Holidays 1999

	The Beach: this summer we returned to Club Med Eleuthera in the Bahamas. We’d been there for a week when Calvin was four, but we decided that two weeks would be much nicer this time. Turned out that two weeks was about ten times as good as one week. We swam, sailed, water-skied, flew on the trapeze, built elaborate sand castles, read books, danced, ate lots of great food, hand-fed tropical fish in the ocean, fished for the wily bonefish, and generally had a wonderfully relaxing time. Calvin adored the Kid’s Club, which had great activities all day and evening. He didn’t want to go home (and neither did we)! For those of you with web access, there are lots of photos here at www.leedrake.com.
The Net: all three of us have spent a whole lot of time playing Starsiege:Tribes this year. Tribes is an Internet team game, the object being to capture the opponent’s flag, hold strategic points on the map, or demolish the opponent’s assets. Lee and Val joined a tribe called Strategic Alliance (those of you with web access can check it out at www.strategic-alliance.org …look for Aztek and Valkyrie in Red Company). Calvin doesn’t quite have the hang of team play yet, but he likes to join public servers and blow things up
	The Arch: In April we visited St. Louis, where Val grew up. We had a lovely few days visiting Grandpa Peter and Sarah, as well as our friend Parul (Val’s lab partner at the U of R several years ago), who kindly put us up in her new house, and the Friedlanders (friends from Val’s childhood). We saw the world-famous Zoo, the Botanical Gardens, the City Museum (hard to describe, but well worth seeing), the Science Museum (newly remodeled, and lots of fun), and the Physics building at Washington U where Grandpa Peter worked. A good time was had by all, despite the miserable cold that Calvin had. If you’re wondering, the picture was taken at the Zoo…Calvin’s feeding a lorikeet, with the help of a docent.
The School: Calvin started full-day first grade in September. He’s taken to it quite easily, and is learning by leaps and bounds. The big excitement for the first graders has been Pokemon…the teachers finally had to put a stop to trading cards at school, because they were too distracting!	The Work: Lee and Val are both still working at Lee's company, Aztek Computer Solutions. Business is great. We’re up to ten people now, and still having fun.