HAWAII

Every Fall Marcus and Millichap (the company Adam works for) has a Manager's Retreat on the Big Island of Hawaii at the Four Seasons Hualalai Resort. Wives are invited to attend the 5 day event. While the guys are in Meetings for two of the days, the wives get to play the whole time! Words cannot express how much I absolutely LOVE this trip and this place! It is simply paradise! I look so forward to the trip, every year, and without fail, it comes and goes so quickly.


We arrive on Sunday and Monday, while the guys are in meetings, the wives (or guests) get to play. We always have a choice of three activities. Usually there is a golf or tennis lesson, an ocean activity like snorkling, boat tours, etc. and an island activity like hiking, horseback riding, etc. This year the island activity was ATV tours. Yep, four wheelin' in the mud! I chose this activity and had soooo much fun! The four wheelers were huge, the ground was soaked because of the rain they always get on that side of the island, and to say the least, we were all covered in mud by the time we got back. It was probably the best activity I've ever done while on this trip (and this was our 6th trip)!


One of the greatest highlights of the our yearly trip is being able to spend time with some of the wonderful people we had become friends with through M&M! We look so forward to hanging out with Jonathon and Jody Weiss! Jonathon has been Adam's mentor, collegue, boss and best friend for the past 9 1/2 years! Jody and I have been M&M widows together and have always gotten along so well. We miss living close to them in California and so seeing them in a Paradisical environment every year helps make up for that! We always laugh ourselves silly, talk in quiet low voices (which thinking about that right now has given me the giggles...we hunker down in our seats, lean in to the middle of the table and whisper-talk....hilarious, at least to me), and swap stories about kids, life and family! Our favorite spot is breakfast at one of the resort restaurants. This one overlooks the ocean! It is beautiful!



Another fun event they have for us while we are there is the Annual Marcus and Millichap Golf Scramble. Anyone who wants to golf is involved. They divide everyone as equally as possible according to skill level and send out foursomes all day long. At the end there is a fun awards banquet with winners getting prizes as well as "commissioner" awards for funny or unusual things that happen out on the golf course! The men go out first! The Clubhouse Restaurant overlooks the 18th fairway so it is somewhat intimidating for the women to come in after the men, who are all watching over the balcony as we tee off and come in the finish our rounds. My team this year was SOOOOOO much fun! Ali, Elizabeth, Jackie and I had a blast! We were even goofy enough to try to match outfits. Elizabeth's hat and shirt matched but she couldn't find any pink shorts or golf skirts. She felt bad about it but who cares! We still all looked the part of golfers and that's what counted most!

There was talk of us trying out another resort next year...I'm sure whatever they decide will be fabulous, but we will certainly miss Hualalai!