Merry Christmas to All and to All a Short Night! Florida For the Holidays:

Merry Christmas!

You were beginning to think I had forgotten you, weren't you!

Come on!

There's no need to pretend!

Okay, so I've been a little busy... but it's all GOOD busy.  For one thing we started recording a new CD!  Psyched?  I knew you would be!  Also, we spent another day filming for the reality pilot!  Keep your fingers crossed! If everything goes according to plan we should start really filming in February! Can you believe it?!  And as if that wasn't enough of a Christmas present this year, we also got to spend time with our family here in Florida.  We decked the halls (a.k.a. Grandma and Grandpa's house),  made homemade Norwegian cookies that have been in our family for generations (my Grandmother's Norwegian.  If you can snag one for a grandparent you are lucky! ...or maybe it's just my Grandma...)  The cookies are made from a Top Secret ancient family recipe that uses butter, sugar, almond, eggs, and flour!  ...ooops!  There goes that family secret!

We sang Christmas carols accompanied by bagpipes (a cacophonous combo) to any innocent bystanders who didn't run away.  We even got my dad to wear a Christmas hat, and from a distance the pipes almost looked like a sack of toys... unfortunately no one was fooled.

My blog has become sort of infamous around our family and my Aunts and Uncles have taken to saying things like...

"Don't put that in the Blog now!"

and

"You're not going to write about me are you?"

With their best interest at heart I have therefore decided to leave their names out entirely.

So you will not hear me mention my Uncle Tom or my Uncle Leo and Aunt Jeannie (also musicians, you can find out more about them at: http://www.sleepindogz.com/ )

Consider them never mentioned ;)

We still wake up insanely early every Christmas morning.  We still jump on mom and dad's bed and drag them to where the presents wait.  We still spend every second before they come jumping in our seats until they roll into the living room and give us the go ahead.  Some things never change :)

Merry Christmas everyone!

Some New Changes!

Check out the Slideshow for some pictures of our tour in Ireland!

An intro to our 2008 season of the Turkey: Being Thankful

It's that time of year again, when we go out into the streets in our autumn regalia, raid the grocery stores and invite family members we only vaguely remember we had into our homes.  

Our family skipped out on most of the Thanksgiving festivities this year.  It's not because we have anything against Thanksgiving or being thankful in general.  In fact my family loves Thanksgiving.  We look forward to this holiday every year, an entire day that is devoted to family, being thankful and the opportunity to eat copious amounts of food to prove a point!  No, we missed some of the on-the-day Thanksgiving activities because we were doing a 2 1/2-minute spot on ABC for the Philadelphia Thanksgiving Day Parade.  That's right, I'm talking the Philadelphia Thanksgiving Day Parade.  Macy's move aside because ShaeLaurel is going to rock your socks.  Sure the Philly Parade may not have as many floats or attractions, but they have us!  If you don't believe me, check out the video of our performance on youtube:

The Parade was awesome and we met so many amazing people!  I had the opportunity to show exactly how little I know about modern pop culture by asking Mario (the solo R&B artist, actor and recently the dancer on 'Dancing With the Stars') what group he was backing up.  Ouch!

We also got to meet the descendants of the Von Trapp family.  They are so close to our carbon copies that it was almost scary.  We shared stories and talked for as long as time would allow.  We are all roughly the same age, we have all been performing for the same amount of time (7 years) and are all homeschooled.  We also both did tours in Europe and Asia.  How strange is that?

We celebrated a little in Philly with our good friends/family from Boston, then drove down south into the warmer weather where my Aunt and Uncle had postponed their own Thanksgiving celebrations to wait for us.

There was turkey and stuffing, and mashed potatoes and gravy, and even this really cool pear dish whose name escapes me.  It was a blast.  I even learned how to cook a turkey....

Surprisingly, as the only vegetarian in our family, I have very few problems with the Thanksgiving holiday.  Besides the fact that this is another in a long line of holidays centered around a fictitious event whose primary purpose is to slaughter an animal that was almost our National Emblem, I'm down with the whole turkey thing.  (Although I'm more of a mashed potato person myself.)

