Nate did  really well though! As you can see from the photo, we were sitting in the upper deck, which was “pretty cool” to Nate, although I think he wasn’t into the actual game play as much as he might have been if we were sitting closer. (There is just something about HEARING the ball smack into the catcher’s glove when the pitcher (Yu Darvish) throws a 97 mph fastball!

Nate really did get into the cheering, and he loved all the different songs and chants that go along with live baseball games! Another thing that Nate thought was especially cool was recognizing the “songs about Jesus” that a couple of players had as their “intro” songs that played as they came up to bat.

It probably would not have mattered to Nate any, but the 47,085 fans that were at the Rangers stadium appreciated that the Rangers were victorious over the Yankees 2-0!

We had a little bit of excitement around our little part of Texas recently when a TORNADO decided to tear through town!

Texas tornado in 136-165 mph wind range

Elizabeth begged to use my iPad in the middle of the tornado chaos, turns out she felt compelled to create a ‘weather report’ with the video camera!

Starting to adjust to empty and (relatively) clean streets in America! After living in Asia for the past decade, seeing an empty street like this at any time of the day makes you think for a second that something terrible has happened!

Red and blue strobes explode in your mirrors. You pull to the side of the road and madly begin fishing through the glove box for your registration and insurance. Then you tear off the seatbelt so you can jam a hand down your pants to locate your wallet. Just trying to be courteous, right? You know, have all your documents ready when The Man strolls up to your window.

Turns out, most cops don’t want you to do anything except rest your hands on top of the steering wheel until directed otherwise.

Didn’t know that, did you? Neither did we.

FIVE BEST THINGS TO DO

1. Pull to the right at the first safe opportunity, then turn off your engine.

If it’s not a safe place to stop, Oregon’s Lt. Gregg Hastings wants you to activate your right-turn signal, then drive slowly to a safer place. “A safer place, by the way, isn’t a considerable distance down a dark side road, driveway, or alley,” he says. “Keep in mind that traffic-related officer deaths jumped 16 percent in 2006,” Hastings adds.

2. Stay in your car with your seatbelt fastened. Roll down your window. Turn off the radio. Don’t even think about touching your cell phone.

“When a motorist climbs out of his vehicle,” says New Jersey’s Sgt. Stephen Jones, “it may give the impression he’s aggressive or has something to hide in the vehicle. I remember a man who briskly walked back to my car. I ordered him back, and he kept trying to give me his credentials at the rear of his car. The source of his consternation was two marijuana plants partly under a cloth in his back seat.”

“I pulled over a guy in a Jeep CJ, and he exited his vehicle,” recalls New Mexico’s Lt. Richard Anglada. “That’s when I realized his Jeep was rolling back toward my brand-new police car. Summoning all my strength, I had to hold his Jeep from rolling while I told him to set his brake—another reason we want people to stay in their cars.”

“Roll down your window completely,” adds Sergeant Jones. “Nothing’s more frustrating than trying to speak through a slightly cracked window. If you only give me an inch-wide gap, you hinder my ability to determine your sobriety and are more likely to be invited to continue the conversation outside your car.”

If you don’t leave your seatbelt on, the officer may also assume you were driving unbelted, thus another ticket.

There are exceptions to the stay-in-your-car rule, however. “We always ask the driver to exit the vehicle with his license, registration, and proof of insurance,” says Louisiana Trooper Johnnie Brown. What if you’re not sure whether to stay put or climb out? “Just sit still,” Brown says, “and it won’t be long before we’ll tell you what we want.”

3. Place your hands on top of the steering wheel and sit quietly. Ask passengers to remain silent.

“Whatever dangers we face, they will be channeled through the hands,” says Sergeant Jones. “We’d like to see the hands of every person in the car, frankly.”

