Obamas Spent the Last Day in Hawaii at the Zoo

The Obamas will touch down in DC this afternoon after an overnight flight. The media is reporting that Obama has a full plate upon his return. He had a full plate while he was in Hawaii and he had a full plate when he left. As long as Obama is president, he's going to have a full plate.

See the Obamas Hawaii departure video here.

On the last day of his Hawaiian vacation, President Barack Obama declared that he did not want to go home.

Asked during an after-hours tour of the Honolulu Zoo if he was ready to head back to Washington, Obama and his family replied in unison: "No!"

"Let's stay," first lady Michelle Obama joked to reporters. "We'll all stay. Are we all in? I'm trying to mount a coup."

The president spent some of the final hours of his 11-day trip at the zoo, on the golf course and visiting the cemetery where his grandfather is buried.

Obama's Sunday began in the way he started each of his vacation days: at the gym. Afterward, he played 18 holes on the Marine Corps Base Hawaii's Kaneohe Klipper Golf Course with his friends Marty Nesbitt of Chicago and Bobby Titcomb and Mike Ramos of Hawaii.

Obama's motorcade then headed to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl, where he spent about 10 minutes before heading over to the zoo to meet up with his wife and daughters, Sasha, 8, and Malia, 11. More at Politico

Obama also visited his grandfather's grave:

However, Obama's presidential motorcade did take a trip to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl yesterday.

The ashes of Obama's grandfather, Stanley Dunham — a sergeant in Gen. George Patton's 7th Army in Europe — are in Court 1, Wall B, beneath a bronze plaque that honors the tall, silver-haired man Obama called "Gramps." HI

Obama Golfs in Hawaii Video

The Obamas head back to DC this weekend. This is from Obama's golf outing yesterday:

The swing:

Obama's Letter to CIA

In response to the recent deaths of CIA workers in Afghanistan:

To the men and women of the CIA:

I write to mark a sad occasion in the history of the CIA and our country. Yesterday, seven Americans in Afghanistan gave their lives in service to their country. Michelle and I have their families, friends and colleagues in our thoughts and prayers.

These brave Americans were part of a long line of patriots who have made great sacrifices for their fellow citizens, and for our way of life. The United States would not be able to maintain the freedom and security that we cherish without decades of service from the dedicated men and women of the CIA. You have helped us understand the world as it is, and taken great risks to protect our country. You have served in the shadows, and your sacrifices have sometimes been unknown to your fellow citizens, your friends, and even your families.

In recent years, the CIA has been tested as never before. Since our country was attacked on September 11, 2001, you have served on the frontlines in directly confronting the dangers of the 21st century. Because of your service, plots have been disrupted, American lives have been saved, and our Allies and partners have been more secure. Your triumphs and even your names may be unknown to your fellow Americans, but your service is deeply appreciated. Indeed, I know firsthand the excellent quality of your work because I rely on it every day.

The men and women who gave their lives in Afghanistan did their duty with courage, honor and excellence, and we must draw strength from the example of their sacrifice. They will take their place on the Memorial Wall at Langley alongside so many other heroes who gave their lives on behalf of their country. And they will live on in the hearts of those who loved them, and in the freedom that they gave their lives to defend.

May God bless the memory of those we lost, and may God bless the United States of America.

President Barack Obama

Yesterday, Obama visited an old friend in Hawaii. The Obamas will head back to DC this weekend. See vacation photos here. There haven't been many vaca photos this time around. Either the press was extra respectful, or were just busy themselves or the Obamas didn't make themselves available to the cameras.

President Obama paid a visit to an old friend on O'ahu's North Shore yesterday, on Day 7 of his vacation here.

He arrived at the Mokulē'ia home of high school friend Bobby Titcomb yesterday afternoon following a drive that took him past Aloha Stadium and Pearl Harbor, then Schofield Barracks and up to Dillingham Air Field. HI

Obama's Former Teacher Says Obama a Listener

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Obama Hawaii Christmas Vacation Photos 2009

More Obama Christmas photos and video here.

Updated Dec. 26: Obamas visit the Marines on Christmas day. Video of the visit here.




See more photos here.

The Obamas arrive in Hawaii. These photos were taken by the Honolulu Advertiser photogs. Check out shaved ice flavor Snowbama.
Honolulu police



Air Force One ready to take the Obamas to Hawaii. This is a beautiful photo
Getting off Air Force One
The crowd awaits the Obama family

Obama Gets In Golf Time

Obama gets in golf time. Hawaiian media is balancing coverage of Obama and respect for his time off. 

29 days until inauguration!

This just in - Obama ab shots!

Obama personally thanks soldiers. 
Meanwhile, 30,000 people applied for 8,000 jobs available in the Obama administration. I also read in New York magazine that volunteerism was up post the campaign. Many former Obama volunteers took on other volunteer work.