Back to Thanksgiving, we played Bananagrams (see The Games We Play) until our eyes hurt and the levels of our amazing word creations made our heads explode.  We even had time to do some family projects....More about that later :)

NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is over! Does this mean that I'm back mentally....? Ummmm...Can you repeat the question?

I did it, I made it out alive!  If you missed the last few posts here's a brief recap.  My sister Kathryn and I joined 120,000 novelists with the crazy intention of writing 50,000 words in one month.  We completed our goal: Kathryn's novel The Immortal Forest, weighing in at 54,250 words and my novel, Another Place to Fall, weighing in at 108,000 words.  (Apparently, I have a lot to say.  Who knew?)

All right, so that's the recap.  Now here's what you missed:

As Promised, Bella's Lullaby!

When it came down to brass tacks the song was recorded in 2 minutes.  Dad sat down at the piano and played and that was it.  And here it is, finally, as requested, my version of Bella's Lullaby!

Ladies and Gentlemen: November is National Novel Writing Month

So, Here's the Skinny:

If you have noticed a distinct lack of updates on our Blog it is not because of your eyes, you can trust your sanity and my perserverance in laying down the fantastically true tales of our family's travels, it's just that...well...we've been kind of busy.  Alright, I take that back, I've been kind of busy.  In the interest of your sanity and the danger of repetitive key clicking syndrom, there will be very few posts this month.  Sorry. 
It's not your fault, it's not the world's fault, and most importantly it's not my fault.  It's the fault of National Novel Writing Month and my 8th novel which is peeking its pasty, wrinkly newborn face out at the world and trying to make sense of what it sees.  To be honest, it's pretty ugly at this point; it's also very time consuming.  For the last 16 days my family has watched me retreat into the dark reaches of the RV, shutting out the world and all it's people, so full of enticing distractions, sparkling conversation and tantalizing opportunities for wrist massages.  I have become a hermit in my own home, glowing in the eerie blue light of my computer, the only sound the fruitless slamming of fingers on computer keys...okay, it's not quite that dramatic but you get the point.

An "I Love this Blog" Moment:

Okay, so maybe I'm procrastinating at this point, but it's for a good cause!  You deserve to hear what's going on out here in the wide world of musical entertainment and travel.  My novel can wait 10 minutes while I type this, and even the couple of hours it will take to find reliable internet to post it, then it's only a matter of copying it word for word onto the Blogger web site (why I can't just paste it, I'll never know.) chasing down a reliable parental unit, running it through the mom spell checker and presto!  All my writing time has suddenly evaporated into thin air.  Yes!  I love this Blog! 

Back to the Original Point at Last:

Anyway, the chronicles of our adventures will return with shiny new pictures, lot's of new words (thanks to Kat's SAT Preparation, can anyone say "celerity"?) and tidbits of information you never wanted to know about our family.  Time stands still for no man, and the road calls us onward.  We are still bouncing all over the country meeting new people, playing new shows and generally whooping it up, it just hasn't been written yet...heh, Oh dear.  Let's just say I'll have a lot to write this December.

It's a bird? It's a plane? No, it's a family of musicians rocking the Emerald Isle!

I've been slacking.  I'll take all the blame.  It's been a while since our last installment but don't judge me just yet.  Wait until you hear what has been keeping me busy and then you can decide.  But first a moment of awe:

Ireland.  All I can say is wow.  We are definitely coming back.  No questions.  Wow.  Oh, and in case you didn't hear it, WOW.

Travel tip #27
(Because writing travel tip #1 isn't quite as impressive.)

The best way to cure jet lag has been found!  Find a place where a lot of people are gathering, grab your instruments and start to play!  Just hours after arriving on solid ground, ShaeLaurel hit the streets determined to rock the Island and defeat the miserable drag of jet lag (rhyme unintentional, but it might have potential).  All I can say is:  Mission Accomplished!

Travel tip #28

Guinness.  If you've had it in the states, whether you've liked it or not, it is entirely different in Ireland and it's amazing.  It will also make you an instant favorite at the bar.  The Irish like nothing more than to see a customer order and enjoy a good Guinness!