Although they don’t insist on it, Lieutenant Hastings, as well as most other troopers, greatly prefer that you tell them where you’re about to reach. “It puts me at ease if you say, ‘I’m going to reach for my wallet now,’ ” he says, “or, ‘I need to open the glove box, okay?’ ”

4. Retrieve license, registration, and proof of insurance only when asked to do so.

Illinois M.Sgt. Luis Gutierrez appreciates it if you turn on your four-way flashers and your interior lights, especially at night. And Lieutenant Hastings strongly advises that you know where your documents are before you’re stopped. “If you start fumbling around, it suggests the car may not be yours, or that you may not have a license, or that you’re hoping the officer won’t see what you’ve hidden in the car,” he says. “And when you find your documents, don’t throw them at me.”

“I find it funny when a driver is reluctant to open his glove box, usually because he doesn’t want me to see what’s in there,” says Lieutenant Anglada. “He’ll open it as slowly as possible to avoid anything falling out. From my vantage, I usually see the contraband before he does.”

Adds Florida Trooper Larry Coggins, “A traffic stop is not the time to clean out your car, sorting through 10 years’ worth of registrations and insurance cards. Also, tell me immediately if you have a gun [legal or otherwise] anywhere on you or in the vehicle.”

“Never reach under your seat,” adds Sergeant Jones, “and never reach into the passenger area.”

“I stopped a motorist for speeding, and he was a security guard,” remembers Trooper Brown. “He exited the vehicle with his service revolver on his side. I made him place his hands on his head, then removed the weapon from his holster, removed the bullets, and placed the revolver separate from the bullets in the passenger compartment. Any weapon—gun, knife, pepper spray, whatever—tell me first.”

5. Answer questions succinctly. Avoid arguing, cursing, or interrupting when the officer speaks to you.

“Don’t assert your disgust about traffic laws,” suggests Trooper Coggins. “There’s nothing we can do about the laws, and the side of the highway is no place to argue your case. Save it for court.”

“Arguing with a trooper about speed,” says Sergeant Jones, “is like spitting into the wind.”

“Be civil,” advises Trooper Brown. “I stopped a pizza-delivery vehicle for 60 mph in a 45 zone. The driver told me to hurry up, that he had a pizza to deliver in 30 minutes or less. I asked for registration and proof of insurance, and he didn’t have either. I informed him I’d have to tow his vehicle for not having the required paperwork. He began to curse at me. After a brief inspection of the vehicle, he received seven tickets.”

FIVE WORST THINGS TO DO

1. Don’t slam on your brakes when you see the flashing lights, and don’t continue driving for an extended distance.

“At times, those actions are perceived as intentional,” says Lieutenant Hastings. “They just place an officer on edge.”

2. Do not jump out of the vehicle, do not make any sudden movements, and do not approach the officer.

“I pulled over a ’60s-model Chevy truck one night,” recalls Lieutenant Anglada, “and the driver gets out and is running toward my car with his hands wrapped in a blanket. I feared he was concealing a weapon. So I drew my side arm and ordered him to show me his hands. Turned out that his old truck didn’t have a heater—he was freezing.”

“Motorists should try to put themselves in my place,” suggests Trooper Coggins. “Just because I stopped a guy for speeding, it still runs through my mind that he might be fleeing a crime scene, might be a wanted fugitive, impaired, a kidnapper with a body in the trunk, a carjacker who hasn’t been called in yet—I just don’t know.”

3. You can complain, you can proffer wild explanations, but not for long.

Lieutenant Anglada claims way too often to have heard the excuse, “I was speeding because I had to go to the bathroom.” He recalls a woman who used that justification, then exited her car. “She asked if I’d hold a blanket around her while she squatted to relieve herself,” Anglada recalls. “I advised her to stroll off into the bushes while I waited. She still got the ticket. Over the years, officers develop an excellent ear for sincerity.”

“We stress to our troopers not to issue ‘attitude tickets,’ ” says Lieutenant Hastings. “But we can take only so much complaining before we’ve heard enough.”

4. Do not lie. If you were speeding, admit it. If you honestly have no clue why you were stopped, wait for the officer to tell you.

