It is hard to believe that Kazapalooza 2008 has come and gone. For someone more prone to last minute jaunts, having three days marked off on a calendar nearly a year in advance made it appear to be interminably far off in the future.

Now as I sit here once again at my computer in Boothbay, the images on the screen trigger the memories of a fantastic weekend that is now irrevocably in the past. Like the great maw of the Basking Shark, the present meanders our personal sea of life, ingesting the future without malice, haste, or pause.

…and scene.

I occasionally get carried away and must remind myself that I am writing a blog entry, and that this blog is about our daughter, our family, and our experiences as a family created through adoption. Somewhere in me is the latent desire to write more about my life, my thoughts, and my experiences, but this is not that place. Its time will come.


So Kazapalooza!

Allow me to begin with a huge thank you to the creators and coordinators of this soon to be annual event. To Muriel, Kristan, Michelle, and Gretchen (as well as to all of your families who graciously supported your efforts) we would like to extend our sincere thanks for your vision, your effort, and your execution of this wonderful event.

In all, over forty families participated in the weekend. Having an opportunity to "interact" with so many others who have enhanced their lives through adoption was both profoundly meaningful, and completely exhausting.

The quotation marks serve as a sort of wink and a nod to all of you with small children in your lives, for in this new paradigm, many previously static concepts find themselves radically altered.

For more information about Kazapalooza check out their site www.kazapalooza.com, and remember to put the dates for the 2009 event in Nashville on your calendar.


We'll begin this post at the beginning of the weekend, run through to the end of Kazapalooza, then go backwards to include time spent with my family in Chicago, and on back to Boothbay and time spent there with my mother - Tougy's Nonna.


This is a personal favorite among the recent photos. I just find so much in the darkness of her eyes.

I often get asked about the camera stuff I use, and while I like what I use, and would happily recommend much of it, I think the question misses the point.

Without attempting to suggest too much about my own capabilities, I think believing that if you used what I used, your pictures would look like my pictures couldn't be more misleading. What you might have after spending lots more money is larger, perhaps sharper, and potentially more vivid versions of 'your' pictures.

Cameras are tools. Marketing attempts to gloss over this, but in the end, you as the person holding the camera affect what the camera records.

If you continue to view the world (in this case your children) from the perspective of 5-6 feet off the ground, pointing down, or perhaps hoping also to include the giant mountain in the background of the shot of your two children playing 5 feet apart, it makes little difference which camera you are using - much of the time the results will fall flat.

Look through a magazine and pay attention to the images you connect with. What is it about them? Imagine the positioning of the the photographer, where were they, physically and emotionally.

Personally I am drawn to emotional connection, clarity, detail, and texture. These tend to be the sort of photos that excite me, and hence those are often qualities I try and capture with my camera.

To see me out and about with my camera, you would not envy me. I tend to carry 20-30 pounds in my large Domke bag loaded with two bodies and an assortment of lenses, even to casual things like going to the beach or going out for a walk.

Is it all necessary? Not at all. A great many amazing photographers get by on far less. It is just my system, it is what I feel comfortable with. It is part of my left shoulder whether I'm in the Sahara, Antarctica, or Boothbay.

And it doesn't end with what is in the camera. It used to be that I spent hours in the darkroom creating, improving, and printing images. Now I do that on the computer. Wherein the darkroom was a revered domain of the artist, the computer seems to be viewed as the assistant to the fraud.

I use the computer to alter, enhance, and affect the look of my images. I do not see it as misrepresenting 'reality' or any such thing. To me, it is all part of the process, as it always has been in any art medium. The interaction between to tool, process, vision, and creator.

So that's that. If you want to take better pictures, become intentional in your process, engaged with your subject, and aware of your personal vision. If a more expensive camera allows you to improve your perception of better, than go for it. We are all different and following separate journeys. Enjoy!


After checking into our room, it was time to head out to the lead-off event, a pizza party a few blocks away. In the lobby we met up with Jila and her daughter Kiana as well as Dana and her daughter Serena. Both of these families were formed in Astana as we were, and actually, both Jila and Dana were in town completing their adoptions when first we went to Astana in July.

What were we doing in Astana in July you ask, you thought we went over to meet Tougy in November. For that answer go over to the archive section of the blog and look at the July entries.

Anyhow, it was great to see them all and to be a part of a collection of families whose children all once resided in the Hope Baby House at the same time.


It was here at the pizza party that Tougy first met her new friend Summer. Tougy spent much of the rest of the weekend in Summer's company.


Completing our cluster of Astana families from July, Maegan and Taylor Van Sant. It was a real highlight of the weekend to meet and spend time with Maegan and Tony and their daughter Taylor.

We had followed each others blogs before we both traveled to Astana in July 07 and knew we would be arriving the same day. Of course we expected to spend our process together but instead passed only briefly in the hall in a quiet stupor.

Having the opportunity to finally recount the events and feelings of the time and of course to celebrate both of our fabulous individual outcomes - Taylor and Tougy - was in itself worth the trip to Chicago.


Not that we are going to try and set up our daughter this early in her life, but let's face it Owen is one cute kid.


Lots of kids, and even more pizza is a recipe for wiped out kids. If KJ would have carried me, I would have done the same thing.