Travel tip #29

With every closed door there is another open window.
Due to the language barrier (English and huh?) our show in Tullamore fell through.  Undaunted Dad walked into the nearest pub and asked if they wanted music tonight.  The owner welcomed us in, set us up with a couple of pints, and led us to the stage.  It was a Monday night and the pub was particularly empty, after a few songs though that quickly changed.  People who were enjoying the music called their friends and some even went from pub to pub throughout Tullamore to bring in more people.  A group of recent hurling champions whooped it up to the music (and gave us a very educational view of every level of drunk) while they passed around their huge champion cup filled with whiskey water to everyone.  Which leads us to our next travel tip:

Travel tip #30

Never try to out-drink the Irish.

Travel tip #31

The Cliffs of Moher in Ireland are a famous landmark that you must see.  If you find yourself there after it 'closes' (aka the visitor center is closed.) don't panic and definitely don't pay for parking.  Just pull up to  the entrance and park there.  After 6 you can watch the beautiful sunset from the cliffs.  If you have the chance, wait until sunset.  It's a magical experience.

Travel tip #32

There are 4 pubs in Doolin.  One of these is O'Conner's pub.  With amazing traditional music in a nice cozy setting (fire place included) it's definitely a must see!

Travel tip # 33

Dublin city wall = great place for a photo shoot.  Point, click timer button and run like mad.  The result?  See for yourself!

Travel tip #34

Traveling on your way from Doolin to Galway along the coast road make sure you take the opportunity to pull over near the smaller cliffs on the way out of town.  The raw power of the ocean is a sight to behold!

Travel tip #35

Americans are very good at the 'tourist experience', the Irish on the other hand are very good at pubs.  There are several interesting sights to see in Ireland but the real charm of the Island lives in the people that live there.  In your travels, take an opportunity to walk around the town or village you're staying in, talk to people, hang out at the local pubs and listen to the music alive in every beating heart.  The hills and valleys may be as green as emeralds, but the real gems are the people that make the Emerald Isle their home.

Sláinte!

In the airport and we're flying to Ireland. Are you ready for the adventure of a lifetime?

As I type, the entire ShaeLaurel family is sitting in the airport in Orlando, FL about to embark on one of their most ambitions endeavors yet.  That's right, we are heading to Ireland for 11 days of musical madness!  Are you ready to ride?  

As the official ShaeLaurel loud mouth, I will be filling you in on all the adventures so you can join us in Ireland from the comfort of your very own home...er...computer chair...wherever. 

On this trip we will attempt to answer some age old questions:

Can ShaeLaurel really survive with 3 small bags and their instruments?

Is the emerald Isle really made of Emeralds?

And is there a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow or is it just golden mashed potatoes?

These and other questions will be answered!  

1 mission, 2 stops, 3 bags, 4 teenagers, 5 instruments, and 6 overly excited musicians!  

What does that spell...?  (I'm not thinking disaster.  Really.)

Operation Ireland!

The Lower 48

It was hard to leave Alaska.  We had a long hard trek across Canada pulling several all night drives because we lingered too long in the beautiful mountains of Alaska.  Our first adventure hit us at the border:  we were pulling our RV into customs and the border guard mentioned some form number when he examined our file.

"What does that mean?"  My mom pressed, worried.  She always feels uncomfortable crossing borders.

"Oh, it's not bad."  He assured her, picking up on her worried tone.  "It just means that you've been crossing the border a lot."

And it was true.  Coming in and out of Alaska through the southeastern islands that we had been back and forth nearly 8 times in the last month and to the border guards this means business.

We were waved unceremoniously to the side where we were greeted by 6 big tall guards with their hands on their batons.

"Step out of the vehicle!"  The biggest one called, eyeing us skeptically.

We trouped out of the bus one by one all wishing we had thought to clean.

"How many people do you have in there?"  The guard barked, peering at the door.

"Only 6."  Mom assured him.  The man's look told us that 'only' had been a bad choice in words.

"Do you have any firearms or weapons of any kind on board?"

"No."  We all said in unison in that creepy way that only a family who lives on top of each other can.

