For the Sommer family, adventure has always been part of the plan. They have hiked through national parks, skied mountain slopes, cruised across the Mediterranean and filled plenty of weekends with adventures closer to home. But after more than a decade in The Enclave, some of their favorite memories have been made right here in Riverview.

Camille and Yale Sommer, along with their children Marshall, 15, Wyatt, 14, and Charlotte, 9, have called The Enclave home since 2014. The family first came to Chattanooga from Birmingham in 2013, drawn to a city known for its outdoor lifestyle, live music and family-friendly community.

Their story together began years earlier in New York, where Camille and Yale were unknowingly working just a few blocks apart in Manhattan. It was ultimate frisbee, however, that finally brought them together.

Mutual friends introduced the two through an ultimate frisbee league in Westchester, and the sport quickly became part of their story. Camille and Yale continued playing in communities from New York and Buffalo to Birmingham and Chattanooga, and Camille even started a women’s undergraduate team while attending medical school. Twenty-one years of marriage later, the family tradition is continuing through their son Wyatt.

Now a freshman at Baylor, 14-year-old Wyatt has played ultimate frisbee since sixth grade and hopes to help grow the sport among young athletes in Chattanooga. His older brother, Marshall, 15, is a Baylor sophomore with a passion for marine biology and aquatic habitats. He is scuba certified, founded Baylor’s Aquarist Club as a freshman and manages four fish tanks of his own at home. Marshall also plays euphonium in the Baylor band and enjoys piano, soccer and tennis.

Nine-year-old Charlotte, a fourth grader at Bright School, keeps busy on the soccer field. She is beginning her third year with Chattanooga Football Club’s Navy girls team and also participates in track and field, cross country and soccer for Bright. All three Sommer children began at Bright in Junior Pre-K, making the Sommers part of the school community since 2013.

Music is another common thread in their home. All three children enjoy playing piano, Marshall plays in the Baylor band, and Wyatt and Charlotte sing in their schools’ choirs. As a family, they enjoy live performances ranging from Chattanooga Symphony & Opera concerts to James Taylor. Camille and Charlotte even traveled to Vancouver with Riverview friends for the final show of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour.

For a family that loves an experience, traveling for a great concert fits right in.

With much of their extended family living in New York and New Jersey, the Sommers have created many of their own traditions through travel. 

Weekend adventures include Blue Ridge, rafting the Hiwassee and skiing, while longer trips have taken them to the Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon and Zion. Glacier National Park is next on the list, along with a winter ski trip to Big Sky.

Cruising has become another family favorite. The Sommers recently returned from their tenth Disney cruise, where they celebrated Wyatt’s 14th birthday. Last year, Yale’s 50th birthday brought an even bigger adventure when the family traveled to Europe together for the first time, visiting Barcelona, France and Italy.

For all the places they have explored, the Sommers have built a life in Chattanooga that gives them plenty to come home to.

Camille, a gastroenterologist with Galen Digestive Health, serves on the board of the Greater Chattanooga Colon Cancer Foundation and helps plan its annual Rump Run, supporting education, screening resources and patient support. Closer to home, she enjoys a monthly mahjong group with neighborhood friends, while the entire family looks forward to one of their favorite Enclave traditions each year: Halloween.

Decorating their home, seeing neighbors in costume and welcoming families throughout the evening has become a favorite way to celebrate the community they love. Their children can bike to friends’ homes, close friends are only a few blocks away, and over the years, neighbors have become an important part of their support system.

At home, two more family members are usually somewhere in the middle of the action. Minny, adopted from McKamey Animal Center, and Maxi, a silver tabby taken in after friends found him as a kitten, are the Sommers’ sweet and endlessly tolerant cats.

It all adds up to a family life filled with soccer fields and fish tanks, piano music and ultimate frisbee, neighborhood traditions and faraway adventures.

The Sommers may always be dreaming about where they will go next, but after more than a decade in The Enclave, they have found something worth coming home to: a community that has become an important part of their family story.