Saturday got started with a lunch event at a bar again a few blocks south of the hotel. I couldn't resist the collection of strollers in the halls of what is by night a popular venue for a slightly different crowd.


A highlight of the lunch event was the face painter. I thought she was remarkable given the squirmy nature of her subjects and the time constraints under which she worked. I think perhaps the only drawback came later as parents attempted to wash everything off.

I don't pretend to know all of the names of the children that appear here, so let's just admire them in their anonymity.














We'll wind up this section with our very own Tougy and KJ. Not sure she would sit still long enough for a full face painting, KJ opted for a quick butterfly on the arm. Smart choice.


Kiana and Jila share a good laugh


Chris comforts Austin who somehow managed to sleep some during the melee of the event.


Angel with the ever effusive Lena.


Angel and Kevin's son Dub.


Amy and Karina


The Van Sant Family - Maegan, Taylor, and Tony


And one last photo of Lena brings us to the end of the Lunch event.

Though it is not represented in the photos, another large component of the lunch was the raffling off of a large number of donated items which raised over 800.00 for the charity Interlink.


For our afternoon activity (sounds like Camp doesn't it) we opted to walk across Grant Park to the Shedd Aquarium with a handful of other families. As you can see we had really exceptional weather which held right up until Sunday morning when a violent but short thunder/hail storm blew through. Thankfully this too soon cleared and we enjoyed the rest of the day mostly in sunshine.


With all of the planed events during the whirlwind that was Kazapalooza, naps had to be taken wherever and whenever they could.

Here Serena chooses to take advantage of a pleasant stroll through the park (and a good bit of the Shedd as well) to catch up on sleep.


Tougy's interest in the things on the other side of the glass only lasted for a short while. After that, she just wanted to push her stroller through all the people.


It was interesting to be back in the Shedd. My mother worked here for a number of years leading up to the opening of the Oceanarium in the early 90's and I had only been back once or twice since that time.


Little Miss Aila...


demonstrating her new alter-ego Supergirl. Seriously!


I won't tell you what made Jen react like this, but I will say it was better than the picture. You guys are the best.


Tougy looks over the beer list for a good Kaz brew, before settling for a Guiness.


So now we come upon the Sunday morning of Kazapalooza (which Muriel single-handedly decided to have coincide with Father's Day - Just Kidding Muriel!).

Here Serena and Dana prepare to head out.


As I mentioned earlier, a quick thunderstorm rolled through early and put the kaibosh upon the final gathering in the park across from the hotel and so, in its absence, an informal free form goodbye played out in the lobby.

Having failed to organize a grander group shot on Saturday, a de facto attempt was made here.


It has been wonderful to watch Tougy and Aila grow and develop. Though seemingly still largely unaware of who the other is despite being, for all intents and purposes, cousins, they manage to play together quite well.

In time they will come to appreciate that they are destined to spend a great deal of time together. As it is, we have managed to get together with the Robinson's at least once a month since we met in December in Almaty, and there are plans to continue to do so going into September already. I expect that soon we will be making plans beyond that as well.


The ethnic ends of the Kaz spectrum - the Russian featured Aila



and the Kazakh featured Tougy.


Sometimes I have to remember that Tougy is only 14 months old. She seems so capable and has such a range of emotions and expressions.


Our girls on Marshall's and my first Father's Day.


So now we jump back in time a few days to Friday, the day we arrived in Chicago for Kazapalooza. As I have lots of Family in Chicago, the trip was also an opportunity to see all of them.

Here Tougy demonstrates her new found driving skills to my younger sister Cat.


My older sister Emily, stepmother Susan, and younger sister Cat say goodbye to a tired Tougy.


All I will say is that it looks better than it sounded - but an A for effort! (and an A+ for enthusiasm).


My sisters and the Monkey


Ah home!(the week before Kazapalooza) Our wonderful Boothbay Harbor at sunset. It just would not be Maine without the lobster traps.


A shot of the pedestrian bridge(far left) that spans the harbor and the old bridge keepers house and dock.


Burnt Island Lighthouse in Boothbay Harbor


One of her first indulgences in ice cream - and pistachio at that.


As previously mentioned, Tougy loves to push her stroller about.


Our happy little girl.


Here is Tougy reaching into the live lobster tank at one of our favorite simple restaurants here in town. Again I reiterate - Fearless!


Tougy has always been a good eater and here she and Nonna share a pear in Nonna's new cottage across the street from us. We look forward to her being up on and off throughout the year.


All Gone!


One of Tougy's favorite foods, scrambled eggs by the handful.


Tougy finds drinking water this way fascinating, and it sure helps to keep her simply amused at restaurants - a good thing since she probably eats out a few times a week. During the summer the Boothbay peninsula is home to over 30 restaurants, and not one of them is a chain, and there is no fast food up this way either. Go Boothbay. Have I mentioned that we love Maine!


New England's largest Botanical Garden(250+ acres) is two miles from the house. It just opened up last summer and features beautiful stonework an sculpture throughout the grounds.

Of course Tougy is drawn to the fountains and pools.


Because it was a hot day, and because I knew she would find it fun, I dunked her head in.


Despite what this look might suggest, she really did like it - I promise.


Tougy, KJ, and Nonna


And lastly a parting shot of Tougy giving Nonna a kiss. She is such a sweet Monkey. We love you Tougy.

Take Care.