The statement was true, unless you counted the bagpipes as a weapon.  Personally I had my doubts.

"Anything sharp?  Knives and the like?"

"No."  Dad said.

"But watch out for your hands on the siding."  Mom warned.  I could have sworn that one of the guards rolled his eyes.

They made us leave while they searched every inch of our RV.  When they were satisfied that we weren't smuggling any Canadians into the country, we were allowed on our way and back on the road...

Our Great Alaskan Adventure!

Alaska is an adventure waiting to happen, there's never enough time to see it all!  We had 4 days to explore Alaska before we had to return to the lower 48 states and the rest of our tour. Tons of Alaskans invited us to visit their homes and ranches and experience Alaska first hand. Our first visit took us to the Kenai River Front where the Salmon run and where the Nelson Family lives.

They taught us how to fish.

Hunt.

And Eat Alaskan Style.

There was music,

and games,

and an adventure our family would never forget.

We stayed as long as we could but time is running short.  Now we'll have a long drive to the lower 48...

Things we lost on the Alaska Highway...

Our front bumper's paint job:

Our tow hitch trying to save our front bumper:

Our bikes, trying to leave the place where our front bumper and tow hitch were mutilated:

Our Sanity:

(Picture omitted to protect what's left of our pride.)

Judging Your Skillz

When you see our family perform for the first time your immediate response might be surprise, joy or even a little confusion.  (Who are these people and what are they doing to those fiddles?)  Probably the last thing going through your mind is:  "Wow, these kids would be great for...let's say, judging a hip-hop competition on the fly, the winner of which will recieve $600 and open for a Sean Kingston performance."

But that was exactly what was going through the special events coordinator's mind when she slipped backstage during our show.

Christian was the first to hear the news.  In a fair so bursting with activity, time is of the essence and it was a simple matter of getting our drummer's attention in the middle of 'Rocky Top' to share this good news.  Because the drums were pounding around their ears, she simplified the message.  "I need a judge for a skills contest.  Find me after the show."

Never missing a beat, Christian finished out the rest of the performance while we danced, oblivious on stage.  As we retreated backstage after the show, in the time honored rock star fashion, with much backslapping and high-fiving, Christian told us the news.  Then he and Kathryn wandered off to find the coordinator.

They were both immediately drafted to judge the competition, giving us a ShaeLaurel majority of 2 to 1!  (Yes, there was only one other judge.)  Apparently all of the original judges knew most of the people in the competition so they needed an outsider's eye.

The competition took up an entire break between shows.  4 contestants entered and a 5th was picked at random from the audience (There were too many prizes for too few contestants!)

In a bizarre twist of events, 2 different bands won the competition and did a free style joint song in celebration.  The crowd was enthusiastic and approved of the choice.  Kathryn and Christian were both interviewed for a local television station and became an integral part in all the ceremonies.  Now that's something to put on your resume:

Internationally renowned veteran musician and performer...oh and a good judge of your skillz.

See kids, rehearsal can be fun!

ShaeLaurel vocal experiment with helium.

The way we entertain ourselves...

What it takes to be in my band

Performing, in my not-so-humble opinion, is the greatest job on earth.  (It is also the only job I've ever had.)  The highs are high, the lows can get pretty far down there.

A lot of people don't know what it takes to put on a show like ours so we thought we'd let you slip backstage with us and get a little tour.

Several things are required to get ready for a show.  One of these is stretching.  Kathryn and Dad are our top stretchers and they will lead us in a muscle loosener before a show.

Then there is vocal warm-ups, we all warm up together and concentrate on tight harmonies and singing together as a group.

Now it's time for Kathryn to work her magic.  She chooses our costumes for the show, then we dispute them, come up with different arrangements, argue over the changes, and eventually put on the clothes she originally chose for us.

Then there is makeup.  We've learned over the years that stage makeup is best applied with a trowel (or a paint roller).  Unless strictly necessary we don't put on tons of makeup, but for every stage it's different.  Some have more lighting, some have no lights at all, and some are so blinding that you'd rather wear sunglasses during the show.  Over all though, makeup can take a long time.

