Welcome to the 2006 edition of
The Carroll Family
Web Page
The year 2006 finds us still living in
Florida for what will be our 6th year. Liz, Matthew and I; like the majority of people here; are
transplants. Victoria is a rare
thing down here, a native.
Im sure most of you are here for
pictures of the kids and a quick update on what is going on in our lives, so I
will cut to the chase. I will update
this as often as I can or as needed. I
will post the date of the last update and always add it to the top.
05/03/05
Disney with Andrew and Kim.
Click Here for pictures by Matt and Liz.
Click Here for pictures by Victoria.
Click Here for pictures by Matthew.
04/20/06 Hey, another year, another entry Every once in a while (about once a year) I think of this page and go check to see if it is still here. When it is I feel I need to update it. So much has changed over the years that this page is really not the best place to do this anymore. I should have a BLOG. It is easier to do quick updates than changing the code on this page. So I think I will try to set one up and forward anyone who comes to this page over to the new blog. I hope it won't be a year befor I get it setup and post the link. We'll see.
04/06/05 Kite Boarding Update. I took it out on Saturday (04/02/05) Afternoon. I went up to the middle school field. It was a bit windy, maybe even a little too windy for the size of the kite I am using. But that wasn't going to stop me! When I got there I was the only person around, well actually it was Matthew, his buddy John and I. They went about riding their bikes around the track while I got everything set up.
I get the kite up in the air and into the neutral position. I do a few small figure eights at the top of the power zone and I'm ready to do my first power move. I start the kite to the left and down into the power zone. The pull is amazing! I have my feet out in front of me, shoulders back behind my hips so I am now leaning back at about a 45 degree angle, and IT'S PULLING! I am basically skiing across the grass. What a rush! As you bring it back to neutral it wants to lift, to fight that you just about sit on the ground with your feet out in front of you. I would ride it to one side and then walk it back to the center, then the other side and back to the center. The wind seemed to be getting stronger or I was getting weaker, so I rode the length of the football field in a zigzag motion; on my heals; with my A$$ bumping all the way.
What I forgot to mention was that when you put a kite that big in the sky; in a field that backs up to a residential neighborhood; you draw a crowd. I didn't feel safe with my limited abilities, the wind and the amount of people, so when I got to the other end of the field, I brought it down and packed it up and went home.
I have had it out twice since then; Monday night and yesterday at lunch; neither time was as windy as it was Saturday. They were just good learning days. I am much more confident with the kite now. I launch, re-launch, save it, and steer it with ease now.
Next is getting in the water with it. Basically you are shark bait being drug behind a kite. You have to get used to being pulled around in the water and keeping control of the kite at the same time before you even attempt to get on a board.
I’ll keep ya posted.
03/31/05 This time its been over a year between updates, what can I tell ya. I decided to take up Kite Boarding.
I had my first lesson today. The guy who is teaching me works here and the beach is only a few blocks away. We have been working on the "book work" here at the office during lunches. You know; technique, safety and stuff like that. Well today was my first flying of the kite. Picture this; I have a bathing suit on under my clothes. We jump in his truck, drive to the beach, find a place to park, strip to our suits, pull the gear out of the back and Bam, we are ready to fly.
We go over laying out the lines, setting up the kite for launch etc. He launches it, gives a few last words of advice and hands it over to me. I hold it in a neutral position and can't believe how much it pulls. First I am to steer it left and then right in small figure eight patterns. It takes me only a minute or two to plant it in the sand. Steering is all about little movements. I now understood this, in theory, so I launched it this time. During launch, while you are getting it up to the "neutral" position, you pass right through the "Power Band". This is the area where the kite pulls you forward the hardest. With your heels out in front of you plowing through the sand you get pulled a good 30 - 35 feet down the beach. Once it's up to the neutral point you can walk it back to where you started.
