Wednesday, September 19, 2007

We have a winner!

Although there is a little more time to vote, it appears that Kazapalooza will be held on June13th-June15th. Michelle, Kristan, Gretchen and I are SOOOO excited that so many families are interested. We have been busy coming up with lots of great ideas.

I know this seems like a long time away but I am really glad I have started the hotel search as many places are already booked! I have been on the phone for several hours with Hilton, Sheraton, Marriot and Omni. I looked for hotels that had the following things:
-walking distance to attractions
-indoor swimming pool
-ability to accomodate us for a dinner on Saturday night
-family friendly

Well after calling probably about 12 hotels that met the above mentioned, we have a winner!




Hilton Chicago
http://www1.hilton.com/en_US/hi/hotel/CHICHHH-Hilton-Chicago-Illinois/index.do;jsessionid=B24E5C2BB0A28D30CC9EC246A418C006.etc31?brand_id=HI&brand_directory=/en/hi/&xch=73873226,0FYKI33OGLVM0CSGBJC2VCQ

The Hilton Chicago is a 4 star hotel and the group rate for this hotel is $199 per night for a single (1 king) or double (2 double beds). This hotel is very close to the park and the Aqarium. I have stayed in this hotel myself twice and it is lovely. It looks fancy and it is very nice but when I was there with my husband for a "romantic" getaway it was filled with kids and the other time I was there they were hosting an "American Girl" convention.

I am so glad to be able to get this rate as the next best rate I could find was the Hampton Inn(3 stars) which was $239 and not nearly as nice. Even the Days Inn (2 stars) was $259!

We would love for as many people as possible to stay at the hotel because it will add to the experience but understand if some families want to make other arrangements. Everything will have a seperate registration so families can pick and choose what they would like to attend.

We know we will have a registration fee (amount b/n $60-$75 per family) This will cover pizza dinner on Friday night, group room rentals, entertainment at our Saturday night dinner and other little surprises. Any money that is left over will be donated to a charity that helps Kazakh orphans.

-The dinner on Saturday night will be a seperate registration and fee
-The Shedd Aqarium will be a separate registration and fee
-The T-shirts will be a seperate fee

The good news is we all have plenty of time to try and set aside the funds for this amazing weekend.

We are trying to make this weekend as fun and as reasonable as possible. We can't wait to meet you all!

IMPORTANT
Now that we know the date and the prices (for the most part) please leave a comment if you are planning on coming. I have to give the hotel a number of rooms to block and I have to guarantee 90% of the rooms. They are holding the rate until the end of the month so please let me know if you are planning on coming so I can get a head count or as close to it as possible. I know things may change a little but I need a rough idea. We will have an official registration for the rooms at a later date. Please leave in the comments how many rooms you will need.

Thanks!

24 comments:

Susan said...

We'd love to come but we're locals so we wouldn't be staying at the hotel--Susan, Mitch, + baby to named later

Gretchen said...

one room please! :)

Chris Sapp said...

One room for us, too!

Thad and Ann said...

one single room for us :)

The Cook said...

Of course one room for us. We live in the area but do not want to miss the fun!

Sandi said...

One room please :)

Karen, Glenn, Allie, Max, and Sam said...

We'll be there IF we are back from Kaz (hoping, hoping, hoping). Thank you to all of you for organizing this. AMAZING. Karen.

Susan said...

You guys totally rock for planning this.
I am planning on coming-but it's totally weird becauase I don't have Baby Kaz yet. But, hopefully she will be here by then.So, i'm going to say one room please. :)
and let's hope that she is here. :)

Sonya said...

I will do my very best to be there!

Sonya

The Heinrichs said...

Count us in for one room! Hopefully we will have our Kaz kid by then (unlucky AIP client!!!)

Anonymous said...

One room for us please! We are so excited!!!!

Sam said...

I think that I will want to come. I am still paper chasing at this point but I dont want to miss it. I love to plan things so please let me know if i can help!!!!!!!

Jennifer said...

Book a double for us.

We'll be there with 2 Americans, a Kazak and a Guatemalan.

Anonymous said...

One room for me...

Amanda & Bohdan (4yrs)
Cleveland, OH

mason's mom said...

One room for us please--a double as grandma is excited about coming with us. Sheri and Mason

Dana said...

Dana(Meena)and Serena will be there too!

Regina said...

We'd like to come! We are in process (dossier currently in translation), but by then we should be home and all settled in. We would need one room!

Regina & Frank
Charleston, SC

www.ruopoliadoption.blogspot.com

Kjersten, Steve, Aitugan & Nurai said...

One room for us also. We expect to leave for Astana in late October to adopt our daughter. It's exciting to think about meeting other families with Kaz kids in 2008. Looking forward to a great time!

Anonymous said...

One room with a king or 2 doubles please. We will be there with our 2 Kazmanian Devils and the new baby (hope, hope). Go ahead and reserve one for us, and if we're not back with #3, we'll give it to someone else.

Joanne & Andy said...

You can count us in also! Nicholas will have sooo much fun seeing Sophia and Sadie again and meeting all the other Kaz. cuties out there!

greta said...

One room for us!
We are in Florida and are looking forward to this awesome time with other Kaz families!!!!
www.owensgotokaz.blogspot.com

greta said...

One room for us!
We are looking forward to this awesome time with other Kaz families. We will be coming all the way from Florida!!!!!
www.owensgotokaz.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

We would love to come and tentatively think it will work - we would need one room. Sounds fun!

falkjourney.blogspot.com

Craig Morey said...

We are tentatively planning on this wonderful weekend. We will have 4. 2 adults, 1 8 yr old adopted USA, 1 2 yr old KZ boy.