Trip Report - Disney Fantasy - Day 4

August 16

At about 5:00 AM I briefly wake up and realize that the normal feeling of the ship moving is not present. Not surprising, as today we arrive at Tortola in the British Virgin Islands. I take a quick look on our verandah, and sure enough, we are in port. The photographer side of me is very happy as we have docked with the starboard side against the pier and my stateroom is on the port side - with a beautiful view of the island.I take a few photos and then hop back into bed for the next few hours until our breakfast is due to arrive at 7:00. It’s an early morning for us as we have to meet at 8:30 for our excursion tour of Tortola. 

When we first booked the cruise we looked at the excursions available at this port of call … ziplining - me perhaps but not Sandy … swimming with the dolphins would most likely have been what we would have decided upon. However, Iris and Jason had a particular excursion they wanted to do on Virgin Gorda and asked us if we could take the baby for the day, so we chose a bus tour and shopping excursion which she could accompany us on.

About 8:15 Iris arrives at our room with Brooke and we make our way to the theater where we are to meet. The paperwork allowing us to take her off the ship (since we are not in the same stateroom) has been filed and there are no problems when we check in. At the appointed time we go down to Deck 1 and check off the ship and take a short walk to meet our bus and driver/tour guide, Gus. (We meet Gus, get on his bus, no fuss.) Brooke’s stroller goes under the seats and her bag of necessities on the seat next to me and we are set!

We travel from the port up the many narrow and winding roads, up and down the hilly roads of Tortola where we are afforded some truly spectacular sights. We make a few stops where I get off the bus for some photos, but most of the pictures are taken from the bus … in motion and bumpy. Traffic here (as in the US Virgin Islands which we will visit tomorrow) drives on the left, making for some very uncomfortable moments for us used to driving on the right! Especially on the very narrow winding roads that we are traveling. Gus had spent 45 years years as a school bus driver and knows these roads well, but there is still that constant feeling that we are about to have a head on collision.

It is nice, though, to get out of the “tourist” area around the pier and into the actual neighborhoods of Tortola. We also get to see our ship from many vantage points along with chickens, goats, cows and other stray animals. One interesting sight was a long concrete wall along which was painted many scenes of what local life once was on this island. 

After a while we reach our first stop - a small bar and gift shop up on the top of a high hill. We get coupons for a drink and most of us (not Brooke) get a rum punch. The gift shop was small and I usually don’t buy souvenirs, but I found two tropical shirts at a very good price which I like. They are very flimsy, but for the price they are being sold at, I buy them. Sandy buys a tee shirt. While others are shopping, I make sure Brooke gets something to drink (sorry Brooke, water for you - no rum!) and a snack before I take some pictures and then get back onto the bus in preparation for our tour to continue. 

We are not on the bus 5 minutes when we hit a huge bump in the road and the backpack with Brooke’s stuff flies off the bus and onto the road. Luckily there is not much traffic, and Gus stops rather quickly, so I only have a short hike to retrieve it and return to the bus. I make sure it is well secured this time so it won’t happen again. 

After driving a while we come to our featured stop at Pussers Landing which is the shopping part of the tour. This is definitely here for the tourists, but Sandy has fun looking through the shops and even buying some banana jam from one of them. Brooke and I sit at the marina, people watching while we wait for Sandy and then return to the bus. From here we wind our way back to the ship and back on board.

Our first stop is at Cabanas where we have some lunch and then back to our stateroom where we hope Brooke will take a nap. After one and a half episodes of Doc McStuffins, she curls up with her pink blanket and falls asleep. Sandy and I take the cue from her and nap as well until Iris shows up to retrieve her.

Tonight is Pirate night on the Fantasy and our normal dinner rotation calls for us to be back at Royal Court, but instead we have booked dinner at Palo tonight, and Brooke will be spending three hours in the nursery. When we made the reservations for Palo, there were no tables of 4 available so we each booked a table of 2 separately and would ask when we checked in if we could sit together. Sandy and I arrived first, and before I could even ask, we were told that they had automatically put us together and asked if that was okay. That’s the Disney attention to detail!

On our first two Disney cruises aboard the Magic and the Wonder, Palo was a buffet type restaurant, but here it was a full service situation. From appetizer through dessert, we had a wonderful meal (I had the osso buco) served by a very personable server. For desert we all had the signature chocolate soufflé which was as good as ever.

