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!

Thursday, August 10, 2017

Mama & her Boys NYC Adventures

In keeping with tradition, we were long overdue for a mom & sons trip!  We started these when the boys were itty bitty.  The very first time was when we did an overnight visiting the city of Cleveland for the first time, then Pittsburgh museum weekend (both times daddy was away on a work trip).  Then after a much needed break and contemplating whether mama could handle the insanity and stress, (LOL) those crazy city adventures then blossomed into Charleston, SC trip visiting our friends, many CA visits to see Chloe, family, and friends, and then from there we went BIG with international travel visiting Czech- Babi and Deda, and last years 2016 Prague city time with Babi, and meeting daddy in Barcelona. 

NYC was a memorable and high energy time for this mama and her boys.  We handled it like a boss, even the drive (6 hours) into the city and 2 overnights.  Now, the boys have already been to NYC so that wasn't anything new, but what stayed with me were the mini heart attacks I had from the VERY FIRST time (September 2014) on every corner of the busy streets because I always felt like the boys would either run into the street and get smooshed, or get snatched, or pick up something completely gross off of the street. Alas,  we don't turn away from fear and anxiety, and this was going to be our special city trip to apply for their Czech passports with an already scheduled Consulate appointment so it was very necessary for us to go!  And honestly those mini heart attacks never made a debut, because the boys were excellent about holding each of my hands.  I don't know what I would do if I had 3 boys.... I don't have enough hands! We mastered navigating the subway system as well! The only gross (and funny) street experience was Jax trying to pick up every damn coin (he was obsessed with seeking out and finding coins at the time.... probably still is), and of course Taji pointing out from a distance how cute the little birdies were hopping around the sidewalk vent to only find out when we got up close that those were actually giant cockroaches!!!! Ew.

What stands out most in my mind is just how adaptable my boys are when traveling, and how much endurance they have for sightseeing (even when its blazing hot and humid!).  On this trip we shared some amazing conversations about politics, life, homelessness, city life versus country small town life... you name it, we had these kinds of big life conversations, and I relished every moment I had with my two young intelligent men.  One day, these little boys will grow into tall men towering over me and I hope they always remember the special adventures they had with their mama!
Lego store pit stop.  This is always on our list when we visit NYC.  Boys remembered it from last time.


Visiting Lady Liberty. 

Ellis Island.  We dove deeper into learning about immigration, and about the first immigrants who arrived in NYC and how the USA started out and has always been a land of immigrants!


After such a hot excursion (luckily being on a boat on the ocean made it more bearable), we were ready for ice cream.  Not just any ice cream though, we went to Cool Mess to make our own ice cream!





We hopped over to the craziness of Times Square, then swung over to the Disney store and M&M store (another memory the boys had from our last visit)



Crayola Experience factory and museum on the road trip back home.... brought home some custom wax art work and handmade crayons...

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