"Our Fall Tour" or "Coffee Shops Across America"

We're home!

And before you ask, YES. We did travel across the entire midwest in a 60 foot long caravan (bus and camper), or as I like to call it: the Zahasky wagon train.

Because three months is a bit hard to write about in depth, I'm just going to give you the highlights of our tour down in the continental US...

First off, the hardest part about leaving our homes (besides the fact that we love our own beds) was Elizabeth, our pet squirrel. She had been such a friend to us all summer long, and we were sad to say goodbye to her.

Before we could start our tour, the bus was in dire need of some sprucing up. We hadn't used it for two years, and Melissa was ready to make it beautiful once again.

A swirling vortex of green paint and sawdust consumed our lives for a week and half as we worked to get the bus ship-shape. 

It was CHILLY working in the bus. Here we are huddled
around the tiny space heater. I think my face says it all.

See those nice green painted cabinet doors there? I painted those. Of course, after I painted them Melissa informed me that they were supposed to be blue. 

That was a hard day.

There was hardly anything in the bus that was staying the way it was, we even replaced the toilet that had been in it. But wait...whatever happened to the old one?

It seems SOMEONE thought it would be funny to stick it in grandma's yard. 

But we were (finally) on our way!

This next section I would like to call,

"Scenes From the Bus"

A giant black crow looms menacingly on the side of the road.

A haiku about traveling in the bus:
It is very flat
Such flatness I have not seen
How I miss mountains

Passing the time by counting the cars that pass us.

An early morning spent driving.

ANOTHER early morning spent driving.

While we were on the road, we experienced and witnessed a lot of new and very strange things.

Like that one time Laura made some friends back stage...

Or that one unfortunate day that an entire carton of eggs were spilled and broken on Quinn's shoes.

He was very broken-up about the whole thing...

And no one can forget the day we saw THIS car parked near our bus!

We kept our eyes peeled in that town, we didn't want to be chased by dinosaurs!

I think everyone would agree that our favorite times were the nights spent in Walmart parking lots:

These are the memories I'll cherish forever.

Or maybe,

 our favorite memories were the hours spent in the countless coffee shops we found ourselves in.

Can you say, 'YUM'?

Yes, I would like one of everything please.
Actually! Can you make it TWO of everything?
Thanks.

We played in a lot of old, beautiful theaters while on tour, some of them were even rumored to be haunted! 

Abigail and I found ourselves singing "The Phantom of the Opera" more then once while setting up for shows. 

Sadly, no handsome phantom ever showed himself...

Here, Regina is having us practice her favorite song, "Ice Ice Baby"

We had a great time on tour, but we can't tell you how happy we are to be home. Christmas is almost upon us and we're so excited to spend time with the family and friends we've been missing these last several months. 

But it won't be long until we're packing up and 

getting ready to go on the road again!

An End to the Summer

Today marks the last night that we will be playing on the Princess Cruise ships this summer. We are excited to leave for our Fall tour (This coming Sunday evening! It's almost here!), but playing on the Princess Cruise ships has been absolutely wonderful!

A few key things we will be missing:

1.) The FOOD - Paul especially has loved filling a plate (or two...or three...) every night (and yes, sometimes at lunch too) before a show. We just wish Melissa had let us go up and try the ice cream and milkshakes, but sadly, dairy like that just isn't good for the voice before a show. 

2.) The stage crews - Wow! If we could talk a few of the people we've come to know this summer into traveling with us, we would never have to set up, take down, do sound or our own lighting ever again! It would be heaven... One of the best things about playing on the ships was being able to show up, practice a little bit, and step right on stage. They had everything done for us.

3.) The BIG fancy stages -  After working lots and lots of summers at the Mount Roberts Tramway (which we adore for different reasons), a big stage to really move around on was extra special and made us feel like rock stars (even when only eight people showed up for the show - YES, that really happened).

One thing we will NOT miss:

1.) The evil looks we got from security when we were late getting off the ship because they scheduled our show right before departure leaving us no time to get paid or pack up - One guy DID look like Hugh Jackman though, so that was sort of a consolation prize...

We thought we would show you a little bit of a look at the Coral Princess Cruise ship as we get on to play our last show. Hope you enjoy it!

On the Ruby Princess

Doesn't Abigail look excited?! She has reason to be!

Not only was she in a pretty dressing room (filled with pretty costumes to swoon over), she was on the Ruby Princess! 

Last night was our first show on the Princess Cruise Ships, where we will be playing all summer. We're so excited to be able to live in our favorite place (Juneau, our home!) and work on the Princess Cruise ships as they're docked here.

I have to say we were all a bit nervous for this first show. We've practiced and practiced since January (I can't guess how many hours we've put into practicing. Quinn would probably say it was millions!), so we were excited and a little bit scared to perform for the first time on a big stage.

I was certainly nervous, especially after the LAST shows we played on a cruise ship where I was so sick I spent the whole time in my room (thankfully this summer we won't ever be leaving port, so I won't have to deal with sea sickness). But I'm happy to report that the show went wonderfully! We had a great time! The turn out was a bit small, but we were happy not to have a packed house for our very first show.

Although the show went well, we were a bit disappointed we couldn't celebrate by jumping in one of the many pools on board...oh well, maybe next week?

