Thursday, December 24, 2009
Obama and family arrive in Hawaii
PHOTO GALLERY: Obamas arrive
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President Barack Obama, his wife, Michelle, and daughters Sasha and Malia arrived in Hawai'i this afternoon for the holidays.
The president, in a striped-blue dress shirt twith its sleeves rolled up, stepped off Air Force One at Hickam Air Force Base shortly before 3 p.m. He walked down the stairs of the plane holding hands with his younger daughter, Sasha.
The first lady wore a sleeveless, teal blue dress, bangle bracelets and a metallic-colored flats. Sasha Obama wore a bright orange dress and Malia Obama wore pink pants and a floral top.
On the tarmac, they were greeted by Gov. Linda Lingle, U.S. Representatives Neil Abercrombie and Mazie Hirono, Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann, Adm. Robert F. Willard, Gen. Gary L. North and Col. Giovanni K. Tuck.
While a black SUV was parked directly in front of the stairs, the first couple walked about 25 yards away and took their time shaking hands and posing for pictures with Hawai'I-based military and Secret Service personnel and their families who had gathered behind a wrought-iron fence to greet him.
The president held a baby, 11-month-old Parker Makiya-Torco, of Kane'ohe, and took photos with her. Lena Torco, the baby's grandmother, said the president called out "'What a cutie! Come here!'" The baby's mother works for the local Secret Service office.
The president and first lady spent a little over five minutes shaking hands, thanking people for their service and wishing them a Merry Christmas.
The motorcade was rolling at 3:05 p.m. A long line of cars was backed up at the entry gate at Hickam Air Force Base, as it appeared to be closed for the president's movement. People were sticking their arms out their windows, popped their heads through their sunroofs and stood up on their SUVs to take photos.
People also lined the streets sporadically along the route. Once the motorcade exited the highway to Kailua and the landscape turned residential, scores of people lined the side of the road. They brought their cameras, dogs - including one in a Santa hat - kids in strollers. Some of them sat in the grass, others stood on their fences to get a better look. They waved as the motorcade passed and several flashed shakas.
As motorcade rounded a corner in the first family's vacation neighborhood, a group of people in front of a Pinky's restaurant had spelled out 'END US OCCUPATION OF HAWAII.'
As the motorcade got within a couple of blocks from the first family's vacation home, neighbors gathered on their driveways and a cluster held a couple of homemade signs with the likes of 'Welcome Obamas Merry Christmas' written on them.
This is the fourth time the Hawai'i-born president has visited the Islands in less than 18 months, but his first as president.
Obama, who graduated from Punahou high scool in 1979, was president-elect when the Obamas enjoyed a 12-day stay on O'ahu last December.
In the heat of the 2008 campaign, the family vacationed here in August, and Obama returned in October of that year to visit his ailing grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, who died just two days before the history-making presidential election.
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