“There’s no substitute for frankness, but often we just see freakiness,” says Sergeant Jones. “Don’t respond with, ‘Why’d you stop me? Don’t you have criminals to catch?’ That’s a sure-fire way to receive justice rather than mercy. And think again if you believe you’ve come up with an excuse for speeding that we haven’t heard.”

“If people are honest and admit they’re wrong,” says Lieutenant Anglada, “90 percent of the time I’ll drop their speed or just give them a warning. If the person lies or accuses the officer of being wrong, 99 percent of the time the driver is going to get the ticket with no break.”

5. Do not show your contempt by peeling away after the stop.

Says Lieutenant Hastings, “Squealing your tires, tossing gravel at me, cutting off other motorists as you pull back on the highway—that’ll get you another several minutes with the same officer who just stopped you.”

The website for the festival claimed that this was the only ‘official’ bluebonnet festival and it used alot of language to suggest this was THE place for Texas Bluebonnets.

Ennis was designated by the 1997 State Legislature as the home of the“Official Texas Bluebonnet Trail” and was designated the “Official Bluebonnet City of Texas.”

Remember to stop by the Ennis Visitor Center to pick up your highlighted Bluebonnet Trail Map.  The staff and volunteers at the Ennis Visitor Center will highlight the best trails on this map on the day of your visit.

So, we drove down there (about an hour drive from Arlington, TX) with somewhat high expectations.  After all, the bluebonnets around here are pretty impressive, so the bluebonnets in the “Official Bluebonnet City” ought to be out of this world!

We did find some bluebonnets in one small section of a park at the beginning of the ‘bluebonnet trail’ and took some photos.  We were pretty disappointed by the amount of bluebonnets at the park, but thought we were likely to see some fantastic fields of bluebonnets as we drove along the trail, so we moved on.

However, for the next hour or so, we traveled along the trail and saw almost NO more bluebonnets!  It seems the ‘Offical Bluebonnet City’ does not have many bluebonnets this year or our friendly volunteer highlighted the wrong trail(s) when I picked up the trail map!
 
It worked out okay, we had fun driving in the country (sans bluebonnets), we had a nice picnic outside and everyone stayed relatively happy for the entire outing.

We did see some really beautiful bluebonnets on our drive back home (between Dallas and Arlington) so we did get to enjoy some bluebonnets after all.

Just be warned – if you are going to Ennis for the Bluebonnet Festival – don’t get your hopes up that your going to be seeing very many bluebonnets!

Turns out, a couple of high school kids in New Jersey put Chuck Norris’ name on a ‘hit list.’

Chuck Norris, being a class act, put out this thoughtful statement when he heard about the arrests:

 

“When I learned yesterday [Wednesday] of the story about a high school student in New Jersey faced with expulsion from school and possible other problems after being charged with compiling a ‘hit list’ that contained my name, my first instinct was to say nothing. Not to risk making something out to be bigger than it is.

“But I realize that this is not the best course, for such behaviors are exactly the warning signs we have ignored for far too long, emanating from a growing at-risk population of young people in this country.

“In today’s world, we must always be vigilant, not just in stepping up protection and emergency preparedness in schools, but in reaching out to those lost souls who feel marginalized and disenfranchised by the world around them.

“It is what I have been doing for more than a decade with my ‘KickStart’ program, which began in Houston, Texas, teaching 150 at-risk children martial arts as part of the PE curriculum. Since that time, our program, which instills discipline and respect and raises self-esteem, has grown to serve more than 6,000 youngsters year round at 37 schools in Dallas and Houston, Texas. To date, KickStart has graduated more than 40,000 students with many going on to college and becoming successful in their own right.

“My hope is that, should there be substance to these charges, we will not distance ourselves from this young man, but embrace him and give him the help he needs to get on the right path.”

His statement just confirms what a great guy Chuck Norris is.

All I’ve got to say about those two kids, if they were serious, WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?!