Obamas Soak Up Grand Canyon

But says he's still got work left to do

(NEWSER) - President Obama says the first family would be just fine if they were just a regular family. “If I said, ‘You guys, I want to do something different,’ they’d be fine,” Obama told the TODAY show this morning. “They’re not invested in daddy being president or my husband being president.” He added that if Michelle “didn’t think that what we were doing was worthwhile … she’d be the first to say, ‘Why don’t you do something else that’s a little less stressful?’” More»

Yellowstone-bound first family will add to record number of visitors

(NEWSER) - The Obama family will visit Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon this weekend, doing their part to add to this year's already-booming national parks attendance figures, USA Today reports. Yellowstone hit a record high of 900,500 visitors in July—up 11% from last year, and 6% over the 1995 record—and other parks are reporting upticks as well. The parks service expects attendance to be up 3% over 2008, thanks possibly to its free weekends promotion. More»

(NEWSER) - President Obama will visit two national parks during a family trip to the Mountain West next week, the Denver Post reports. The first family will travel to to Colorado and Montana in addition to Wyoming, home of Yellowstone, and Arizona, where they'll see the Grand Canyon. More»

Obamas polish image through careful offering to celebrity mags

(NEWSER) - As the nation gets to know the first family, it may seem as if we're watching "a reality show set on the glorified soundstage at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.," the Los Angeles Times reports, but what we're seeing is in fact a meticulously crafted image. Information about the Obamas is being strictly managed to bolster the president's popularity and keep the paparazzi at bay. Photos, interviews, and glimpses of White House life are systematically parceled out to celebrity news outlets, who in turn agree to not publish any unauthorized snaps. More»

Obamas' purchase a suprise for Malia, Sasha

(NEWSER) - When Malia and Sasha Obama came home from school Wednesday, there was a surprise waiting for them: a swing set from their folks, the Chicago Tribune reports. The excited girls played on the set, complete with four swings, a fort, and a picnic table with the names of all the presidents, for nearly an hour. The set normally goes for $3,500, though what the Obamas paid wasn’t released. More»