After dinner I went off to see the ventriloquist who I missed earlier in the week and was now performing in one of the night clubs with a bit more adult act.

Our next port of call is tomorrow at St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands which is actually so close that we were able to see it from the top of one of the hills of Tortola. Our excursion isn’t quite as early tomorrow.

Trip Report - Disney Fantasy - Day 3

August 15

Today will be our second day at sea, and already a change in our usual routine. Instead of having breakfast in our stateroom as we usually do, we are headed back to Animator’s Palate for a Disney Junior character meet and greet. Today Brooke will meet characters that she is familiar with - hopefully including Doc McStuffins. We arrive and are seated and this will be the only meal we will be sharing a table with others … as usual, our assigned table at dinner includes just our traveling party. I enjoy meeting others and this morning offers me the opportunity to do so as we have very nice tablemates. 

Our first visitor of the morning is Princess Sophia the First. By this time Brooke is already having a close relationship with her breakfast, (Mickey waffles!) but takes the time to have her picture taken with Sophia but quickly is back at her favorite pastime … eating.

Next in the rotation is Jake from Jake and the Neverland Pirates. While this was a favorite of my grandsons, Brooke seems rather unimpressed with Jake but has a few pictures taken and then … you guessed it … back to the business of breakfast.

Ahhh … but who is that I see on her way to spend time with us? Yes indeed, it’s Doc McStuffins herself. Brooke sees her (lifesize! so big!) and you know right away she wants to meet her. After the Fab Five, nothing is better than meeting the toy doctor herself!

Breakfast continues … all the Mickey waffles (and scrambled eggs, etc.) that Brooke can envision. And then it happens … her mother’s boss approaches the table … the big cheese himself! The excitement is palpable … Brooke wants to see Mickey. She’s met him before on many occasions, but who can ever get enough of seeing the one and only Mickey Mouse. Gotta have a picture!

Breakfast is over, and this morning we are going to go to the toddler water area of the ship - Nemo’s Reef. Not yet potty trained so she can’t go in to any of the pools, this area is there for her. 

At this point we are not sure how she will react to all of the water, but she loves her bath and doesn’t mind being splashed with water or having it poured over her head when she gets shampooed, so we have high hopes. They are not dashed. At first Iris carrys her in and introduces her to some of the water spouts, but when she is put down on the floor - she loves it. At one point, another toddler sits down on one of the water jets on the floor and it squirts out  big time, all over Brooke. We all hold our breathes waiting to see Brooke’s reaction. She loves it!!! It’s all good. She winds up crawling through all of the water features, having a grand old time!

After a while, however, Sandy and I have to leave since we want to do one of our favorite things. We used to do it every time we are at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, but alas, the Animation Academy is no longer. But a crew member on the Fantasy is about to walk us through drawing the Old Hag from Snow White. (Okay, she has a predrawn drawing beneath her sheet, but let’s see how it goes.) I decide not to use the sheet with the printed circle on it and follow along. 

While it’s not my best attempt, it’s certainly not my worst. (That was my final drawing at the Animation Academy - Baymax!)

Today we will have lunch at Cabanas and then head to Deck 4 to relax on a deck chair. Don’t want to over exert ourselves. We have to get up early tomorrow.

The show in the Walt Disney Theater tonight is a ventriloquist who we have seen previously on the Disney Magic. 

Dinner tonight is at Enchanted Garden and once again everything is ready for Brooke when she arrives. Tonight she is up for anything and has tastes from a number of appetizers including my duck confit and Iris’s escargot. In front of her she has duck, snail and her own chicken fingers. She eats the duck and the escargot before she is left with only her chicken. Plus she is in her element, flirting with every server who has to walk by. They are all stopping to play with her and she is loving the attention. 

I was planning on seeing the new Pete’s Dragon tonight, but when all is said and done, I decide to put it off until later in the week and get to sleep relatively early as we have to meet at 8:30 in the theater tomorrow morning for our excursion on Tortola. 

Trip Report - Disney Fantasy - Day 2

August 14

Our first full day aboard ship and the first of two days at sea. To be honest, I love full days at sea. Being in port and going on an excursion is fun, but spending the day on the ship offers so much to do and the opportunity to do as little as you want. I do both … take part in activities and chill out on a deck chair all on the same day.