Now that we are all dressed and ready for the show it's time to tune and warm up our instruments.  We have 69 strings to tune before each show.  We split them up fairly evenly between the group... sometimes (Kat and Andy have the most I think.).  Then there are 12 drum heads to tune and some more stretching :)

Next it's time to 'pack up'.  We each have 3 wireless packs (in-ear monitors, an instrument pack and a vocal pack) that project our sound to the world.  These are strapped to our bodies on super sturdy, fail-safe... plastic cell phone holders.  Hey, they get the job done.

Once the show gets underway we do a lot of dancing, I mean a lot of dancing.  But dancing isn't the only physically challenging activity on stage.  Extensive testing in our top secret ShaeLaurel lab revealed that Christian's right foot, the one that plays his bass drum, traverses the equivalent of more than five miles during a single half hour show.  Five miles.  As a band we perform anywhere from 1-6 shows a day.  That's 30 miles, more than a marathon.  And that's not even dancing.

After the show is over and the lights dim, it's time to say goodbye.  If performing is the fun part (and believe me, it is) than the tear-down is the work.  Because we do it so often though, we are very good at it.  In a rush, we can pack onto a stage in less than 5 minutes with all our instruments and stand equipment.  (The State Fair was great practice. We got to pack on and off between each show!  We are a well-oiled machine.)

Now that the show is over, it's time to celebrate.  Our family has a motto:  "Work Hard, Play Harder."  And we stick by it no matter what.  ShaeLaurel parties can be crazy and a lot of fun and you can be sure there's a lot of homemade popcorn involved.

Performing, in my not-so-humble opinion, is the greatest job on earth.  If you have any questions about performing or being unbearably close to your family members, drop us a line!

Christian’s 15th Birthday Celebration in Alaska!

Christian celebrates his 15th birthday at the Alaska State Fair.  We even commandeered some fireworks for the occasion :)

VIP passes for all!

Here is a tour of our top secret dressing room at the Alaska State Fair!

The Alaska State Fair

We can boast of a perfect attendance here at the state fair.  36 out of 36 shows.  Not bad!  Playing at the state fair has been an amazing experience for our family.  We have seen wonders, met fabulous people and generally whooped it up.  
We shared our stage with hudreds of students of the arts, amazing musicians and talented dancers - all Alaskan, born and raised.   
The fair itself was overloaded with a plethora of fun activites, shows and amazing sights.  Charlie Danieles, Sean Kingston, and other big name bands rocked the night away.  We saw 60-lb cabages, dared the incredible bungee of terror and even test drove some cars (Andy's favorite part).  
We played 3 45-minute shows a day and explored the fair by night.  
In short...We are definitely going to need a vacation from our vacation.

More From Alaska!

Here's a picture from Juneau.  ShaeLaurel hanging out with the bears.

I love my brother.  End of story.

Glacial Magnificence!

Photo shoot!

Posers.

Alaska Rocks!

Our RV in the belly of the ferry.

Just out for a float.

Alaskan Beauty.

More Beauty.

Show off!

Our new backyard.

Boat wake...(It was a big boat)

Surveying our kingdom.  (And talking in plurals)

Christian captures the beauty.

Soaking up the rays.

So beautiful you could puke.

Blah.

Whale!!!!  

(This isn't our picture, we didn't see a whale jump quite that high, but this whale could be related to the ones that we saw... :)

The Games We Play

Careening down the road in our tour bus for an indeterminate amount of hours is a dangerous game.  We experience extreme highs and lows and our sanity levels fluctuate to disjointed extremes.  One of the first things you have to learn traveling is how to survive.  There are several ways to effectively stave off impending doom, which we have become quite adept at over the years.  One of these is Schoolwork, but even the draw to attain a greater understanding of the world around us gets old eventually and then...there are games.

   We've picked up hundreds of games from around the world, some more complex than others but we'd like to share a few of our favorites with you.  Most of these games require no more than a deck of cards and a small square of space.  These could save your life on your next road trip.
   In the great time-honored tradition of melodrama we will do a top 10 count down.  (For people who don't watch much TV this is quite a leap!)

