Aussie Shenanigans

Alex and the Sheep

           So, here is the end of my first week alone with the boys. Let me tell you... god bless anyone who has twins especially boys haha. Totally kidding, well kind of. I love the boys we have such a great time and they really have adjusted well to a new Au Pair just all the sudden showing up and taking care of them 5 days a week, 9 hours each day. The best feeling though is that they have already formed an attachment to me. Today, when I brought them to Kindergarten Lachlan held on to my leg and literally would not let me leave. I had to quickly leave and he cried, but in the end he had a great day at kinder.  OR when the boys get in a screaming fight about who I am going to let sit on my lap or carry to the car. It is a really great feeling to see it. We have great days together they love when I read book to them and they love animals even more than that. Our big excursion this week was to the Children's farm. Wow, I think I was more fascinated by the animals then them... well not quite, but close. I saw a peacock for the first time. Unfortunately, there was no Koalas or Kangaroos I still have yet to see either. No worries though its definitely on the priority list. Anyways, the farm wasn't all rainbows and unicorns either because getting there was as difficult as nailing jelly to a tree. Seriously, I had typed the address in the GPS, I was so excited so were the boys and a few Kilometers from the house the GPS decided to S*** the bed (excuse my language, but it was so stressful). Okay, so driving on the left side of the road whatever thats super easy, but driving in a place you are not familiar with without a GPS is not easy. I didn't know what to do so I drove back to the house, at this point Alex was asleep thank god because it probably would of been a meltdown and Lachlan was awake, but he was very patient about it. He simply asked "Jayne, why are we lost? Why don't you know where to go? Why do you live in another country?" Because none of my answers seemed to cure his curiosity. Anyways, at the house I typed it into my iPhone and my iPhone didn't have a international sim card at the time. I used the wifi at the house to get the route, but if I took one wrong turn I would of been in trouble because it wouldn't of been able to reroute me without wifi. So, I finally made it to the farm and spent a bit of time there. I can't wait till I know my way around better. When it was time to make the trek home I had to ask the front office at the farm how to get back to North Balwyn. It was actually embarrassing because I just hate to seem like such a stupid tourist who gets lost. This really nice guy helped me out buy sharing his wifi password to give me wifi to get me back home.  The worst part is though, I took a wrong turn on the way home so I had to figure out on my own how to get back on the route and at the same time Alex is screaming for a granola bar. I pulled over helped Alex and found my way back, let me tell you I was never as excited as I was to be at the house when we arrived. That was my huge adventure this week. It has been really nice they boys are hard work, but don't get me wrong I already love them and their teacher at kinder told me they have a new level of energy and she believed it was because of me. So nice to hear promising words like that.  I am spending 6 months with these boys they really will do a lot of growing up in that time and I cannot wait to be apart of it. It seems stupid, but already this week I think I have done a lot of changing as well. You have to grow up fast when you are looking after two, three year old boys and having the responsibility of driving them places, entertaining them all day, and thinking on the spot. Thinking on the spot is HUGE. You have to be creative, very creative especially when you are trying to get them to eat. I have worked with a lot of different kinds of children, but no children this young. It is a different experience. In conclusion though I love the boys, anyone would tell you they are so funny and creative. Seeing them together is adorable. I don't wish for any other family to be an Au Pair for, I love the boys, Lucy and Adrian a lot.

Me and the Boys

Me and Anika 

Me at the Melbourne Cup

      Anyways, for my life aside from the boys here..hmmm. Well, the other day at the playground in a matter of two minutes of just talking to the boys this guy picked up on my accent and instantly knew I was from the states. He comes up to me and goes " So, where in the states are you from?" Crazy to think my accent is that noticeable to them. Also, just bought my ticket to Sydney to visit my friend Liam for his birthday which is very exciting. I am in the travel mood being here. I am going to see a travel agent Sunday to book a trip to the Great Barrier Reef in April. I'm thinking about making it out to New Zealand at some point. I have a friend there who offered me a place to stay. Thats always nice. I met my first set of other Au Pairs Sunday, one from Arkansas and the other from Sweden. We had a plan to go to the Melbourne Zoo, but of course it started to rain. Tomorrow, I am meeting up with them again to go to a museum and then at night go out. Its just a little bit exciting to be legal to drink here. Just being offered wine at dinner and being able to say yes is so different. It feels like I'm doing something wrong because in the U.S I am not at all legal. So tomorrow will be a good night out in the city, hopefully a good blog story will come out of it. OH MY GOSH, I almost forgot to write about the biggest part of my week.. the Melbourne Cup. The Melbourne cup is like the Kentucky Derby... I think honestly I just know that the Kentucky derby also has horse racing. The Melbourne cup almost seemed like it was more about the fashion/drinking more than the horse racing. Literally, best part of being there was looking at what everyone was wearing.  The uniform is an old fashioned looking hat or hairpiece and a black dress.It was such a hot day 27C and 80F, I wanted to bet on a horse but honestly had no idea how. Its such a big deal here and I am so glad I went. It was a ton of fun. The Melbourne Cup is such a big deal here it is actually considered a Holiday. No one goes to work, how insane is that. By the way we are moving this month too. So, I asked Lucy and Adrian why we were moving... "oh because we are bored with the house" haha. It is like the nicest house. By the way, I am going to introduce thanksgiving to Australia. We are planning feast here at the Brennan household on Thanksgiving. We are going to the store and I am finding everything Thanksgiving-like and we are cooking it up. Hallelujah, I am not missing one more Thanksgiving :)  Back on track though, we are just moving close by and Alex has to get his tonsils and adenoids out in the beginning of December. A lot of changes are about to happen and I think it will be tough for the boys, but we shall see. Summer is just beginning so really no complaints here. That is all I have for this week, just loving my life in a land down under called Aus <3

Horse Racing