This day begins as all our days cruising do, with breakfast in our room. Though there are many places to go for breakfast, we have always enjoyed the benefit of room service and have breakfast in the room - or on the verandah - relaxing and watching the ship cut through the water - while preparing for our day.

This morning we will make our first trip to the Rainforest after breakfast. We check in and get our wristbands and our scrubs (Sandy gets lavender and I get orange if anyone is actually interested) and we head into the locker rooms to leave our belongings. We head into the Rainforest and check out the three saunas and pick one for this morning, followed by a visit to one of the four showers. I choose the one marked Thunderstorm and choose a tropical thunderstorm. It starts out as a warm mist and then randomly gets heavier and even heavier, and cycling back to a mist … alternating three strengths and temperatures. Next we head into a hot tub in the section that protrudes from the side of the ship. Very relaxing looking out on the Caribbean while in the hot tub. The Rainforest is quite empty at the moment so there is no one waiting to use a hot tub (there are only two here and they both accommodate only two people) so we get to enjoy our stay as long as we want. Finally we lay out on one of the hot stone lounges. (On future visits I bring either a kindle to read or my phone to listen to music.) Needless to say this has been a very relaxing way to start the day.

After a while we head back to our room to change back into our normal (?) clothes. We have agreed to watch Brooke for a while today and soon Iris shows up and we head to the Atrium and into Royal Court for lunch. Jason joins us here shortly. Unlike last night where Brooke was tired and cranky, the thought of lunch excites her and she has the first of many nice meals. Over the course of the cruise she not only has the traditional kids meals (mac and cheese, chicken nuggets, etc,) but tries - and likes - many new things. She enjoys eating and is anything but fussy! The only thing she actually rejected on this cruise was a mini-marshmallow!!

After lunch, Iris and Jason go off for a few hours on their own, and Sandy and I walk around the ship with Brooke. We head to the nightclub area and discover a crafts session for the kids. They are making animal masks. Sandy and I grab some materials and proceed to “help Brooke” make two masks. (Okay - stop snickering!!) Armed with mask pieces, a brush and some glue, we each make something that sort of looks like animal masks. Brooke seems rather unimpressed! We head back out and continue our walk around the ship.

We passed through the art gallery and then Shutters, the place where you can look at the photos which have been taken throughout the cruise. I knew at the end of the cruise I would buy a digital package … which one would depend on how many pictures (mostly with Brooke) we will have taken. At this point the only picture in our folder is our Welcome Aboard picture.

Our walk next takes us past a place to get a pastry (which we did) and then out on Deck 4. We get deck chairs and let Brooke out of her stroller to have the freedom of the deck. She quickly crawls over to the railing and stands up to watch the water, fascinated by the ship’s wake. Then she does her exercises then sits down to flirt with everyone who walks by. She does love the attention.

Not too long later, Iris finds us - thanks to the DCL Navigator app which gives us the ability to stay in touch on the ship - and we take Brooke to the nursery where she will get her first taste of shipboard daycare. She will spend a few sessions here throughout the cruise. Today she will be here for just an hour.

Unlike last night, I will be going to the show in the Walt Disney theater tonight where the show is Aladdin. The productions on DCL cruises are typical Disney theatrical productions. Tonight’s show is no exception, and we enjoy the show thoroughly. Then it is time to change for dinner.

Tonight is formal night, and the first cruise on which I no longer own a tuxedo, so it’s a suit for me this evening. Our dinner rotation tonight takes us to Animator’s Palate. Different from Animator’s Palate on our cruises aboard the Magic and the Wonder, the screens tonight show the underwater world of Finding Nemo. At one point Crush appears and has a conversation with my son-in-law about sports. (Think Turtle Talk with Crush in EPCOT) Brooke is enjoying the entertainment, and is her usual happy (and hungry) self during this meal. Thanks to DeJan, her meal is waiting for her as we arrive and she happily digs in.

After dinner we walk through some of the shops and look at the merchandise. Earlier in the day I spotted a plush Doc McStuffins. After Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, that is Brooke’s favorite TV show. I considered buying it, so while we were with her tonight, I took one off the display and handed it to her. She got excited and grabbed it. Now I knew I would buy it for her and tried to take it from her to pay for it … NOT HAPPENING! She had a death grip on the doctor and wasn’t giving her up for anything. No problem … one of the remaining Doc’s was scanned and Brooke got to keep holding her new best friend.