I did my small figure eights for a while and my arms were getting pretty fatigued. It was time to call it a day and James says "OK, I want you to steer it hard left to where it looks like it is going to crash into the water, then pull it up a neutral position. Steering it hard in either direction is how you "Power Up" the kite. So again I was going to be plowing up the beach with my heels. I turn it hard left, it's coming down and towards the water, and it's pulling me down the beach and towards the water. I turn it right to bring it back to neutral. Now let's pause here for a minute while I take you back to where I said that steering is all about little movements............. OK, I turn it hard right; to hard right and this takes the kite straight through the middle of the power band in the opposite direction and its now pulling me behind like a rag doll. I do what is known as a "Superman". I let the kite pull me forward, shoulders further forward then the hips. At that point, all was lost and I struck the superman pose. Now I'm sure Superman had to deal with his share of windburn, but I don't think it compares to being dragged along the beach on your belly and forearms. When you let go of the bar all the tension is released on all but the center line, the kite folds and falls to the beach. It is amazing how far you can be dragged in the amount of time it takes for a dumb ass like me to realize its time to let go and for the kite to actually reach to the beach.
Lesson Over.
Now it's time to put the kite away and dump the 5 lbs. of sand that had filled my trunks. Since I got wet doing my super hero move I went in the Gulf and rinsed off. There is a shower at the parking lot but this job was too big to for that. I did rinse under it also. Then it was quick change in the parking lot and back to work. So now I sit here with sand in my socks (and a few other places we won't talk about) a few small brush burns and the biggest smile in the world.
Man, I can't wait to do that again.
I'll keep you posted.
03/18/04 So its been 3 months again between updates, what can I tell ya. Liz is no longer working. She is going to Real Estate School as I type this. I am still working full time at ASG. The guys from Ireland are here to learn the project that I have been working on for the last two years. They will be taking it over and back to Ireland. I will be moved to a new project but nobody knows which one. Comforting! Matthew turned 5 last week and Victoria turns 2 today. I turn 36 tomorow. Boy, everybody is getting old fast. We went to Disney to Celebrate. What a great time. Matthew has not stopped talking long enough to take a breath since we got back. I will try to put some Pictures of the birthdays and Disney trip on the photos page soon.
01/27/04 3 months between the last updates. 6 months between this update and the last. Something has to change. Victoria is doing much better with her ears. She had tubes put in and they seem to be doing the trick. She is talking up a storm and is getting more independent every day. "No Daddy!, I do it!!"
Matthew is getting taller everyday. He is doing great in pre-school. He will be playing T-ball in the spring. Of course Soccer and Swiming will be squeezed in there too.
Liz is still working at the Architectural office. She gets better looking everyday. We will celebrate 12 years of Marriage this Feb. on our third anniversery. (Think about it.)
I just got my Florida Real Estate License. All I need to do now is activate it with a Broker. The company I work for has decided to open an office in Northern Ireland. They are hiring programers there because the Government of Ireland gives great incentives. The ironic part is the U.S. Government gives millions of Dollars to Ireland to build up there Technology sector. So in essence, I pay taxes so we can give it to Ireland so they can give it to my Company so that they can outsource my job. Go figure.
06/30/03 WOW is this year flying by or what. Things have been crazy around here. Victoria has had ear infections for what seems like years. They have been trying all kinds of different meds but nothing seems to clear them up. Well this past weekend we caught a break from the runny nose so we had her one year portraits done. You can see them here. Victoria's portraits.
03/23/03 Ok, so it's been a while, what can I tell you. I'm busy working,chasing the kids or playing hockey. If you want to see Christmas pictures, your out of luck. Maybe I will get to them some day. But for now here are pictures from Matthew's 4th and Victoria's 1st birthdays.
12/20/02 I know, this is supposed to be the
2003 page but I have to start building it now if I want it out there for
2003. We are almost ready for Sants to
stop by. Our tree is up, the trains are
running and the stockings are hung.
Since I know I have been a good boy all year I’m sure Santa will bring
me a PS2 and a few games. If he gets a
little confused and brings me a Game Cube or an X-box instead, I’ll understand
and still be very happy!