Kazapalooza 2013

The fourth weekend in June is set aside for one of our favourite annual events - Kazapalooza!  Kazapalooza is a reunion of families who have adopted from Kazakhstan.  In addition to the overriding social component (for children and parents alike), each year we hold a charity raffle that supports orphans in Kazakhstan.  Last year we had the largest number of families in attendance to date and raised $7,000.  This year we had approximately half the number of families and still raised almost $6,500!

Our location was the Westin Stonebriar in Frisco, Texas (a suburb of Dallas).  Anyone familiar with Dallas in June will know that it is HOT.  Temperatures were in the mid and upper 30s (95-100F) during our entire stay.  But since the hotel's main attraction is a fabulous swimming pool, nobody uttered a word of complaint. 


The hotel pool as viewed from our room.

 

Zoe loved being tossed into the air.



More Zoe tosses.

  



When Julian tired of tossing Zoe, Tony took over tossing the innertube.  There are 3 kids in there!

Diving off of Tony's shoulders was next.



Then Tony and Ken teamed up in the Kazakh kid tossing game.  Double the distance!



Poolside putting.

At a Mexican restaurant with the Ghomeshi family.  They made guacamole at our table - with a little help from the girls.

Happy guacamole makers



Kiana and Zoe in the hotel shuttle



We took a break from swimming and the best (only) option nearby was a mall... with a Lego store. 



By Friday night more friends had arrived.  L to R: Miranda, Zoe, Taylor, Kiana



Line dancing was on the agenda Friday night.

The very popular face painting table at the Saturday banquet.

 

 



Tacos were served at the Saturday banquet. 

And the mandatory blue and yellow cupcakes.



This year we had a representative from the Kazakhstan embassy in Washington in attendance.



Meanwhile, back at the pool.  "Anybody want cold water poured on them?"

It was so hot that hotel staff wheeled out a giant bin of ice and started shoveling it into the pool.



But the shovels were too slow!  You can imagine the shrieks of delight.

These girls' younger brother was adopted from the same baby house as Zoe.

 



Zoe and Taylor under the table.

Families L to R:  Yeomans, Van Sant, Sanders, Gerbrandt



Cooper, Zoe, and Taylor



Kiana, Taylor, Zoe, and Berik



A large percentage of moms had blue and/or yellow toes

Sunday we went to the Fort Worth zoo with several families.  It was hot.



Did I mention it was hot?  The zoo had very popular misting stations throughout.

Zoe and Cooper at the zoo.

 



Taylor and Zoe looking at penguins at the zoo.

Cooper, Taylor, and Zoe at the zoo.



Cooper, Zoe, Taylor, and Matthew



Taylor, Zoe, Cooper, and Maverick. 



Comfy cowhide chairs back at the hotel.



The parting shot.



As in years past, we loved getting together with old friends and meeting new friends.  Zoe has formed a bond with a growing handful of kids that come each year and also made new friends this year.  We are happy that she has these kids as part of her life and her Kazakh/adoptive identity.  For us it is what Kazapalooza is all about.

We had been home for a couple weeks when one evening Zoe asked, "When I get bigger will I need to go to Kazakhstan and adopt a little girl so I can keep going to Kazapalooza?  Because I always want to be able to go." 

Say no more.