Saturday, June 13, 2026 // Day 6
I bopped downstairs around 7 to go retrieve my online breakfast order and boy was that first floor bustling! We’re on the 22nd floor, and the elevator must have stopped 6 or 7 (six seeevenn) times on the way down, only fitting people into it the first three times. There was a funny moment when the door opened, the people saw we were full and decided not to squeeze in, and one of the elevator riders hit the door close button. Well someone waiting for the elevator hit the “I need an elevator” button before the door closed, so it opened again. This happened 2 or 3 times before the doors finally closed and we descended. The elevator crew all laughed. It was definitely elevator rush hour time.
For breakfast I ordered an açaí bowl from Island Vintage Coffee again - this time I got the Pineapple-Mint Moana Bowl topped with pineapple-mint sorbet, papaya, berries, granola and honey.
I went back to the room and retrieved Aaron and we went shopping. My goal was to find a Hawaiian t-shirt made in Hawaii. I never have anything to wear for “vacation” themed-dress up days at school, so I figured now was my time!
The parade for the King Kamehameha celebration was supposed to start at 9, so we sat along the parade route waiting. Kamehameha was the first ruler to unite all of the Hawaiian islands as one nation. When we talked about him later, Aaron and his dad shared something his dad used to say when Aaron and his brother were kids - "King Kamehameha / lost his underwe-ah / went to the store / to get another pai-ah." I used that saying to try and help me remember how to pronounce Kamehameha!
I realized that the parade started an hours walk away so it wouldn’t reach us until 10. We walked down Kalakaua Avenue about a half mile to Island Vintage Shaved Ice so I could finally get my Hawaiian shaved ice. I decided on the Aloha Pineapple - guava and pineapple syrup with soft ice cream, boba, mochi, pineapple cold foam with lime zest. It was very yummy!
We headed back toward our hotel and the parade was finally reaching it, so we watched for awhile before going inside to cool off.
My family had to check out of their hotel by 11, so they brought their luggage over and we put it in my rental car. We hung out for an hour or so before I took them to the airport.
Upon my return to the hotel, we headed down to the infinity pool where we had a cabana for the day. It was hot, and the water felt good! It must have been close to high tide, because the waves were smashing into the stone wall barriers making huge splashes - it reminded us of standing on the bridge over the boat splash ride at Valley Fair, waiting for the boat to plunge down, soaking all of the bridge inhabitants in water.
We soon headed over to the beach to play in the waves. The boys tossed a football, and I jumped around like a giddy five year old. The water would get so low - below waist level - then the waves would come and my feet would be 3+ feet off the ocean floor! I could not get over how big they were! Once there was a double wave that came it - I saw it coming and thought to myself, “this is it. This is what takes me out.” Luckily I jumped for the first one and was able to keep myself afloat when the second one reached me not a second later.
We stayed in the ocean for about an hour, then headed back to the cabana to sit in the sun and dry off.
After lounging and showering, we gathered in Aaron’s parent’s room, trying to decide what to do for dinner. Their balcony faced a different part of the ocean than ours, and I keep spotting sea turtles! I was disappointed I didn’t bring my camera down with me! Small ones kept popping up, and then a big one!!
We left at that time to go pick up our pizza from Allegrini Italian Deli and Market - we ordered a pepperoni, a spicy salami, and their best seller - the Pizza la Bomba (marinara, mozerella, proscuitto, burrata cheese, arugala and balsalmic glaze.
It kind of worked out that we decided to stay in for dinner because then we got to watch the sun set over Diamond Head and the Pacific! And I had gone back up to the room for my camera so I could snap a few shots of the turtles as well!
See additional Hawaii posts here!
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