More Obama Hawaiian vaca video and Obama bus tours. 
NYT gives a good run down on the past week.

Obama Arrives in Hawaii

Video of the Obama family's (and a horde of other people) arrival.  He's there for 10 days. Local school kids make leis of paper pledges.

This morning, Barack and Michelle got in a workout and Obama saluted a few Marines: 

HA: President-elect Barack Obama and his wife Michelle Obama, with iPod and headphones in hand and both wearing gym clothes, left their vacation rental home at Kailuana Place in Kailua at 7:15 today for a 45-minute workout at the Semper Fit Center on the Kaneohe Marine Corps Base Hawaii.

The Marine base had little activity as the Obamas' motorcade headed to the gym.

Honolulu Advertiser: Residents of Kailuana Place lined their block with beach chairs and waved to Obama's black Cadillac limousine as it — and Obama's motorcade of Secret Service agents, about 30 Honolulu police motorcycle officers, patrol cars and a bus full of White House media — pulled up to the beach-side estate of three homes where Obama and his family are expected to stay through the holidays.

Kailuana Place, on the Aikahi end of Kailua Bay near Marine Corps Base Hawai'i, suddenly turned into an impromptu block party for the arrival of a native son who will be sworn in as America's 44th president on Jan. 20.

David and Linda Oifer even set out a bowl of chips and dip as neighbors sat in the Oifers' beach chairs to watch all of the law enforcement activity and the strangers who continually drove up and down their street asking a simple question: "Obama?"

"Look at all the lookee-loos," Ember Shinn said from across the street.

Ember and her husband, Alan, hope to see the Obamas on the beach or in their neighborhood in the next few days and were happy he and his family will get to enjoy a Hawai'i Christmas.

"We want him to have a good, restful vacation because he has a big job ahead of him in Washington, D.C.," Alan Shinn said.

Obama's chartered United Airlines 767-300I jet touched down at Honolulu International Airport at 3:06 p.m. yesterday after a flight from Chicago.

Obama Off To Hawaii Reporters, Staff, Secret Service in Tow

I guess this is what vacation is like now as president. Obama and his friends and family are expected to stay in Kailua for 10 days. He has no public events planned.

NYT: Mr. Obama, joined by his wife and two daughters, did not wave to the cameras as he ran up the steps to a United 767 plane. Several friends from Chicago also are spending the holidays with the Obama family in Hawaii, where they have rented beachfront houses in Kailua, but they are traveling separately.

A handful of reporters, staff and Secret Service agents were aboard the nine-hour flight for Honolulu.

Hawaii is prepping for Obama's visit:

Pearl Harbor Elementary School third-grade teacher Dawn Kadota and student Anthony Toloumu assembled a lei of some 3,300 paper pledges sent to the school by students from 18 schools statewide. The lei will be presented to President-elect Barack Obama.

More from the Honlolulu Advertiser:

And so, when many small pieces of inspiration come together at once, it reminds us that all is not lost, and there is hope for a better Hawai'i, America and the world.

That's the encouraging conclusion of an effort started early last month when Dawn Kadota's third-grade students at Pearl Harbor Elementary School were discussing President-elect Barack Obama's Nov. 4 victory speech.

Obama asked everyone to "summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves, but each other," Kadota recalled.

And that's when student Anthony Toloumu, 8, asked the four-word question that kick started what would evolve into Hawai'i's Keiki Yes We Can! Project.

"What can we do?" Toloumu wanted to know.

That's when the discussion shifted into overdrive. It was decided that students could pledge to help make Hawai'i, America and the world a better place, each in his or her own small way.

Joshua Garcia, 8, for example, "pledged to not litter or do other bad things that could be harmful to the environment."

Kailua preps

HA: As workers cut grass, brought in poinsettias and cleaned the beach yesterday at the upscale Kailua enclave where Barack Obama will arrive this afternoon to spend the holidays with family, neighbors and those who frequent the stretch of shoreline were abuzz over the prospect of catching a glimpse of the president-elect.

"We're very, very excited. It's amazing," said Richard Myerscough, 43, of Vancouver, British Columbia, who is vacationing with family in a home two doors down from the compound the Obamas are renting. Myerscough, who was enjoying the beach fronting his rental yesterday despite overcast skies and brownish, murky water from recent rain, added that he and his family will give Obama his space.

"We're certainly going to give him his peace and quiet," he said.

Linda Friend, of Melbourne, Australia, who was walking on the beach in front of the Obama vacation home yesterday, said she is also looking forward to seeing the president-elect in person.

"There is definitely a buzz in the air" about his visit, said Friend, who is staying with family in Kailua. "I'm probably going to look for him," she added, with a laugh.
Obama and his family are scheduled to arrive in Honolulu today about 3:25 p.m. They will spend their 10-day break in the Islands in a sprawling, beachfront property on the far-end Kailuana Place, which apparently will be cut off to all but local traffic during his visit.