In 10th place is Canasta!  Taught to us by our friend Carmen from Spain and then re-taught by our cousins in Nebraska, Canasta is a fun and highly complicated game.  Best played after a cup of coffee.

9th is Cribbage!  Although it requires a board it is a great game for the road because most of the cards stay in your hand and the board won't lose it's pieces.  Taught to us by our good friend Shawn in Indiana.

8th is Rummy 500.  We played this game almost every day on the Euro rail during our tour of Europe.  Best if you have a table :)

7th is, aptly, 7-up!  This is one of Dad's favorite games because of its simplicity and easy teardown-ability.  It's a great game to play at a restaurant when you're waiting for your food.  It is easiest to play on a stationary surface.

6th is Euchre.  A Michigan favorite it could easily be qualified as the 'state game'.  We grew up playing this game because my dad is from Michigan!

5th is Norwegian.  This game was taught to us by our Norwegian relatives, they called it American because the point of the game is to take all the points for yourself, but they were so good at it that we changed the name in their honor :)

4th is Dummy Rummy!  We learned to play this game recently from our new friends/adopted family Gilles and Annette in Canada.  It's a great game and easy to play on the road.

3rd is President.  Known by more unsavory names this game is a blast and best played with no mercy.  Taught to us by a waitress in Canada, it requires you to change seats every round in order of winner to loser and is sure to confuse your wait staff.

In 2nd place is Hand and Foot!  Taught to us in Nebraska by a Chemistry teacher from Florida, it requires 4 decks of cards and a lot of space.  It is a blast to play and was a close contestant for first in our countdown.

And finally, the game that has won our hearts and taken up all of our free time, taught to us in Wyoming by our good friend/family Carole.  THE top game is...

Banana-grams!

Similiar to scrabble this game comes in a cute 'banana peel' case and is as addictive as it is vocabulary building.
(All of these games and their orders were decided by loud popular vote.)

If you have any questions about any of the games we've mentioned or other creative ways to survive a long trip, drop us a comment!

Juneau; The Capital of Alaska

There are very few ways to get to Juneau.  The high mointains flanking the city make it impossible to drive in from the outside.  That leaves only three options.

1.  Hike thourgh the wilderness and hope the bears don't mind.

2.  Leave all or most of your belongings behind and fly in.  Or
3.  Pull your large green tour bus and everything you own onto a ferry and float it down to Juneau from a highway-connected port.
(This is not a multiple-choice question.)So on a rainy day we did just that.
(If you haven't figured out which one we used yet please read through the options and consult your physician.)


    It is a strange sensation, floating your house down river.  Technically, we were living in Alaska, right next to the whales.  

It's been an amazing journey.  When we pulled into Juneau it was raining, not a rare occurrence in a city that gets rain 260 days of the year!  It has to be the greenest place we've ever visited.  The trees are massive and ancient, towering over the roads and the rivers are so full of salmon that there's hardly any room for water.    In our infinite wisdom we decided to take a leisurely bike ride into town from the port.  Secure in our muscle-inity we road up and down the steep hills bravely.  3 hours later, we were still riding, sill not in Juneau, and exhausted.    For those of you who have never been to Juneau, the distance from the bay to the city is 27 miles...27 miles!  Our whole  'save the planet', 'save gas', 'we can handle it' plan crumbled to dust at our feet (actually, in our thighs).    We stumbled into Juneau trying to keep our eyes open long enough to take in all the beauty.  It is an amazing city, where the huge cruise ships can pull right up to the sidwalks.  We had some authentic Alaskan Halibut and enjoyed some brief sunshine.  
    Now we were faced with a very real dilemma.  We had 6 bikes and 27 miles between us and out Tour Bus.  That, and it started to rain...again.
    We found 2 buses that were willing to take two bikes each and Dad and Christian headed out through the freezing rain on the last two bikes.    All in all quite an adventure in the elusive capital of Alaska.  We all have to agree that, despite the rain, Juneau is one of the most beautiful places we have ever been.  Surrounded by a beautiful fjord and towering mountains, bursting with wildlife and tucked into a valley, Juneau was definitely worth the ride, even in the rain.