As we left the store and was heading to the elevator back to our rooms, a short queue was forming. It seems that Peter Pan was about to do a meet and greet so we decided to wait - photo op! Brooke has met characters in the parks before and enjoys meeting the fur characters since she knows most of them. The face characters, not so much. Her turn comes and Peter sits down on the floor with her and then the “formal” picture. 

So ends our first full day on the Fantasy and the first of two days at sea.

Trip Report - Disney Fantasy - Day 1

August 13

The day has arrived. Today we start our 7 night cruise of the Eastern Caribbean. The day starts with a quick breakfast at the Pop Century food court and then we make the short drive from Pop Century to Iris’s house. Iris and Jason are getting their car packed and Brooke will travel with us to the Park and Cruise lot near the terminal to give them a bit more room to pack all they need for a week with a toddler aboard ship.

As we go over a bridge about 10 miles from our destination, we get our first view of the Disney Fantasy sitting at the dock.

We arrive at the facility where we are shuttled to Disney’s terminal at the port. Our luggage, which has been handled for us since we turned our cars over to the Park and Cruise facility, is collected and we will next see them all at our stateroom aboard the ship. We have selected at 12:30 check-in to avoid the early rush and to have our rooms ready when we arrive. We go through security and then to check-in. Being returning DCL cruisers (Iris is a Gold Castaway Club member - the rest of us Silver), we go through the Castaway Club queue and quickly are checked in and ready to board the ship. We take our Welcome Aboard photo and then are announced as we enter the Atrium and head for Deck 8 Forward where are staterooms are. 

We drop our carry on luggage in our respective rooms and then head up to Deck 11 for the Spa tour and raffle. On past cruises Iris and Jason have signed up for a length of cruise pass to the Rainforest and this cruise Sandy and I do the same. The Rainforest contains three different saunas, four varied showers (each with multiple choices within them) which range in temperature from hot to cold and strength from mist to downpour. Small hot tubs are available in an observation deck with a view and hot stone lounges to lay back and relax on.

After the spa it is nearly 2:00 and our last chance to pick up some lunch at Cabanas which is just a quick stroll from the spa. This is the poolside buffet themed to the Cars films.

After lunch we go back briefly to our staterooms and while Brooke naps, Sandy and I check out our room and do a little arranging of our luggage, which has now arrived. While the rooms are a bit tight with the luggage out, the bed is set high enough for us to place our suitcases beneath it and out of the way. I step out on our verandah for a moment and realize that I can see into the navigation bridge where I see a crew member checking out his station. Before long it is time for the muster drill and we head to our station in the Walt Disney Theater. (Iris, Jason and Brooke’s station was standing on Deck 4 in the sun and the heat. At least we were in the air conditioned theater with comfortable seats during the drill.)

Once the drill was over, we finished setting up our stateroom and went up for the Sail Away Party, which we only caught the end of, but did catch my favorite part of the party - where the ship’s horn plays the opening notes of When You Wish Upon a Star. If timed correctly the ship then pulls out of dock, but today I believe we were waiting for some latecomers from WDW to get on board. While the ship waits for no man, if you are coming on a Disney bus from WDW (or on a Disney excursion in port) the ship will not put to sea without you.

Shortly we meet Iris, Jason and Brooke - and get Brooke an ice cream cone (yep … ice cream machines always available!) and while we are standing on deck, we do set sail. Our adventure begins!

Unlike most families with children, we have chosen the late seating for dinner since Iris works in the evening from home, and it actually fits with Brooke’s schedule very well. As such, we get to see the earlier shows in the Walt Disney Theater each night. Tonight is the Welcome Aboard show which is mostly a preview of things to come. However, I know that Iris and Jason want to have a chance to get to the Rainforest, so I volunteer to watch Brooke so they can go. Sandy goes to the show while I spend some time with Brooke until they come back so we all can get ready for dinner.

With a rotating restaurant schedule on board DCL ships, we find that our rotation is Royal Court, Animator’s Palate, Enchanted Garden and then repeat. Tonight we start our cruise in the Royal Court where we meet our server DeJan and assistant server Shawan. We also meet the Head Server Alberto who, more than any other Head Server we have had on previous cruises, was very much present and accommodating, especially towards our one year old Brooke. Alberto and DeJan made sure that Brooke was provided with whatever she would need immediately throughout the entire cruise. We would arrive at our table at night and her meal, drink and all would be waiting for her.

