The First Family’s Monument Field Trip

Nothing like a slice of the softer side of Americana to decompress from a lengthy G-20 Summit. Making up for last week’s business-heavy workweek in Pittsburgh, Michelle and Barack Obama managed to squeeze in some family time Sunday evening by taking their daughters and extended family members on an evening tour of notable Washington monuments. The first family’s nine-person, tennis shoe-clad entourage included Barack, Michelle, their daughters Sasha and Malia, Michelle’s mother Marian Robinson, Barack’s half-sister Maya Soetoro-Ng, her husband Konrad Ng, and their daughters Suhaila and Savita. The family, which was laughing, hugging, and having a good time, spent around 10 minutes at the Jefferson Memorial before moving on to the Washington Monument. A National Park Service official told the Daily Mail that it was probably the first time a president had visited the Jefferson Memorial for personal reasons since Franklin Roosevelt.