Globe-trotting Grovers: Summer of Cousin Chloe and Family

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!

Wednesday, July 26, 2017

Summer of Cousin Chloe and Family

Teta and Chloe flew in right after we got back from Northern CA. We had excitedly prepared for this amazing summer cousin time. My sister was only able to stay through the weekend, but Chloe was with us for almost 2 weeks! During the weekend my sister was with us, we had a fabulous girls night out just her and I, then we met up with my girlfriends afterwards, and a typical Sunday fun day listening to a concert on the lake (an Eric Clapton tribute band). We took Petka and Chloe out for some fun mama-daughter tubing! (this mama and her boys alternated tubing, a first for me!) Then in those next 2 weeks that Chloe remained with us, we tried to provide her with a real authentic WNY Bemus lake experience. She checked off some cool things from her list she wanted to experience- tubing on the lake, driving a boat, paddle boarding, blueberry picking, mini-golf, fishing (oh how much she loved fishing!). She experienced a cool thunder storm and even managed to sneak in some very special auntie-niece time! Then when Deda arrived we did some more boating, slip n sliding in the rain, BBQing, celebrated my birthday with a dinner out at EBC, and Panama Rocks hiking. It was an incredibly memorable and fun month of July getting to entertain and host one family member after another. We were sad to have missed Babi in all of this, she was resting and getting ready for Chloe's visit to Czech. At the end of their Bemus time, Deda and Chloe continued onward to Europe, where Chloe spent almost a month visiting her grandparents in the Czech Republic.