Please let us know if you, or someone you know, is heading up to Juneau this summer! We would love to see and meet you (either on the ship, in downtown Juneau, or maybe up at the tram!). We're so looking forward to this summer and a new season of work!

Happiness Is

Happiness is laughter, 

and what puts a smile on your face.

It could be the feeling of sunshine

or Quinn on the floor playing bass.

Happiness is hunting through tide pools,

and hearing the ocean waves.

It's putting on your favorite apron

and baking cookies to last for days!

It's making memories with family,

to remember when times grow hard.

Remember the times of happiness

when lighting lanterns in the yard.

Happiness is a wish made as the last

of the candles go out.

And knowing that wish will come true someday,

for you don't have reason to doubt.

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What are some things in your life that make you happy? 
Share with us down below in the comments!

Photos in the Rain

If you've been following the band's adventures since last September, you may remember a particular blog post (read it here) about how I wasn't in any of the band pictures (and why that needed to change). 

Well I have good news! I am finally going to be in an actual band picture! And this time, I wont have to photoshop my one-year-old adorable face into it! 

Yes, I was an adorable little one-year-old.

But a band picture takes a lot of work to organize, namely matching outfits and lots of makeup and fancy hair-dos! 

Also, crazy socks!

Our feet weren't going to be in the pictures, and it was a bit too nasty outside to hike around in heals. So boots are what we wore!

Our cousin Henry came over to take the photos. We started out downstairs in Abigail's studio to first get some close-ups(because we knew when we came back our hair and makeup would be done-for).

But all too soon it was time to go out into the elements, so we each bundled up (us girls being careful to not crease and wrinkle our freshly ironed dresses) and set out for the end of North Douglas Island, just a few miles from home.

Doesn't Abby look great in her beehive hair-do?

And can you tell she's already cold?

Off we went! Cameras, instruments, and rain gear all piled high in our arms.

Thankfully, it didn't rain too much while we took the pictures. But let me tell you, there was a strong, cold wind blowing most of the time!

Melissa remarked to me that this was the coldest photo shoot she had ever done, but Quinn was quick to remind her of every other band photo shoot (some including glaciers and chilly waterfalls). She agreed that maybe this photo shoot wasn't that bad...

Brrrrrrr!

Well, we all agreed it could have been warmer!

I wont point any fingers...

but someone had the bright idea to bring Cedar with us.

She made it into quite a few of our pictures by accident.

Can you tell we're freezing? 

Oh yes, we are so, so lovely.

Well Abigail and I are at least!

I simply can't tell you how excited I am to finally finally finally be in a band picture! I mean, Quinn and I have been married for almost a year, and I've been playing with the band for longer then that! But I'm not bitter, promise.

Our Love For Folk Fest

Here's Abigail singing at Folk Fest back in 2013!

It's Folk Fest week! 

People from all over Alaska and beyond have come to Juneau to sing, play music, and dance at the Alaska Folk Festival. 

The whole community seems to pour into the concert space to watch local and out-of-town artists. Music on the main stage will go to 11:00pm on the weekend, but jam sessions out in the hall will go till early in the morning!

You can always count on seeing cute little kids playing off to the side of the stage (who's cries of excitement can be heard all the way in the back row).

The band was unable to play at Folk Fest last year (since they were all in Australia. I was in my Biology class...but I'm not that bitter) and we've been so busy putting together a new show, we weren't able to be in it this year either, but that doesn't mean we're not going!

Here's a throw-back for you! 

The band at Folk Fest circa 2010! 

Abigail looks so young, doesn't she?

If you'd like to tune in and see the people we love watching up on stage, you can go to the Alaska Folk Festival website and enjoy the music along with us!

Click here to go to the Alaska Folk Festival website where you can watch a live stream of the fun happenings we'll be watching too. 

We plan to dance the night away Friday and Saturday nights to some fun bluegrass music, we hope you join in and listen!

Preparing For Easter - Part 3

All the house is aflutter with excitement!

The blueberry branches are blooming!

Pretty pink buds shaped like fairy bells greet us wherever we look. 

And our lovely painted eggs look right at home in these spring branches...

Wait...is that a TARDIS I spy? 

Quinn...?

It looks like Quinn has been up to some mischief, but we've been up to even more mischief together! 

Not long ago during a trip to the store we happened upon something quite exciting: confetti eggs!

Yes, these brightly colored eggs may look normal, but I assure you they aren't! Inside each cute little egg is a bunch of confetti and the goal is to crack them on someone's head!

Which is just what we did...

But before cracking them on each other's heads on the trampoline, Quinn and I hatched (haha! Get it?) a different plan.

We had everyone line up as if we were going to take a picture of them (we had a camera and everything) then when they were least expecting it we cracked eggs on their heads!

Everyone thought it was hilarious (mom had confetti in her hair for the rest of the day). However, we don't suggest you do this unless you have a very good vacuum cleaner on hand, for obvious reasons.

Don't worry though, they got their revenge on us!

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We realize it's a bit early, but we wanted to wish all of you a Happy Easter! 

He is risen, yes He has risen again!

 "He is not here; He has risen! Remember how He told you, while He was still with you in Galilee: 

'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.' "

Luke 24:6-7

May you feel the same joy and victory we do in the knowledge that Jesus our Savior has risen from the dead and that soon, one day, He will return! Amen!

This is part 3 of our adventures, to go back and read part 1 click here!