveling….. and really fortunate to be able to do both.  They are quite the expensive hobbies!