Hannah and Jacqui go to camp

1. Jacqui in her "prom" dress at the Not Back To School Camp (NBTSC)

2. Jacqui at the prom

3. Hannah and Jacqui at the NBTSC Prom

4. Jacqui and Hannah at the NBTSC Prom

5. Hannah at the How to make chain mail workshop

6. Jacqui at a workshop (how to make chain mail?)

7. Hannah at the How to make chain mail workshop

8. Hannah working in the kitchen with "Hobart", the dishwasher. Both girls recieved a part scholarship for the camp, which meant they worked in the kitchen for 1 hour a day

9. The Lake that the NBTSC was on

10. Jacqui with the 1000 paper cranes (that she, Hannah and some friends made in 3 days) - awaiting

11. Jacqui and Hannah hand over the 1000 cranes to the camp staff

Hannah and Jacqui go to the Not Back to School Camp

Hannah and Jacqui headed off to the Not Back to School Camp (NBTSC) for homeschoolers/unschoolers in Vermont. They were a bit apprehensive about being at camp at first (mainly because everyone at the camp seemed to know each other), but ended up having a fantastic time. They did workshops on all sorts of topics (from making organic raw chocolate through to computer programming). Jacqui ran a workshop where she taught people how to make paper cranes and then with a bunch of campers (including Hannah) they made 1000 cranes over three days ! (which will be given to a person with cancer in the unschooling community). Hannah ran a workshop on celtic knotting which was also very popular. One of the highlights was that they got to have a "Prom", even getting the opportunity to glam it up a bit. They tried to organise a homeschoolers formal in Australia with their friend Hayley, but there wasn't enough interest - so they REALLY enjoyed the Prom at NBTSC.

The accommodation was a bit more primative than they were expecting (it was a “hut” with a roof, two or three walls and then open on the other sides so you could enjoy the fresh (freezing) air at night. Thankfully their friend Zoe had warned them about this, so they took two sleeping bags and a blanket each.

The food was amazing - organic vegetarian food from local produce (with lots of gluten free food for Hannah). We wish they had a NBTSC cook book, so we could bring some of the recipes home.

The best part of the week was that they got to make some new friends in the USA. It has been 4 months since we left home, so the girls have been feeling a bit homesick and lonely, and it was exactly what they needed right now (although nothing can replace their wonderful friends back home). They made good friends with a group of unschoolers from New York, and are planning to go up there and stay with them in the next few weeks (it is only 2 ½ hours by train from us).

All in all Hannah and Jacqui decided that the NBTSC is the BEST camp they have ever been on - which is pretty impressive considering all the Guide, Church and Young Carer camps they've been on.

Nikki and Steve had a very quiet week, although very social as Steve’s boss came over from Australia, so we got to spend some time catching up with him.

Jacqui and Hannah also have just got a regular job as a babysitter for our neighbour’s 10 year old daughter, Emily. They are going to split the shifts, so that they can save up their money – to possibly come home to Australia at Easter.

p.s. sorry the photo formatting is off, I can't work out what I'm doing wrong with it this time