Off to the hospital we went...

Where to start...
The biggest news from the last three weeks was Benjamin had a hernia and then had surgery to repair it the next day. A week ago Sunday, Benjamin was playing with Alex and then started complaining that his private area hurt. After Sean took a look, he concluded Benjamin likely had a hernia. This was then confirmed by a useless visit to the weekend clinic. Our next course of action was to call Dr. Cortez, Benjamin's urologist, on his cell phone. Dr. Cortez picked up right away (on a Sunday morning, no less) and said he was already on his way to the hospital to check on another patient. He met us in the ER and was able to push the hernia back in. Yeah for Dr. Cortez! He then said he would work Benjamin into his surgery schedule on Monday. It was a little surreal to be back at the hospital after so long, especially after I had just stated to a mom in the last month that Benjamin hadn't been in the hospital for surgery in 18 months. The parking attendant was the same, the lady at registration was the same, the OR nurse, the anesthesiologist...you get the idea. Ultimately, Dr. Cortez ended up repairing hernias on Benjamin's left and right sides. That should save Benjamin another ER run and surgery in the future. He has been slowly recovering over the last week. He seems to be getting back to normal which is good because it's hard to keep a three year old calm and quiet. Benjamin is an awesome little boy and was very brave during the whole process! Once again, his least favorite part is the fact that he can't have water beforehand. We hate denying him water, but it has to be done.

We enjoyed 4th of July even though we didn't go to Iowa for the big shindig at the cabin. I was sad to miss the big party, but we decided we are going up around Christmas so we can see Dude's baby (who is due in October) and so the kids can see snow. We went to the neighborhood "parade" which consisted of a fire engine and lots of bikes, strollers and scooters and then to the pool party. The kids' favorite part is the money dive where they throw money into the pool and the kids gather it. Emma got almost $5 and Alex got about $3. Nickels, quarters and a few dollar coins add up! We went to some local fireworks with several families. The kids had a ball beforehand doing sparklers, pop rocks and watching little fire work shows all around us. Benjamin was a big fan of the pop rocks. He used his whole body to throw those things down and make them pop. We all enjoyed the fireworks even the really loud ones. Amazingly, none of the kids has ever been scared of fireworks. This is particularly great considering that Emma threw up during the last thunderstorm. :(The kids are just about done with swim team for the summer. This is the last week. I can't believe we're already at the end. It is such a great activity for them...fun, excellent exercise, good skill to have, etc. We'll let you know if Alex qualifies for the special meet on Sunday where the kids swim at UT. He hasn't qualified yet since he moved up an age group this year and the qualifying times are quite a bit faster. He has a decent shot at making it in backstroke and/or individual medley. Otherwise, there's always next year. (A favorite saying of the Chicago Cubs :( )

Sean and Alex had allergy testing done last week. It appears they both are excellent candidates for allergy shots. Alex actually is allergic to more things than Sean which is saying something. We're hopeful allergy shots will work for both of them and make a big difference in their lives. Alex is not thrilled, but we think it will make his life so much better.

Brushes with those bound for space...Recently, Sean found out that one of his teaching assistants was chosen for the European Space Agency astronaut pool. He is the first Danish astronaut and beat out other people who had been "pre-selected" for the pool. Today, Sean found out that his old lab partner from University of Illinois was chosen for the newest NASA astronaut pool. Mike Hopkins was one that we thought from early on would be someone who could make it in. He received an aeronautical/astronautical engineering degree from U of I while playing as the starting safety on the football team. He was always very gracious, conscientious, driven, and interesting to be around. I remember sitting in the computer lab with Sean and him while they worked through their labs. Congratulations to Mike Hopkins! Awesome!
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31623240/ns/technology_and_science-space/