I am just wrapping up a week at the beach with my family. I mean cousins, aunts, nephews, my brother and my sister and her family. We had roughly twenty people in one house, and you could not take a step without bumping into someone you were related to. I would love to tell you it was too chaotic to be enjoyable, but the truth of the matter is that I love being surrounded by the people I love. The kids look forward to it every year, too.

It got me thinking about what makes a family. Is it the group of people you grew up with and started your life’s journey with, or is it the family you have created with the person you married? Is it the people you love but don’t see often, or is it the people you pick up the phone to call when you need a shoulder to cry on? I have discovered that the answer is "all of the above."

Dear Summer,

You have finally arrived! We have waited for you to get here since our Christmas break. After a year of too many illnesses and too many school projects, we were overjoyed to start counting the days until your arrival. You bring us hope, joy and mornings where we can sleep late. You bring us long evening walks, late night movies and trips that can last longer than a weekend. We love when you show up and every one feels a very heavy burden lifted from their shoulders. In fact, I could go as far as saying you are our favorite time of year.

However, I do have a few requests while you are here.

Now I know why we are only given one birthday per year. Sure, you can argue the logic there can only be one birthday because you are only born once and therefore you can only have one day to celebrate. That is absolutely not the reason we only have one birthday a year. The real reason? Because parents need an entire year to recover from their kids’ birthday parties. For real. Look it up.

My daughter turned eight on April 2nd but through illness after illness after illness (with some swine flu scare thrown in for good measure), we had to postpone her party until this past weekend. Birthday parties where I live are usually a big event. I think it is written in the city by-laws that it has to cost a fortune and be held somewhere fun. You spend hundreds of dollars to show up somewhere with nothing but the birthday girl and some cake and leave with presents and a lighter wallet. But my daughter decided she wanted to have a slumber party. I thought that was a brilliant idea. Both of my boys had sleepover parties when they were around her age. They were easy. They were loud, but easy!

You see with the boys all that I really had to do was put them in the game room with some video games, movies and a pizza. (And occasionally some air freshener to cover over the boy-feet stink.)

10. One of them asks for your car keys and tells you he will drive. And? It is not only legal but he is good at it. Not to mention the fact that he begins telling you about the “rules of the road” when you are driving. When did this young child suddenly know more “rules” about driving than you?

9. When you get a new electronic gizmo or gadget you find yourself handing it to them and asking them to load it up the best applications and features. They know more about technology than you do even when you think you are tech-savvy. (But at least I don’t have a VCR that blinks 12:00 all the time!)

8. You no longer are in charge of carefully scheduling and planning each meal they eat. They actually go to the grocery store with you to pick out their favorite foods. And? They know how to fix it themselves. (That is a glorious moment, my friends!) Let’s not even talk about the fact they begin to eat you out of house and home before you realize it!

I just dropped off my oldest teenager at his first driver’s education class. I am sitting in my Traverse writing this on the back of an information sheet I picked up at the driving school. I know most of you reading this have babies or toddlers, maybe even school-age kids, and driver’s ed is the furthest thing from your mind. Trust me. It sneaks up on you faster than you can imagine.

After a mad dash of gathering all of the information they needed, filling out all of the paperwork and handing over a check, it became official. I have a son who is now old enough and mature enough to learn how to drive a car. It seems like yesterday he was crashing his Hot Wheels into my feet as we watched cartoons together.