Voting for dates

For some reason there seems to be a problem with the poll. So please leave your vote in a comment. Here are the choices:
1. June 5-7
2. June 19-21 (father's day weekend)
3. July 3-5

Vote on dates for 2009

Due to confrences and music festivals, the dates we wanted are not going to work in Nashville. Please vote on which weekend you would like. Thanks!

Survey

Hi everyone. Please, please, please fill out the attached survey and tell us the truth about what you thought of the weekend. Next year we are expecting 60-80 families and we need to know how to improve and what worked and did not. Honestly, we are not taking anything personally. I have my own thoughts on what could be better for next year...it is a learning process. So please fill out the survey and e-mail it to me at murielcollison@hotmail.com

Thanks

****I am working on a way to get the slideshow downloaded onto this site.

KAZAPALOOZA SURVEY

Please rate from 1-5 stars.

Registration:

Value for cost per family ($65)

Comments on Registration:




Hotel:
Location

Price

Rooms

Pool

Over all value


Comments on hotel:




Pizza Party:

Location:

Time:

Food:


Comments on Pizza Party:



Luncheon:

Price:

Location:

Food:

Entertainment:

Slideshow:

Time:

Raffle:

Price of Raffle tickets

Should we do a raffle next year? Y N

Comments on Luncheon:





Tee Shirts:

Design:

Cost:


Pool Party:

Should we do a pool party next year? Y N

Gift Bags:

Should we do gift bags next year or put money towards the charity?
Y gift bags N save it for Charity


Additional Comments:
Please tell us what you really thought of this weekend and what we can do to improve for next year.

HELP

Clearly, I am not very good at designing this blog site. Is anyone out there a blog whiz who would like to make this blog a bit more stylish? Please e-mail me if you have some skills in this department. Thanks. murielcollison@hotmail.com

Awesome photos

Great pictures of the weekend are on Aitugan's blog. Check them out www.aitugan.com

Next Year's Dates

Hi there! This year was a blast! It was wonderful being able to see all the Kazakh cuties together in one place and meet all the families. In Chicago we announced next year would be held the third weekend in June but we have changed our minds. Next year Kazapalooza will be held June 26-28, 2009 in Nashville, TN. We hope all of you can make it out again!

More pictures

Sapp fanmily pictures

SUCCESS!!!!!

What a great weekend. Everything went wonderfully and it was so amazing to see so many families with luvies from Kaz! I wanted to thank every family who made the trip and those who supported the event but were not able to make it. I am pleased to announce we made over $800 for our charity which was Interlink. Interlink helps older orphans by teaching them life skills and vocations so when they age out of the orphanage they have a way to survive other then drugs and prostitution. We were amazed at the generosity shown by all the families that attended. We had 41 families participate in the weekend activites...that is a lot of Kazakh cuties!

A few wrap up things:

1. I posted my photos below. I was not able to take many photos as I was running around a lot so PLEASE e-mail me (murielcollison@hotmail.com) your photos and I will post them here. It would be best to have a shutterfly link or flicker like I put mine in or pick out a few really great ones and I will post them here. Hopefully, we will all have plenty of photos to enjoy.

2. I am putting together a list of the families that includes their e-mail address, last name, names of children and city and state. If you do not want this information posted here please e-mail me. I will post the list so all of us can keep in better touch.

3. For all of you who want to come next year, it was announced this weekend that Kazapalooza 2009 will take place in Nashville June 26th-28th. We will be updating this blog (after a planning vacation) with details for next year's event.

4. Please please please-send me an e-mail or leave a comment (you can use anonymous if you would like) to give us feed back on what we can do better for next year. We want to know and will not be offended.

5. If you want to be invited to my blog, I am more then happy to invite anyone that I met this weekend...you all were awesome. E-mail me and I will send you an invite.
Thank you all for making this dream of mine come true!

one more thing...well, three!!

1. If you are staying at the Essex and are checking in before noon on Friday please do not forget to come down to the front desk and pick up your goodie/welcome bag. The bags will be there by noon on Friday. If you are checking in after twelve noon on Friday don't forget to ask the front desk for your Kazapalooza goodie bag! Michelle has worked really hard on them and we want to make sure all registered families get one. If you are not staying at the Essex, we will bring your bag to the pizza party Friday night.

2. I wanted to mention that there is a large area with tables and chairs and a balcony off the pool. During down time and at night, if you are wanting to mingle and chat that is our "home base" hang out area for the weekend. The lobby is not the best place for this soooooo if you can't get enough of your Kaza mommy and daddy friends then head down to the pool/balcony area and mingle in between events! hmmmm, I wonder if baby monitors will get reception out there...Just kidding...kinda. :) I am so excited to meet you all...I will be the very large pregnant woman waddling around.

3. Can I get a Woooooohoooooooo?????? Less then 48 hours people! I am so excited!

Airport transportation

http://www.airportexpress.com/ -You must bring your own car seat.
The fee should be about $25 per person (not a great deal, most likely the other options listed below are much less)


At the airport you can catch an American Taxi to the city. They do not require a car seat so you can ride Kazakh style. The fare should be about $40


You can take the L which you catch right at the airport and follow the instructions below:
You would get on the Blue line at O’Hare heading southbound to downtown Chicago.

You would need to transfer from the blue line to the red line at Jackson. This is a free transfer. Once on the red line, take it to Roosevelt. Exist at Roosevelt and then walk 4 blocks north to Michigan & 8th.

Here is a link to the cta system maps

http://www.transitchicago.com/maps/systemmaps.html
the fee is aprox. $8

Lastly, if you are a high roller you can google O'hare and Midway limo companies...almost all will come with a carseat if requested. The fee for this is aprox. $60-$80 one way.

a few questions answered...

There has been some concern regarding the children wearing their Kazakh outfits to the pizza party Friday night. If you are worried about stains or the kids being too hot...the outfits are optional. Any adoption gear would be great and if you don't have anything then normal clothes are perfectly fine. We just thought it would be fun for pictures. My daughter is wearing one of her Kazakh tee-shirts as we do not own a traditional outfit. Maybe if you have a traditional Kazakh outfit your child can wear part of it like the hat or vest. This is all for fun...it is not mandatory at all. Please note as of now, the forecast says it should be in the mid 70s.

Additionally, if your children do not like pizza then you are more then welcome to pack them a dinner and bring it along. We are trying to accomodate a very large group with a very small budget. Thanks again :)

We are soooo excited.