Tonight, after a very long and stressful day, Brooke was a bit restless and cranky at dinner and Iris briefly took her out of the dining room a few times to calm her down - and not to bother the others in the dining room. At this point we all hoped that this would not be how the rest of the week went.

After dinner, due to the long day mentioned above, we all decided to call it a night. Tomorrow will be the first of two straight days at sea as we steam towards our first port of call - Tortola in the British Virgin Islands.

Where in WDW? Challenge 72

Yeah, yeah, yeah - I know it's been a while ... but you know ... life.

But here we are ... but where are we?

Make your guesses below and come back next week for the reveal ...

(I promise to try to have a new one by then)

60 Days to 60 Years of Disneyland - 1978

Welcome to my contribution to 60 Days to 60 Years of Disneyland. As we move towards Disneyland's 60th anniversary on July 17, we continue to look at what happened year by year at the park. 1978 was rather an uninspired year for Disneyland, but in this entry we will look at an event that happened that year that is still impacting Disney Parks and Resorts division to this day! But more of that later.

First, you have to know how Disneyland (and then Walt Disney World) has been a part of my family's consciousness since - well, the beginning. (Be sure to click on the links along the way.)

I was two and a half years old (because at that age, half years are important) when Disneyland opened on July 17, 1955, so I really don't have a memory of watching the TV special - though I am told that we did. But I do remember watching the Disney Sunday night TV shows through all of it's name and network changes and clearly remember that my favorites were those which featured Disneyland. It seemed all so wonderful - but living in NYC it also seemed all so far away. A place I would never get to. Flying to go on vacation was not yet common. So for now I would enjoy Disneyland through the magic of black and white TV.

Then came a series of shows on The Wonderful World of Color describing some new attractions that WED Enterprises (today known as Walt Disney Imagineering) was developing. These shows weren't going to Disneyland - at least not directly - but would be featured at the New York World's Fair of 1964/1965! Right in my "back yard!" I would get to experience Disneyland style attractions for myself! And in April of 1964 I did just that during the first of many visits over the next 2 years.

We saw the Ford exhibit with its history of man - though what we most remember of that were the dinosaurs. We drove past the cavemen and the dinosaurs which we had seen on Sunday night as Walt showed off his World's Fair shows. We sat and listened to Lincoln give a speech and we paid our 10 cents to take a boat ride while being serenaded by the children of the world. However, the one attraction which stood out for me was General Electric's Progressland! Imagine ... the line for this was consistently 3 hours or more! Remember, no one had seen human audioanimatronics before the fair ... and this show had lots of them ... and a theater that revolved around the stage.

After two years the fair was over and I thought that was it for Disney attractions for me. Then in the summer of 1968 my parents (teachers with 10 weeks of summer vacation just like us kids) announced that we would be driving cross country from NY to California and would be visiting Disneyland. (And a lot of other places ... but ... DISNEYLAND!!) So in 1968, I actually got to go to The Happiest Place on Earth!

Of course, I once again saw the Disney shows which thrilled me so much at the NY World's Fair. The Ford dinosaurs could now be seen from the Disneyland Railroad ... The Pepsi/UNICEF boatride still serenaded you in It's A Small World ... Lincoln still orated at Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln ... and the theater still revolved around the decades at Carousel of Progress (relocated now to the east coast and which remains a favorite of mine).

We did that again in 1969 - and I got to experience that year's new attraction, which continues to be my all time favorite ... the Haunted Mansion. But still, Disneyland was too far from us for frequent visits. Then we heard rumors that Walt would build a Disneyland on the east coast. Could it be true? It was, and on December 25, 1971, my family and I walked through the gates at Walt Disney World in Central Florida for the first time. (Did you know that until Disney started televising the Christmas Parade that Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were the least crowded days of the year at the Magic Kingdom?) Now we could visit more often and we did.

