He Just Smiled And Gave Me A Vegemite Sandwich And He Said, "I Come From A Land Down Under".

Just three months ago I received an e-mail from some friends in England asking me if I knew anyone who would be interested in being an Au Pair for their friends in Australia. Of course I knew someone, ME! I didn’t even ask my parents if I could take the offer before I promptly wrote back accepting. Next thing I knew, I was getting off of a plane in Melbourne, Australia; and here, I’ll stay for the next nine months.

What exactly am I doing here? I’m an Au Pair (or, ‘Big Sister’ as I like to call it) to three sweet children. I’ll be staying with the family until December then I’ll do some independent traveling until about February…or longer…who knows? Anyway, say “Hello!” Or, “G’day Mate”, if you’d rather, to these little sugar cubes:

This is James. He is 4 years old and very mature. He goes to Kinder 2 days a week and helps me watch after the other 2 kiddies on the other days of the week. He also has the same accent as the boy who’s finger Charlie bit in the well known YouTube video; ironically enough James’ little brother is Charlie, so I make him recite the video probably once a day.

This is Charlie. He is 18 months old and quite full of life. He walks like a little penguin and is trying so hard to spit out words. I’ve almost got him to say ‘Dani’ but it keeps coming out ‘Da-Da’. Charlie doesn’t really ever bite James’ finger, but he does love biting other chewy things being that he’s teething right now which puts him on a 24 hour saliva diet.

This is Princess Sophie. She is 11 weeks old and the youngest of the 3. She’s an absolute doll and very well behaved. I can barely keep my hands off of her. Mum has got lots of precious dresses for her to wear when she gets a bit bigger and we can’t wait to dress her up!

Over this past weekend, we spent some time over in a town called Merricks in a darling house by the beach. The beaches here are gorgeous, nothing like those in Florida; the dunes are full, the islands are huge, and the water is like turquoise stone. Merricks is a lovely town and I’m sure we’ll be making our way back over there withing the next week or so.

Here’s a little Australian recipe for a quick treat. It’s perfect for getting something together quickly to take to a party or even to just enjoy at home. Honey Joy’s!

Honey Joy’s

¾ Stick of butter

1 Tablespoon of honey

½ Cup of sugar

4 cups of Corn Flakes cereal

About 25 cup cake baking cups

In a pot, melt the butter, honey and sugar all together constantly whipping it around until frothy. Once frothy, turn heat off and mix in corn flakes. All the little flakes should look nicely coated with caramel, once done, scoop little spoonfuls of mixture into cup cake cups and let sit. You can refrigerate them if you’d like, but they’ll harden all on their own. These things are so delicious, good luck having just one!

For the record, Vegemite is not so tastey. And just for shits and giggles, here you go:

I come from a land down under,
Where beer does flow and men chunder.
Can't you hear, can't you hear the thunder?
You better run, you better take cover.

-Men At Work