But in 1978, Walt Disney Studios (as the company was still called) was in deep financial trouble. The movies that were released were lackluster to say the least, and the company was about to come under attack for the purpose of takeover and probably having its parts sold off. (Can you imagine Disneyland being owned by Six Flags for example? Most people don't know, but the original Six Flags park - Six Flags over Texas - was Disney inspired. Following a visit to Disneyland, wealthy real estate developer Angus G. Wynne, Jr. decided that his home state of Texas should have a local park for entertainment.) For the first time Disney reached into its vaults and released a few titles on laserdisc. (When I was able to obtain a laserdisc copy of Disney's Song of the South, I promptly went out and bought a laserdisc player!) Disneyland (along with Walt Disney World) was suffering as well. Not much new was happening in Disneyland with the exception of the Matterhorn bobsleds reopening after a rehab which saw new sights - three abominable snowmen and a glowing ice cave - added. An adult ticket with 11 attractions would cost you $6.75. And, oh yeah, Mickey Mouse celebrated his 50th birthday in 1978. Attendance was down at both parks ... DL and WDW (which only had the Magic Kingdom at this time). Part of the problem, at least as far as the parks were concerned, was that Disney, now led by Walt's son-in-law Ron Miller as company president and Card Walker as CEO, was still blindly continuing most of Walt's policies. One of those policies was to do no advertising for the parks. Walt and Roy didn't think it was necessary, and the powers that be at the Walt Disney Studios were timidly sticking to the old ways. WDW did get some exposure, however, when it was announced that a new park would be built, to be called EPCOT Center ... a permanent world's fair type park.

It would not be the EPCOT that Walt described as his Florida Project. Roy had never bought into that, but when two separate ideas for the new park were put together in what would become Future World and World Showcase, Walt's Experimental Prototype Community Of Tomorrow was revived as the name of the soon to be second gate at Walt Disney World.

But wait ... at the beginning I mentioned that something would happen in 1978 that is still impacting Disney Parks and Resorts. If not the announcement of EPCOT, then what could that be?

On July 26, 1978, my daughter was born! So how does this affect Disney Parks and Resorts? First of all, you have you realize that with parents (yes, my wife fits into this as well) who are huge Disney fans, she and my son would have no choice but to be as well. They started being regular visitors to Walt Disney World at a very young age, and have even made the pilgrimage to the west coast to visit Disneyland.

As she prepared to enter high school, she auditioned for the marching band since she knew that each February they travelled down to WDW to perform. Two years later, my son took the same path. During the trip in her senior year I overheard her telling a friend that after college she would work in Disney World. That same trip she ran into a former band member who was working in EPCOT on the College Program. In her senior year in college she interviewed for and was accepted to the Walt Disney World College Program (WDWCP) and would take part the autumn after graduation. Unlike her brother who did the College Program two years earlier (he worked in the Haunted Mansion), she planned on staying on at WDW. That was 15 years ago. After working at Conservation Station in Animal Kingdom, and then at the front desk at Caribbean Beach Resort (with brief stops at All Star Sports and Grand Floridian), she has spent most of her Disney career in the IT Department where she is now. If you have ever been checking in at a Disney Resort and the front desk agent had a problem with the check-in computer system and called for help ... there is a good chance that your check in was facilitated by her.

Then in August 2011, she got married in a Disney Fairytale Wedding. (You know how many dads will tell you that their son-in-law is goofy? Well, I have the pictures to prove it.) (At least he was a while ago, he has since moved on.)

The family tradition continues and my son's twin 5 and a half year old boys (that half year is still important!) have been to WDW four times already (and while they don't yet know it - are returning in less than 2 months), and my daughter is about to have her own Disney Princess this summer ... and no doubt that WDW will be her playground.

So there you have it ... why 1978 was crucial to Disney Parks and Resorts ... at least in my humble opinion.

For more entries in 60 Days to 60 Years of Disneyland, click on the links below.

An InLinkz Link-up

Sixty Years!

On July 17, 1955, Walt Disney officially opened his "small park" to the world, forever changing the amusement park industry - not to mention the way so many of us take vacations.

This summer will mark the 60th Anniversary of the opening of that magical place ... and the celebrations that go along with it.

The DISTherapy blog - as it has done in the past for notable Disney anniversaries - is hosting "60 Days to 60 Years of Disneyland". As I have done in the past, I will be one of the 60 bloggers to be taking part.

I hope you will follow along as it moves through the years. Click on the links below to follow along.

See ya real soon!

An InLinkz Link-up